Addison & Jace ::: en route

On Sunday, May 30, Addison and I will celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. One year. Un anno. Ein Jahr. один год.

Wow. It’s totally surreal. I can’t believe we’ve been married that long. The memories of our times together–starting when we were just stupid high school kids and lasting until now–are so fresh in my mind that it seems crazy to think that we’ve been married for one year, together for almost three, and connected in some way for over ten.

In the spirit of our anniversary, I want to share some memories of myself and my bride from over the years. So, stay tuned in to the blog posts to come. They’re going to be…well, let’s just say interesting (and by interesting, I mean that at some point I’m almost guaranteed to say something that will give Addison cause to slap me). I hope that, in reading them, you’ll laugh at us at least once for our silliness and smile at us at least once for our love.

-Jess

We really racked up at the wedding.  I totally understand why people get married.  It’s not about love, commitment, creating an environment in which to raise children blah blah blah.  It’s  not about that at all.  It’s for the loot!  We had a “small” wedding (although I wouldn’t consider 80 people a “small” wedding, but nobody asked me,) and all of our friends and family were so incredibly generous.  They enabled us to enjoy an amazing honeymoon in California, and to top it all off, we now have a completely new kitchen!  New pots and pans, new china, new silverware, new knives, a few vases, the fanciest new coffee maker, and whole bunch of really important stuff that I just can’t live without!

Therein lies the problem–I have what can only be  described as the tiniest kitchen known to man.  Well, maybe not quite that small, but it is pretty tight.  It seems we only have 2 cabinets that a.) are actually big enough to fit stuff in and b.) reachable by me, so everything needs to go in the same spot and there’s  just not enough room!  Jess and I have been cleaning out old stuff and washing and organizing the new stuff for what seems like days now!  And that’s just the kitchen!  We have boxes in the office that haven’t even been touched.  It really is going to take a while.

Alright.  I’m done complaining about all of the “work” I have to do.  I really am just so thrilled about everything we have received over these last few months.  Not just physical gifts, but the kind words of love and support, and the most beautiful wedding followed by an amazing trip out west.  Now who could complain about that?

-Addison

So we did it!  Jess and I tied the knot.  Got hitched.  Took the big plunge.  We got married! Our beautiful wedding took place May 30, 2009 at my father’s house in North Augusta.  The ceremony went off without a hitch, and much fun was had at the reception by all, or so I’ve been told.

We’ve had lots of people give us rave reviews of the entire shindig.  People have said they loved the hand fasting part of ceremony (thanks to Jess for coming up with a way to incorporate the ancient ritual). Others have said the food was excellent (unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to eat any).  And pretty much everyone has said wonderful things about the garden.  I tend to forget how amazing Dad & Mary Alice’s yard is until new people come to see it and get all amazed.  It truly does give Riverbanks Botanical Garden a run for its money. We’re so thankful we were able to have it there.

If you attended, we would love to hear your thoughts, too.  What were your favorite moments?  What did you like best?  Tell us, tell us!

Because there were SO many memorable moments at the wedding, Jess and I decided to give out some “awards” to our guests and hosts, and we’d like to share them with you.

And the award goes…

To Ellie Cook for being the best dressed mother ever.

To Bob Cook for dancing the coolest twist in town!

To Allyson Stanley for making us laugh out loud during the most stressful of times.

To Cole Stanley for being the cutest kid in the world, period.

To Anne McClearen for falling like a pro (and she’s got the bruises to prove it!).

To Caroline Woodrum for covering our car with fabulous (albeit dangerously distracting!) “Just Married” decorations.

To Mary Alice Woodrum for creating a magical, beautiful garden over the past 30 years.

To Bear Woodrum for being the best host anyone could ask for.

To Linda Haynes for giving the best catwalk during “I’m Too Sexy”!

To Dana Lang for making friends with everyone in attendance.

To Tucker Mathis for serenading us with a riveting late-night vocal performance.

To Jimmy and Lindsay McClearen for traveling so far (from Michigan!) to celebrate with us.

To Steven Shields for being willing to do anything that needed to be done while preparing for the big day.

And…of course…thanks to all of you who came and to all of you who read the blog.  We appreciate all the happy thoughts and well wishes you send our way.

-Addison

In five days, Addison and I will be saying, “I do.” Wow! I can’t believe it’s almost here.

When I proposed to Addison on December 1, 2008, I had no idea that we’d be getting married when and where we are. But I have to admit that what we have planned is better than what I envisioned. We have enjoyed the fabulous support and love of all of our parents, and we have a beautiful ceremony and celebration planned. I can’t wait.

I think the thing I’m most excited about is seeing Addison and her dad walking toward me. I’ll be processing in first with my dad and then waiting at the front with our minister for Addison to join me. I just know she’ll be breathtaking. I just know that my heart will be racing at the sight of her. Man, I can’t wait to see her walking my way.

