09.26.20 - The day we became husband and wife!
I wanted to write a blog post all about our wedding day so that I could document every detail of our big day and always have the memories to look back on and reminisce about. It was such a special day and I never want to forget the moments and emotions that made it the day it was. I'm finally getting around to writing it, but what better time than for our 1 year anniversary, in remembering our most favorite day.
As I sit here typing this post about our wedding day one year from the day we committed ourselves to one another forever, I can’t help but become nostalgic when I look back at pictures of every moment of our day and remember all the special memories that were made that day, all of the important people in our lives that made our day so special, and all of the emotions that were felt throughout the day...excitement, nerves, anticipation, immeasurable joy, contentment, and all the love in the world.
I hope you'll enjoy this post as much as I have enjoyed writing it and sharing our memories and pictures from our most cherished day.
We got married on a beautiful late September day at our local country club exactly a year ago, today! It was the most beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was a warm 80 degree weather day. Living in Ohio the weather is very unpredictable, and with the wedding being in late September and the fall season just approaching, there's a good chance the weather could start to feel more like fall versus summer, and I remember praying that it would be a warm day. The weekend before our wedding was more on the chilly side, so I was a little nervous that that weather would continue, but it ended up being a beautiful, warm day, but not too hot either. And guess what!? The weekend after our wedding was on the chilly side too, so our wedding day was truly meant to be for us. There's no doubt that that was God shining his love and light on our day!
I loved our venue for our wedding because we were all able to get ready right on site and all together instead of having to get ready off site somewhere and commute over to the venue. The girls and I had our own locker room space to get ready, and the guys had theirs. It was exactly what I wanted because I loved knowing that we were all in the same vicinity. It made the anticipation of seeing my groom for the first time that day just that more special.
I had the sweetest Matron of Honor and bridesmaids. They put together this "Letters to the Bride" journal that had letters from each of them, including ones from my parents and future in-laws. The letters were each so special to me when I read them after the wedding once we got to the hotel. I'll cherish them forever.
Benson and I also decided to write letters to each other to read on our wedding day as kind of our private vows to each other. It was so special to get to express and read one another's excitement about the day and our future together as husband and wife before we made it official.
Getting to finally put on and wear my dream wedding dress that I was so blessed to find, which turned out to be exactly what I was looking for, was such a surreal feeling. It's the moment you dream about as a little girl, finally coming true. I would seriously wear that dress everyday if it was socially acceptable, ha! I love my dress that much!
I did a first look with my dad as soon as I was completely ready and put together. I was excited for him to finally see me the way I had envisioned myself to look on my wedding day...with my dress and veil on, with my flower crown, and with my makeup and hair done. I adore these pictures because every moment and emotion was truly captured, and captured beautifully. I am not much of a crier, but my emotions hit me hard in that moment and in seeing my dad get emotional. It took everything in me to fight back tears so I wouldn't mess my makeup up, as you can definitely tell in some of the pictures of my teary eyes. There's always a special bond between a daddy and a daughter, so it was such a special part of the day to get to share these moments with my dad on my wedding day before he gave me away.
Benson and I knew we wanted to do a first look on our wedding day, so it was probably the easiest decision to make for how we wanted our day to go. We wanted to be able to see each other before the ceremony to help calm each other's nerves and have the opportunity to share in a more intimate moment together just the two of us. These pictures truly speak for themselves. I was so giddy to finally have my groom see me as his bride. I couldn't wait to show him my dress and whole bridal look for the first time. To see him get emotional when he saw me, melted my heart and reminded me just how lucky I am to have found the man who loves me with every part of him. We are definitely soul mates! I highly recommend a first look on your wedding day. It's such an intimate moment between your soon-to-be spouse and was probably the highlight of the entire day for me. The photographers gave us space and we were able to have a private conversation between the two of us as they captured these beautiful pictures from afar. It was our special moment that I'll remember and cherish forever. I'll never forget how content my heart felt in that moment in knowing I was with my favorite person, my best friend, that we no longer had to hide/avoid one another, and we could share in the rest of our special day together.
Our family and friends were watching our first look from afar and were there to greet us with hugs afterwards. Love these candid moments that were captured.
