You're Married.... Now What?

I’ve been wanting to write this type of post for awhile because it’s a bit different, a bit personal, a bit wordy, but I feel it’s worth it.
So you’re married…. now what? I want to talk about life right after marriage because in my experience, it’s a lot of mix emotions. This post won’t be a lengthy checklist of all the admin work you need (thank you cards, name change, storage for your gifts, etc.). This won’t be a post on specific advice for newlyweds because quite honestly, I heard a lot of people’s thoughtful wedding advice for the past year and it’s just not the same as your own experience. I’m merely writing about my experience in hopes it will relate to others out there. So if you’re going through the process right now, have already passed it or will be going through it, keep on reading….

The day after we got married, there was a strange sense of calmness in the air as if the storm had passed and I could finally breathe. In the grand scheme of things wedding planning wasn’t too bad, but it did take up a lot of time and stressful nights. So I think the day after the wedding allowed myself to finally relax. It was also a day of disbelief – that all of our friends and family drove and flew to be with us for one day. We were so excited and still in awe of what just happened.

During the first week of marriage was when I really soaked in what happened. Alex and I were on our mini-moon in Portland and had plenty of down time to reminisce on the day as we remembered it. And we joked about feeling jealous of all of the inside jokes our friends & family made without us as we were busy doing our bride and groom duties! I think the time away helped us realize how grateful we were. We were and (& still are) so grateful for all of the help, support and love that came from each and everyone. We learned that not only was our wedding day a day to celebrate our love, but a day to celebrate everyone around us. We wouldn’t have gotten there without the outpouring love from our caring friends and family.

One month after our wedding was when I started to feel a bit down. On one hand, I was so happy the stress and busyness of being a bride to be was no longer part of my life but on the other hand, that stage of my life was over. It was a slap in the face that big moments in my life were happening and happening fast. I started to look back and second guess some of my choices I made for the wedding. “Should I have worn my hair a different way?” …”Should I have done a different design on the menu cards?”…. You know, nit picky things that’s not important whats so ever.

And here we are about two months after the wedding and my feelings are complete opposite of last month’s! I’m so happy with how everything turned out and I don’t care about those doubts anymore. It didn’t make sense to worry about those kind of things and to realize the importance of what the wedding meant to me. We are so happy to have our weekends back and to just be living our normal lives as a married couple. I’m in the process of changing my name, so it’s a big change I’m so ready for! It really makes it official.

I think the moral of this post is the months after you get married can be a roller coaster of a ride (at least it’s been that way for me). I mean you plan and think endlessly about one day and within 24 hours, it’s all over. There’s going to be some afterthoughts that come with it and right now I’m just enjoying the ride and – that’s totally okay! Thanks for those who stuck around for this long rant, so here are more wedding photos: