"Happiness depends upon ourselves." -Aristotle | The Hilton Head Wedding

The Summer of '12 is one I'll always remember -- or, as the saying goes, one I'll never be able to forget. In my 26 years, I most certainly did not imagine that the last few months to be the ones that would completely redefine life as I knew it. Furthermore, I never expected it to happen all so fast. 

And those that know me,
know I wouldn't have it any other way.

In May, I graduated with my Masters, a feat two years and a lifetime of interesting academic choices in the making. In June, I said "Yes" (well, kind of), to my long-time high school sweetheart, John. From there, I traveled to the farthest most south-eastern coast of Key West and experienced probably one of the most memorable vacations with John and his family. By July, I was completely on the opposite side of the country, taking a long-awaited trip to Alaska and Canada with my Mom and sister; it, too, was full of memorable moments. While in Alaska, I get a call (which was a miracle itself as reception was pretty terrible) from the University after months of job hunting; they offered me a job. A job, now over a month in, I am so glad I accepted. August proved to be an incredible furry of transition from post-grad to big kid, and on the very first day of September in Hilton Head Island, SC...

via Instagram. And yes, our Priest is wearing Birkenstocks.

I became Celia C.

John and I, with the help of our families and a few close friends, secretly planned our nuptials over the course of a few short weeks, mostly via phone and email. In retrospect, we were incredibly lucky. Everything we wanted - from the venue to the cake to the photographer - was available in spite of our quickly approaching deadline, and everyone we worked with was so helpful. Even more-so, they were surprisingly supportive of our decision and were very excited to be part of our whirlwind planning team.

We chose Hilton Head Island because it's quiet, understated, seamlessly intertwined with nature, and has a classic elegance void of pretentiousness. It's a perfect spot to detach yourself from the chaos but it still feels familiar and nostalgic. HHI has been a special place for us, many summer memories and photos from there are still part of our holiday family conversations. It was an easy decision.

Our guest list was small, comprised of close family members, as well as friends who have been part of definitive moments in our lives - and who still, I'm almost certainly convinced, will always be around (we basically told them they're stuck with us for life whether they liked it or not).

The ceremony was conducted first thing in the morning on the beach and included decor DIY'ed by myself and some very crafty ladies (pun intended). John and I didn't want to spend all day waiting around anxiously. We're those annoying people who like to get up and go, and let's get real: a whole day of primping and prodding and stuffing and make-up'ing wasn't going to help what the dear Lord gave me to work with. I also knew I wasn't going to sleep anyways (and I didn't, I was way too excited). It's like graduating on Christmas Day at Disney World and Justin Timberlake is your commencement speaker and you're valedictorian. But better.

After the ceremony and lots of photos, we went out for waffles.
John and I really, REALLY love breakfast food.

The brunch gave way to a day on the beach. If there's one thing John and I love more than breakfast food, it's the ocean. We rolled ourselves and our guests over from the diner back to the beach and spent the whole afternoon sea-side, playing beach games and throwing back a few brews (or taking a waffle-induced nap, made all the more better by the breeze and late summer sun). I blame my terrible cornhole skills on the fact that my lefthand was glimmering so blindingly all day.

The evening was topped off with a quiet dinner up in the loft of our resort's restaurant. More food, more wine, and more conversation with friends and family. Delirious from scores of food, lack of sleep, and too many hours in the sun, John and I bid our well-wishers ado late that evening. I'll never forget the hugs and smiles on our way out, or the way that John looked at me when we finally made it upstairs. I melted.

I will never regret our decision to have our wedding the way we did.

After so many years of stressful schooling, distressing life events, career-planning chaos, relocating nightmares, long-distance struggles, serious debt/loan anxieties, and generally living in constant fear of when the next round of bad tidings was to be dumped in our laps, we wanted so badly to start our lives with everything (and everyone) that's given us happy, hopeful, and hilarious moments over the years.

Now, there were some pretty stressful and frustrating planning siutations. There were people who crossed their arms and turned up their noses or touted their convictions and made it very clear they were unhappy with our decision and tried to get us to consider alternatives. There was someone who made an rude comment on my Facebook wall expressing their disbelief in my choice not to throw a big party and wear a "pretty white dress" (to which the photo was posted shortly thereafter to prove that I did. In fact, I wore two white dresses that day, thank-you-very-much).

Bottom line, John and I (obviously) had plenty of time to think about our wedding day. We've been to so many wonderful nuptials and celebrations of union and have loved everyone of them in their own way. But, I have never been that girl who longingly fantasized about her big white wedding; I guess I was always too busy. I thought when John proposed some crazy Bridezilla switch would flip and I'd suddenly have an interest in monogrammed napkins and seating charts and floral arrangements. But all I wanted was John and an escape from the nonsense that has plagued us for so long (and, I'll admit, I really wanted cake). It turned out far better than we planned, and we feel lucky for all that was bestowed on us that day: gorgeous weather, minimal calamities, saltwater breezes, great food, happy conversations, and a blessed 24 hours without a single negative or stressful thought running through our heads.

But, oh, how the adventure is far from over...

While our decent from Cloud 9 back to reality was swift and harsh, all our new "big kid" decisions and priorites have a new-found meaning. We're still scared and broke and confused and anxious about the future; but, we're also stronger, happier, and starting to slowly forge our own path. I have never felt more ready to take on the world as I do now. And this deserves a celebration, indeed (and celebrate, we will).

Who would've thought
on that sweltering Friday night over 10 years ago, I would be stuffing my face full of tacos with that handsome, kind, generous, smart, altruistic, honest, and charming curly-headed young man who would eventually become my husband.
(And the Dad to my very excited chubby Chihuahuas.)

THANK YOU,
to all the vendors who were so brilliantly fantastic; the gals who tagged along to craft/decor/outfit runs and risked their safety to help me cut and shred and hot glue; the guests who made the trip to share the day with us; the friends and family near and far who showered us with nothing but well wishes and positive vibes and tokens of love; and our parents, who definitely helped make the day possible.

For a photo sneak peek, please visit the blog of our incredible photographers, Jordan and Landon of Jacob Landon Productions. (And definitely leave some love; feedback is like crack to us bloggin' folks.)

Update: Our rockstar wedding photographers also submitted our Hilton Head wedding to Style Me Pretty - because let's get real, who doesn't love waffles for inspiration?

Check out the full story and gallery here!