Five days…

There’s still so much to do, of course. Thank goodness we have parents who are helping us. We have put them to work, and they’re really rising to the challenge. I don’t know what we’d do without them.

By the way, I must tell you that the shower was awesome. Big, huge thanks to Brian for allowing us to have it at his lovely home; he’s always a great host. Shout outs also go out to the shower’s fabulous organizers: Allyson, Lora, and Jennifer. Food was yummy; game was fun; presents were rockin’. It was a really great time. I suppose what means the most is that people thought to throw us a shower. We didn’t think anyone would. And they did. Having a wedding shower probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to anyone else. But when you’re a lesbian getting married in a country that doesn’t recognize your union, the smallest things matter an awful lot. So thanks to the people who threw the shower and those who came. You made my heart swell.

Five days…until “I do.”

Five days…until she walks my way.

Five days…until Addison and I tell the world, “We love each other, and this is forever.”

I can’t wait.

-Jess

As I sit at the desk in our office I can’t help but to be excited.  Ecstatic, even.  I’m listening to our wedding music, and just getting geared up for the wedding.  Jessica and I are getting married in eleven days.  Eleven days!  I think the wedding will be fabulous, I really really do.  And most importantly, things are starting to finally come together!

Jess and I sat down for a while last night and picked out the music for our ceremony.  Every song for the ceremony is an instrumental cover by The Vitamin String Quartet.  If you haven’t heard them before, you should go here and check it out!  They’re absolutely amazing, and they have some really fun stuff!  I don’t want to give everything away, but some of the artists we’re sampling include Journey, The Foo Fighters, and Elton John.  I know!  It’s going to be great!

We finally decided on a cake flavor–chocolate cake with tiramisu filling.  Mary Alice and Ellie are convinced that it will be a heavenly combination, and frankly I was overwhelmed, so that’s what we went with.  I’m sure it will be tasty.  Our cake lady makes yummy cakes, by the way, so if you’re in need and live in the CSRA you should check out her stuff here.

Thirdly, we finally decided to hire a professional photographer.  He’s a friend of Shelley’s, and I am eternally grateful to her for suggesting him!  Since Jess and I are footing that part of the bill, we weren’t sure if we’d be able to afford a professional photographer.  However, Sammy cut us one hell of a deal, so now we can afford it!  You can check out his work here.

I know I got a little link happy, but I am just so excited about all of our hard work finally coming together.  I’m convinced this will be the lesbian wedding of the century!  (At least the lesbian wedding of the century that occured in South Carolina.)  I can’t wait to see all of my friends and family!  But most of all I absolutely cannot wait to officially begin my new life with the best girl in the world.  I am so pumped!!!

-Addison

Shower
I’m way excited about the shower. Allyson (sister), Lora (boss), Brian (boss), and Jennifer (colleague) were super nice to organize this little wedding shower for Addison and me. How sweet are they!?! We totally didn’t think anyone would give us a shower…but they are. They’re sweet; I love ‘em.

By the way, if you’re reading this, and you didn’t get invited, it’s probably because you live far away. So don’t be offended. I have way too much planning left to do to worry about hurt feelings. So don’t be upset; instead, thank your lucky stars you didn’t have to buy us a shower gift. 

Wedding
I’m so stressed about the wedding that I’m gonna scream. For real. This weekend, in addition to being the life of the party at the shower, I need to decide:

1. Flavor of the cake.
2. What I want the DJ to play.
3. How I want the reception “stuff” laid out / organized throughout the backyard.
4. What the hell I’m wearing. [I think I’ve settled on white pants and colored shirt, but I still need to buy shirt and shoes!]

Now that I’ve listed these items out, I feel a little better. Having a list always helps. Now that I have one, I’ve fought half the battle. Or maybe one-fourth…

Honeymoon
I finally feel like we’re getting the honeymoon under control so I feel good about that. I feel like things are coming together. We’re officially going to San Francisco & Monterey (as you can see, there have been some small changes in the itinerary since Addison first announced our California adventure a few posts ago). I’m just thrilled. I’ve always wanted to go to California. While we’re there, we’ll be sightseeing in SF, beaching it up in Monterey, visiting a winery in Sonoma / Napa Valley for the day, and just enjoying some much-needed vacation time. Quick warning: we may never come back.

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and support. We never expected to have so many people be so kind and loving to us about the wedding and throughout the planning process. We’re lucky brides. 

-Jess

I’ve decided that we are going to go to California for our Honeymoon.  For the few of you that actually follow this blog with some degree of regularity, you will notice that I was not supposed to have to make that decision.  See how well that worked out?

