Tis the Damn Season | Ethma

15

Emma

I took a deep breath as my mother linked her arm with mine. The doors of the beautiful venue Ethan and I chose opened before us, and music played as my mother and I started our walk down the aisle. 

I wished my father could've been here, but I knew he was still watching. He was here in my heart.

My mother actually has a piece of my father's wedding suit sewed into the inside of my dress. I loved that I had a piece of his life close to me.

My eyes met Ethan's as my mom and I continued walking down the aisle, and his smile made me feel as happy as ever. This was finally happening.

My mother gave him a hug before going to sit in the front row.

He took my hands, giving me the sweetest smile as we stood together at the altar. 

We kept the ceremony short but sweet, and it was so perfect. His eyes were so loving, and it was one of the happiest moments of my entire life.

Especially when the minister told Ethan he could kiss the bride. 

Ethan wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up as we kissed, and our guests cheered us on. We were pronounced husband and wife, and then the celebrations began. 

His hand laced with mine before we ran down the aisle together. 

We went into a side room, to spend a few minutes together before the wedding party would come get us to make our grand entrance outside, where the reception would take place. 

Ethan helped me out of my dress, so I could put my shorter one on. I was already thankful that I chose to have a second dress, because it was super hot outside that day.

The two of us couldn't stop giggling at each other the whole time. We were just so happy. After we situated my original dress in it's garment bag, and my second dress was zipped and in place, we couldn't stop simply holding each other and sharing sweet little kisses.

And when Olivia and Grayson came to get us, we walked out the doors of the venue, both of us cheering along with our crowd of guests.

The dancing started right away, us having our first dance (which might have resulted in me crying again. This was such a happy moment for me), Ethan had a dance with his mother, and I danced with my grandfather, who is my father's dad. I was so thankful for him. 

Next was dinner and the toasts, which were hilarious. Olivia had a really sweet speech, but she also added some comedic statements that only a sister could come up with. Grayson's speech was equally as funny, with him telling stories of how much Ethan was an idiot until he met me. At the end of each of their speeches, they both talked about how Ethan and I were perfect for each other, and how the two of us have grown as a couple.

After dinner, we danced for about an hour before we had our ceremonial cutting of the cake.

I was half-expecting Ethan to smear it on my face, but he took me by surprise by carefully feeding the dessert to me. I did the same for him, and it was a really sweet moment. 

More dancing, followed by the shoe game, which was a wedding staple. Basically we both sit in chairs facing away from each other, and someone would ask questions about our relationship such as:

Who made the first move?

Who's the better cook?, Who's the better driver?, Who's more likely to be a cover hog?,Who's funnier?, Who's more likely to lose their wallet/keys.

When the question was asked, Ethan and I would both hold up a shoe as an answer. I would have one of his shoes, and he would have one of mine. If we matched the answer, we'd get to kiss. If we didn't, well, we kissed anyway.

It was a fun game, and we had a lot of laughs while playing it.

The bouquet toss was a blast, and my friend Tessa actually caught it. 

After that, Ethan did the ceremonious retrieval of the garter.

Now, my dress was shorter than my wedding gown, but it still reached my knees. So, Ethan went under the skirt of my dress, retrieving the garter so he could toss it. I laughed when he kissed my leg, and then he got up, raising the garter in the air for everyone to see. 

He threw it into the crowd of bachelors, and of course his twin brother caught it. 

The party went on a few more hours with everyone dancing, and drinking, and having a good time. 

Our 'getaway' car arrived, so our guests lined up with sparklers to send us off. It was super dark outside because it was so late, and the sparklers were beautiful as we ran through the line of people. 

The car was an old-fashioned black Mercedes-Benz, and Ethan and I loved it. 

After that, we drove off to the hotel, getting out of our wedding clothes as soon as we could. Once we were both showered and in comfy clothes, we laid down, holding each other as we talked about our perfect day.

We somehow were still riding the wave of wedding day adrenaline, which led to us having our own little celebration of marriage if you know what I mean.

Being married was already so magical, and it hadn't even been a full 24 hours yet. 

That whole day was so much more than I ever even dreamed of. Ethan treated me better than anyone I had ever met, and I was so thankful to have found him.

He's truly the love of my life, and our wedding was the perfect reflection of that. 

That day really was an amazing celebration of our love, and it was simply so much fun. 

The love we shared in our hotel room that night was so special. Our first experience together as husband and wife. 

As I fell asleep, I thanked God for everything he's given to me. Somehow I knew there was so much more in store for Ethan and I.