We seriously had the best wedding party to share and be a part of our day! Benson had four of his best guy friends and my two brothers as his groomsmen. They all looked pretty sharp in their matching suit vests and pants! Our ring bearers were the cutest little men too!
I had my three best girlfriends, my two cousins, and Benson's sister as my bridesmaids. They all looked so beautiful in their dresses and flower crowns, and were (and still are) the greatest supporters of me and in Benson and I's relationship. I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to help me on my wedding day and in encouraging me as I became a wife and started married life. We also had the sweetest and cutest flower girls around!
Pictures of our whole wedding party:
Here are some of our bride and groom shots before the wedding ceremony. I love too many of them, so I had to share a bunch. We are so thankful for the gorgeous weather and sunshine we had that made our pictures just that much more beautiful.
Groom shots of my handsome man:
My bridal shots before the ceremony:
My mom, mother-in-law, and bridesmaids prayed over me right before the ceremony. I was pretty nervous and anxious about the ceremony because I hate being in front of a crowd of people, so these prayers helped me so much. This was a special moment to have documented with beautiful pictures and a reminder of just how powerful prayer truly is.
Our Pinterest inspired decor that my wedding planner and mother-in-law helped me create for the ceremony:
We had a beautiful Christ-centered wedding ceremony filled with so much love. We got married outside on the country club's patio overlooking the beautiful golf course surrounded by our closest friends and family. Our minister, who we've known our whole dating relationship and who was our youth minister when we were kids in youth group, married us. Benson and I came up with our own vows to be recited during the ceremony to each other. We wanted to be able to come up with our own vows, in our own wording, and declare them to each other in front of our loved ones.
Our Wedding Vows
I ___, take you, ___,
as a precious gift from God
to be my lifelong companion.
I promise to walk with you, hand in hand,
wherever our journey leads us.
I will weep when you weep,
laugh when you laugh,
encourage you in times of trouble,
and celebrate you in times of joy.
I will love you in sickness and in health,
in poverty and in wealth,
and will stand by your side
until Christ calls us home.
As I already mentioned before, I was a nervous wreck before the ceremony because I don't like being the center of attention and am not comfortable being in front of a group of people. But let me just say, praise Jesus! My God got me through it. After I had walked down the aisle with my dad and after my dad gave me away and placed my hand in Benson's hand, as soon as our hands touched and I looked into his eyes, I felt complete peace. The nerves vanished and I was able to enjoy the moment with my best friend. It was such a magical moment for me and I felt God's presence so strongly in that very moment. I am so blessed He gave me a man who makes me feel safe, content, and comfortable in my anxious moments.
A family friend of ours who is an amazing piano player recorded a couple beautiful songs for us that I wanted to incorporate into our wedding ceremony for my bridesmaids and I to walk down the aisle to. My bridesmaids walked down to a piano rendition of "Fighting For Me" by Riley Clemmons. That is one of my favorite songs and Christian artists that has such a beautiful message, so I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the wedding somewhere.
"When the going gets tough And my strength's not enough I see You showing up like never before This battle for my heart You took on from the start You are the peace when my mind's at war And oh
You will never stop fighting for me When I can't fight for myself Every word is a promise You keep 'Cause You love me like nobody else You stand up for me in the darkest night When my faith is weak You're still by my side You will never stop fighting for me You will never stop fighting for me"
-Fighting For Me by Riley Clemmons
I walked down the aisle to a piano rendition of "When I Look at You" by Miley Cyrus from one of my favorite movies, "The Last Song." I've loved that song and movie for a long time and the lyrics were so perfect for our wedding day.
"When I look at you, I see forgiveness I see the truth You love me for who I am Like the stars hold the moon Right there where they belong And I know I'm not alone
Yeah, when my world is falling apart When there's no light to break up the dark That's when I, I I look at you
When the waves Are flooding the shore and I can't Find my way home anymore That's when I, I I look at you"
-When I Look at You by Miley Cyrus
One of my favorite memories from the day, that wasn't even planned, was our cute little flower girls basically taking the show. They were both two-years-old at the time of our wedding, so we were all a little nervous about how they would be throughout the ceremony. Of course we had a backup plan in place in case they didn't want to stand up there with the other girls, but they did so amazing! Neither of them really threw any of their flower petals from their baskets we had for them when they walked down the aisle, but when they got to the end of the aisle, they both had a little flower confetti party by dumping out all of their flower petals and playing in them. The funny thing about it all was that they were playing together so quietly that I had no idea that was even happening right behind me until after the ceremony. It was the sweetest thing to hear all about this after the ceremony since I was oblivious to it all. The pictures melt my heart every time I see them. Just you wait until you see them down below! Some of the greatest and most memorable moments are the ones that are unplanned.
