That Day We Got Married

It was three years ago today.

Photo by Camille Roskelley

While I'm looking forward to a special dinner at home (one of our fancier recipes) and playing with the sweetest baby alive (ours, obviously), I've been spending most of the day just remembering the day we were married. And I've decided it was a really, really good day.

June 13, 2009, was the first day of our marriage. One thousand ninety-five days have past since then, and each one has been a little better than the one before. Sometimes sadder, sometimes less glamorous, but always, always better.

It's amazing what 1,095 days will do to your memory. I don't remember a lot of the details. (What was the name of my cake decorator? What time did the luncheon start? What were the little chocolate-scented flowers called?) But I do remember some details, and before another 365 days cloud my memory I'll record them here.

• Before the ceremony, Ryan came to pick me up and looked so handsome in his suit. My niece and I were finishing my hair when he got there. After I was ready, Ryan and I stopped to read the last chapter of the Book of Mormon together. We had started at 3 Nephi 11 (and if you have never read The Book of Mormon, that's an excellent place to start) while we were engaged and somehow managed to have one chapter to go on our wedding day. That's always been a tender moment to me.

• After we had taken care of the paperwork, we left the recorder's office in the temple and met our parents in the lobby. My dad said to Ryan, "You're sure you want to go through with this?" Ryan said, "Absolutely."

Another by Camille

• I was nervous. Until the day we got engaged, it had been Ryan who had taken the lead in moving our relationship along. I was slow. Ryan was not. But after we got engaged, I suddenly couldn't wait to be married. Our engagement seemed to last forever (even though it had been my idea to take our time with the planning) and now that the day was here, I just hoped Ryan wouldn't change his mind. I don't know what made me so nervous, but I was really anxious.

• When we came out of the temple, my friend Molly was among the people waiting outside. I remember looking at her, hugging her and then half-squealing, "Molly, I'm married!"


• Lunch was catered by Johnny Carinos. Everyone seemed to like it. I don't really remember eating it, but I remember Ryan standing to introduce our family. "I'm Ryan, and this is my wife Breanna." Everyone laughed at the irony of the guests of honor introducing themselves, but I just thought, My wife Breanna. That has a nice ring to it.

Jeff Smith Photography

• It did have a nice ring to it. I loved my engagement ring and loved it even more with the wedding band. It's the only thing I wore that day that I still wear every single day. My ring is a treasure to me.

• My mom made the day perfect. Everything ran so smoothly that for days afterward I wondered when everything happened. (When did they drop off the cake? Who brought the sparklers everyone had when we were leaving? Who ran the music for the dancing?) I wasn't worried about anything, because she had everything handled. I just enjoyed seeing so many people I loved who came to celebrate our day with us. Not having to worry about a thing was the best wedding gift she could have given me. Thanks, Mom.

Mom and Me - Jeff Smith Photography

• I have never felt so much love. Love for Ryan, love for my parents, love for my siblings and their families. Love for our friends who came to share our day with us. Love for the family we were starting. Love for our children who, though unborn, had also been sealed to us that day. It was a tender day for me.

All in all, it was a pretty great day. Definitely one worth celebrating.

Happy three years!