My darling Jess has a terribly hard time making decisions.  Sure where to honeymoon is a pretty big decision, but where to eat lunch?  Right.  I didn’t think so.  She’s so terrified that she’ll make the wrong choice it ends up stale-mating her quite often.  We’re working on it.

To be fair, I’m not extremely decisive, and this is definitely the only real vacation we’ll be able to afford all year.  Realistically we have no idea when we’ll have enough money to go somewhere cool again.  This trip has got to last us for a while.  We had been semi-decided upon New England for a while, but I don’t think either of us actually wanted to go there; it just made sense for us to go there.  Me without a passport and with the people in those parts being down with the whole lesbian thing.  I’d like to go to Boston eventually, but I just can’t get excited about it right now.  Does that make sense?

Anyway, I’ve decided that we should fly out to California and drive along the coast stopping at Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, San Simeon and Pismo Beach.  Sounds delightful, doesn’t it?  I love a good road trip and Jessica likes pretty things, so we’ll fly out and then drive around for a week.  I think it will work out beautifully.  At least I hope it will…

Wedding Countdown: T – 19 days!  Eeek!

-Addison

If you know me, you know that I hate dressing up. You know that my favorite outfit is a pair of dark jeans, a t-shirt or polo (made only of t-shirt material), and flip flops. It isn’t just my favorite; it’s my jam. I love it. I rock it…often. But I can’t rock it at the wedding. No jeans allowed, sayeth Addison. So…I’m a little lost. I’ve been thinking about what to wear since I popped the question, and the answer remains a mystery. Argh.

I have purchased two pairs of linen pants because linen pants are summer-y and such. One pair is white; I could wear them with a colored button-down shirt matching Addison’s shoes and jewelry. The other pair is kind of light granola khaki; I could wear them with a white button-down shirt. I think Addison is leaning toward the white pants with a colored shirt. I suppose I could be on board with that…if we can find a shirt that matches her shoes / jewelry and that doesn’t gap horribly under the push of my huge breasts (ugh)…as well as shoes that are comfy because I can’t handle being uncomfortable. Insert a stressed-out laugh here. I have no time to go shopping. There. is. so. much. to. do. I hate dressing up.

In other news, I haven’t planned the honeymoon either. [Geez! Do I not have any good news for you people?] We’ve been set on taking a trip to New England for a while now, but I haven’t been able to actually create an itinerary. Why are we choosing to honeymoon in New England when there are so many other more likely options? Well, I’ll tell you. One, Addison lost her passport so we must stay in this country. Two, the single MOST IMPORTANT thing we want out of our honeymoon is the ability to be affectionate in public. Although we’re more affectionate than most Columbia gays and lesbians, we censor ourselves here. And we don’t want to do that on our honeymoon. We want to hold hands and hug and smooch and all that. So we’re heading to New England where gay marriage is spreading, and there is much for gays and lesbians to celebrate.

Of course, I probably should actually book a plane ticket soon. Oh. my. God. there. is. so. much. to. do.

-Jess

Today is May 1.  Normally the beginning of a new month wouldn’t freak me out too much.  Making sure we have enough money to pay the bills is always a bit stressful, but the beginning of this month marks something extra special.  It is the beginning of the month of our wedding!  I’m not sure if that should invoke happiness or hysteria.  For me, it’s a bit of both.  While I’m excited to do the deed, have a killer party, and follow up with a week off from work, I’m a little bit overwhelmed by all that is left to do.

We still need to finalize the food list, buy some alcohol, decide between a band and a DJ, pick songs to play during the ceremony, finish writing the ceremony, get programs printed, meet with and decide what to do about a photographer, finalize Jess’ outfit, figure out what the hell to do with my hair, plan the rehearsal and its corresponding dinner, finish the favors, plan and pack for the honeymoon trip, and oh yeah, figure out how much money it’s all going to cost us!

I’m glad that Jess and I will be in Columbia this weekend.  I’m cooking dinner tonight (BBQ sandwiches) and we’ll watch Dollhouse (you should too, by the way) and I really hope we’ll finish writing the ceremony.  We’re going to Cole’s last soccer game tomorrow morning, and then we’re (hopefully) having lunch (Mexican, yummy!) with Allyson, Matt and Cole.  Then we’ll come back home and plan plan plan!  Of course all of that is up for discussion and/or last minute changes.  We still have to finish one of our flower beds and paint the back door.  Maybe Jess won’t remember that until after we’ve already got the weekend psyched out.  I shouldn’t count on that, though as she has a memory like a steel trap!

As a side note, if you’re reading this blog and have not yet RSVP’d to the wedding, please do so now!  We want to know if you’re coming or if you’re not going to be able to make it.  I finally realize why people make such a big deal about it–the number of people attending totally affects EVERYTHING!  Anyway, it would really help my stress level, and I’d be super grateful!  ; )

-Addison