gary insists it will happen. we both want this to be the wedding we have always planned and dreamed of, so even with the time constraint, we both promised to do everything in our power to have a wedding this april. it's now or never.
our first picture together
i've been meaning to blog about our civil wedding for a long time, but never got the chance, until now. today is our first wedding anniversary, and it's the perfect time to reminisce.
everything went wrong in our civil wedding. i mean everything. we were supposed to wait for my mom to get to the states before we tied the knot, but gary and i knew we had to get it done fast so he can put me into his records in the army, apply for housing inside the base, and be together in el paso. i was then staying at his parents' in santa clara, and it killed us to be finally in the same country but still be living apart.
so during his holiday break, he went home to santa clara and decided to finally get married. i was of course, feeling really really guilty for not having any of my family members with me. gary felt sorry for me too, but the longer we'd wait, the harder it was gonna get for us.
so we woke up one morning, and a few hours later, found ourselves driving with his family for 16 hours to nevada, where the marriage contract can be had the same day you get married. we needed this, because gary was scheduled to fly back to el paso in two days from san jose. this means we had to get the marriage contract and hurry back home for him to make it to his flight. we didn't even have time to prepare all the details, not even our wardrobe.
many hours into the trip, gary held my hand from the driver's seat and told me, "this isn't the wedding i have for you. we'll do this for practical reasons for now, but i'll give you the wedding we've always wanted. that's a promise."
we got there at dawn, and while we were all sleepless, nobody wanted to sleep anymore because we had to wait for the first chapel to open, have the ceremony, and go. at around 9am gary and i found this dainty little church that looks like it came straight out of the set of gilmore girls. i told gary, if we're gonna have this rushed wedding, at least have me married in this pretty little chapel. so we got scheduled for 10:30am. we then had to get the marriage license from the county clerk.
so picture this. we were both really tired from the really long trip. except for the drive-thru dinner we had, nobody's eaten anything yet. we couldn't get the damn GPS to work. so gary and i drove around and around looking for the city hall. i was getting really impatient, so i told him we should just stop and ask for directions. "baby, i'm a scout," he said. 30 minutes before our church schedule, and i was ready to walk out on him, the scout finally pulled over and asked for help.
it was a mad rush to the county clerk's office, and while i wasn't thinking anymore as i filled up the form, gary pulled me close and kissed me, when i asked why, he looked at the marriage certificate i was holding. he said it felt so good. i smiled back. it sure did.
so we got back to the room to get ready while everyone was out killing time before the wedding. gary and i got back to the van, and when we were about to pick up his family, he looked at me and said, "listen, let's do this on our own. it's only fair, you have no family with you, so i won't have my family with me. just you and me." and it was the most romantic thing he ever thought of.
the world stopped when we stood in the altar. it was just so romantic. the church was so pretty and everything was so quiet. it was only him, and me, and the reverend. we recited our vows nervously, and when the ceremony was over, we both felt so much closer to each other. like it was our very own little secret. what started out so wrong, in the end, was every bit right.
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