So today I had to go to the county clerk office to get a new copy of my husbands birth certificate and our marriage certificate (paperwork that he needs to take to basic). While I was waiting for my number to be called I watched multiple couples come in for their scheduled appointments to be married and couldn't help myself but to observe the different attitudes each couple and their families had while waiting for their big moment to be husband and wife. The first couple that came in was a very pregnant lady who was probably about 19 and a man that looked about her age, they both looked terrified but had put in some effort to get dolled up for photos. I noticed that neither of them had their parents with them and their two required witnesses were obviously friends of the future bride. The next couple were probably in their middle 20's they were all dressed up and she even had a fresh flowered bouquet with her. They both had a lot of family come to watch them make this commitment to each other and yet the two families were meeting in the lobby for the first time. Watching these two couples made me step back and be so thankful for the fact that I was able to have the wedding of my dreams even though I was in their footsteps nine months ago.
We all know the cliche military story where they rush to the alter because they are young and their parents don't agree, he is leaving for boot camp, moving away or being deployed. Growing up next to one of the biggest military bases it was nothing new to hear this type of story and I always felt so bad for these girls and swore that I would never let that happen (read my first post on never wanting to be with a military man). So to my surprise when my fiancé at the time asked me to go talk with his recruiter in September 2012 one of the first things the recruiter tells me is that it would be better for us and him if we got married before he entered his information into the system. Something about a delay time if they had to go back and register him as married or some crap... at this time my mind was in a whirl wind and I was beyond furious since my mom and I had already started planning for a September 2013 wedding. I put a smile on my face and just nodded when the recruiter asked us to make an appointment right away and kept reminding myself how much I loved this man. I made the call and we got "legally" married on September 21, 2012. It was the most awkward moment standing in front of judge and our parents going through the motions and saying our I do's. Only our parents, siblings and a select few friends were told about the event and everyone knew it was a secret; I didn't want people to think we were faking it on the day of our actual wedding.
Since we didn't know when Chris would be sent for basic we made the command decision to push the wedding from September 2013 to January 19, 2013 and any lady that has planned a wedding knows that loosing nine months of wedding planning time is a HUGE deal. Thanks to my lovely mom, amazing bridesmaids, and understanding husband somehow we pulled it off and I will always be thankful that I was lucky enough to do what I needed to do for my husband and the Air Force and still get my big day and not just 10 minutes with a judge.