Benson and I didn't want to do a typical unity ceremony using candles or sand, so since we both love music, we wanted to have some of our good friends, who are amazing singers, sing a song live during the ceremony while our parents came up and prayed over us for our future as husband and wife. I loved incorporating music and prayer into our ceremony. It symbolized our unity as husband and wife with Christ, the joining of both of our families, and our commitment and vow to always keep Christ at the center of our marriage. It was hands down my most favorite part of our whole entire day!
Here is the song that our dear friends sang for us:
"One look at you My whole life falls in line I prayed for you Before I called you mine
Oh, I can't believe it's true sometimes Oh, I can't believe it's true
...
The way you love It changes who I am I am undone I thank God once again
Oh, I can't believe it's true sometimes Oh, I can't believe it's true
I get to love you It's the best thing that I'll ever do I get to love you It's a promise I'm making to you Whatever may come your heart I will choose Forever I'm yours, forever I do
I get to love you I get to love you I get to love you I get to love you
And they say love is a journey I promise that I'll never leave When it's too heavy to carry Remember this moment with me"
-I Get to Love You by Ruelle
Pictures from our ring exchange, our pronouncement as the new Mr. & Mrs. Schumacher, and our first kiss as husband and wife. The greatest feeling in the world!
We walked back up the aisle to the song "You Are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne, performed by our live band we hired for our wedding.
Our family pictures:
I loved how we also did a joined picture with both of our families, since we are technically now one big, happy family joined together by marriage. That picture will for sure find a place in our house once we finally get wedding pictures printed!...Someday we'll get wedding pictures hung in our house.....I hope, anyway lol.
Our bride and groom shots after the ceremony as husband and wife:
Portraits with our grandparents and more bridal shots that were taken after the ceremony:
Our pinterest inspired decor that my mother-in-law helped us create for the reception:
It was important to both Benson and I to incorporate my late grandparents, Grandma & Grandpa Neumeister, and his late grandpa, Papa Schumacher, into our wedding somewhere who we lost too soon and wished could have been there with us on our wedding day. When I saw this memory table idea on pinterest, I knew we had to recreate it for our grandparents to remember them and have them there in spirit with us.
Pictures of our cake cutting, speeches by Benson's Best Man and sister, and my dad praying before dinner:
We snuck out of the reception for a bit after dinner to get some golden hour shots. I'm so glad we did. These are some of my favorite pictures out of the entire day! I love this picture of our venue too. We got married on the top of that hill on the patio, which also became our dance floor. It was a gorgeous view!
For our first dance, we danced to the song, "Take the World" by Johnnyswim, sung by our dear friends again:
"Oh I can see The future you and me we last forever In the rising tide No fear or fight That we can't face together Darling You and Me We can take the world
Cause they can write stories And they can sing songs But they don't make fairy tales Sweeter than ours And they can climb mountains High into the sky But they can't take the world Oh... Like we can take the world"
-Take the World by Johnnyswim
Pictures from the daddy-daughter dance and the mom-son dance:
I danced to the song "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle with my dad. That had always been a special song between the two of us when I was young.
We did a sparkler exit to end the night with a bang, which was so fun and created great memories of running back and forth multiple times to get fun shots!
We had an amazing wedding day that we'll cherish forever. It was so fun to reflect on this special day as we celebrate our first wedding anniversary! I hope you enjoyed reading about our very special day.
To my husband,
Being married to you this past year has been a dream come true and the best year yet! I can't wait for all of the memories and years to come with you by my side. You are my favorite person, my absolute best friend, and the love of my life all in one. I love getting to do life with you. I definitely hit the jackpot with you! I thank God daily for giving me you, my most precious gift. I love you to Jesus and back! -Your wife
Love Always,
Jessy Marie
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