the one where i talk about when i got married

K and I got married in September 2009. We were living together and had talked about getting married on 10-10-10. Then around the middle to end of July 2009, I found out I was pregnant. K asked if I wanted to get married before the baby was born so we would all three have the same last name, and I did. That's the pragmatic reason. I was crazy in love with him too. We decided to get married in September so we could tell that baby we didn't get married just because of him. It was two separate events, me finding out I was pregnant and us getting hitched. I don't know how much that will matter to S. I'll get back to you in a decade or two.

At the beginning of August, we told my parents and grandmother, who was visiting from California, we were getting married in the middle of September. We had planned to go to the courthouse with our immediate family members and then go out to eat someplace we didn't typically eat, like The Cheesecake Factory, with everyone to celebrate. My parents said no. I got scared for a second, even though I was 29 years old. My mom said that they had paid for my sister to have a lovely wedding and they would like to do the same for me. No pressure on venue or style, but we would go someplace better than The Cheesecake Factory, and wouldn't I like a new dress?

Before we let them pay for anything, we told them I was pregnant and that was the motivation behind getting married then, but not the motivation behind us getting married. They weren't thrilled, but by the end of that conversation, I think my mom was excited for a new grandbaby.

I went dress shopping with my mom, grandmother, and one of my friends and we found a lovely dress. I had a personal shopper for the day and got the perfect shoes, earrings, and necklace to match perfectly with the dress. It was so much fun!

We decided to stick with the courthouse wedding because that's what we really wanted, and my mom looked into a few restaurants. She asked how we felt about eating at The Palm because we could get a private room and choose a menu for everyone. That was basically amazing and we were very excited about it.

I still love our wedding. We were in the judge's chambers and it was packed but it still felt like it was just me, K, and the judge. Our vows were good and the judge said "You may now kiss your wife" which I'd never heard before at a wedding and made me melt. Our moms cried. We took pictures and got to ride in a limo to take pictures at various spots before meeting everyone at The Palm for dinner.

It was a nice dinner and a fun time with our families. That night, K and I decided that every year for our anniversary, we'd go back to eat at The Palm, even if it took us months to save up to do so. And that's what we've done!

This is going to be our third year, and our first anniversary date that will go over night. I am very excited. We have been stashing money away a tiny bit at a time and will have enough for dinner. Our hotel stay is courtesy of a fabulous Groupon deal and literally the first time we've used a credit card as a married couple. And it's just a few weeks away, so it's pretty much time to pour over the menu online and think about what I get to order!