Twenty-Eight
Yesterday marked 28 years of life for me.. and when I try to muster up words to describe or commemorate this past year, the only thing that headlines is, 'you're going to be a mom!' Truthfully when we first found out, I was in shock and kept asking, 'am I really pregnant?' There were no symptoms, really. I even told myself that if I had a miscarriage, I would probably be fine with that. It is so common; I heard so many stories of my friends who had a miscarriage or who so desperately wanted to get pregnant, and couldn't. I felt so guilty even thinking those thoughts. I wanted to be selfish a little longer. There were so many plans we had, you know. Plans of paying off credit card debt, saving some money, starting another another business, traveling!!--we thought maybe in 3 to 5 years we'd start a family. It wasn't until we went in for our first appointment at 12 weeks and saw an ultrasound and heard a heartbeat that I thought, 'Wow, my baby made it. And I am so, so thankful.' There Baby was. I could make out Baby's body and I could see Baby's head and see Baby's heartbeat. It beat so fast. And from there, the excitement only grew. This isn't to say that I was ready. For some reason I always thought I'd get married at 28. That was the magic number--but no, it will be the age that I would become a mom. And the thought is both exhilarating as it is nerve-wrecking.
This past year has taught me to be okay with taking life slow. No longer can I meet up with friends multiple times a week, and spend too much money on coffee. No longer can I impulsively buy that sweater I just eyed at Madewell. And you know what, I'm okay with that. I've learned to not feel too guilty when I don't respond to a text, or an email or a FB message immediately (but as an FYI, FB messages are the worst way to get ahold of me. It is a black hole to me.) I've learned that it's okay that I don't make it to every social event on the calendar and it's even more okay if we're not even invited. I've learned that community are the ones that are consistent and present, regardless of the fact that we don't physically see each other or talk to each other ever day. And I've learned to not feel guilty that even though we may not be attending a Sunday service each and every week, does not mean that I am a failure and that I'm backsliding, that I am terrible at being a Christian. It's okay to want to stay at home, to binge watch Netflix, to do nothing, or to go to bed early. Is this adulting?
It's been an incredible year and I'm so grateful for a best friend and husband who loves me so well. Marriage has been easy on us and I don't say that to boast, but to express how lucky I really feel. And I am thankful to know that even though I may not be as 'independent' as I used to be, this is for the better. And I am more than okay with that.
Our Wedding in Photos
Well here it is, the last and final part of our wedding blog series... never before seen photos from our wedding day. I saved the best for last: our wedding photographer. There were only a few photographers I considered- we only inquired with two. When it came down to it, I shared their portfolios with Aaron and he loved Kristen's. Kristen is both a friend and colleague and I knew that would be awesome to have someone I already knew document our day. Plus, have you seen Kristen's work? Like, seriously. Look at her photos and don't just scroll through them quickly either. Notice how she captures the most intimate and small details that speak volumes. We love her style and the emotions that come from her photos. Photos were pretty high at the top of my priority list (surprise, surprise). My advice when it comes to it? Don't skimp. At the end of all the craziness of planning, and once you get back from your honeymoon and settled back into "regular" life, you'll have your photos to look forward to and to keep forever. This is what you'll have to look back on from your wedding- not the latest trend on decor or details. And don't just pick someone who seems to be the most popular or gets the most Instagram likes. Pick someone you actually connect with and get along with. Pick someone who understands your what your wedding day means to you and is able to capture that. Below is only about a quarter of the photos we received back from her. It was so hard to narrow down for this blog post... but I think you all will get the jest. Kristen did above and above what we ever could've imagined and we are forever indebted to her. Thank you for your talent, time and gifts. If you've yet to see her work, what are you waiting for? Check out her portfolio here.
With this post, I wanted to share one of the most special details about our day... the wedding ceremony. Aaron actually wrote the sermon and we shared it with our friend Nate, who was our officiant. This is the original draft we sent to him and we asked Nate to make it his own. I love that it's based on Jesus' first miracle: the wedding at Cana. Fitting right? We prayed and hoped that this would hit home for someone, and even today as I share this, I hope it does the same.
As you view the photos, listen to the song I posted! It was our first dance song and we love the lyrics in it.
If you have been to a wedding before, you have probably noticed that they are full of traditions. Some are traditions you may never even notice, some are very sweet, and then sometimes, some are pretty strange. Have any of you ever seen these rituals that seem to happen at every wedding, and wonder why it is part of the celebration? These things exist for a reason. When they were created, these certain acts had significance, usually pointing to something greater. What can be a little odd is when a couple is finding themselves participating in something that has no meaning for them. But when the meaning behind tradition is understood and agreed upon, that very act can be powerful. An example might be the bouquet toss. In more ancient times, it was believed that a bride was particularly lucky and it was not uncommon to have guests tearing flowers off of the bride’s dress as a way to obtain some of that luck. And the bouquet toss tradition was born, to give a lucky girl the chance to have some luck, and to also keep the guests from bothering the bride and her dress on her wedding day. Hopefully this makes my point easier to understand. The truth is, wedding ceremonies themselves are a tradition.
As this day has approached, I (Aaron) have become aware that I was feeling this sort of way about the entire wedding ceremony. Why are we really doing this? Do we have to do all these little things it seems everyone does? What is the true purpose, God’s purpose, of a wedding celebration, or at the very least, what is most important to us?
Dorothy and I both are convicted that our relationship is not about us. Even though it is tempting to find comfort and happiness in the love we have for each other, we know that that is not the point of our marriage. The purpose of our existence is to honor and glorify God who created us, and therefore our relationship should be also for the same purpose, which has led us to want our wedding day to be one that points to God and makes His name great.
We will now bring our focus to a story in the middle of the Bible. A story of a wedding, one at which Jesus was present.
“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them,“Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
Aside from the fact that this story is about a wedding, it may be a bit odd to hear this story here today. Most Christian weddings you may attend, you are used to hearing about a different story- maybe the wedding in the Garden of Eden at the beginning of time where Adam and Eve were united by the Lord. But if we dig into this story to understand it a little better, the reason why I am sharing it today will become more clear.
At the end of this story, the Bible describes this first of Jesus’ miracles as a sign. This is a clue to help us see that this story has a deeper meaning then it may seem at face value. You could look at this "first sign” as a sort of introduction to what Jesus came to earth to do. This is his opening statement, if you will.
Here we have two young teenagers who have come across an embarrassment—they have run out of wine at this party. In fact, in that time it would have been more than an embarrassment. It would have been shameful for them, and for their families. When Jesus is approached by his mother to help with this situation, his response is a bit odd. He says “My hour is not yet come.” But then he proceeds to help fix this situation and gives the party more wine than they know what to do with. How do we make sense of his response? You see, his mother was asking, “Will you fix this wine situation?” But his response was more of an answer to the question, “Will you save them from their shame?” He knew why he came to Earth. He knew that he was sent to die as a sacrifice for all our sins, but he also knew that the time for that was not at this moment. But he proceeded anyway to rescue them from their temporary peril, pointing forward to how he would rescue mankind from their eternal peril. This wine is a symbol of joy. Jesus did more than just merely save this young couple from their embarrassment, his actions provided wine to keep the party going as long as it needed to go. God sent his son Jesus not only to pay the price we deserve to pay for our sins—death—he came to do this in order that we would have an eternally lasting relationship with him, one full of joy, with no sorrow and no pain and no tears.
At the beginning of the Bible, we see a marriage that is how God intended it to be. Life then is tainted by sin as Adam and Eve disobey and their relationship with the God is severed. God pursued us, all of us, with a selfless, sacrificial payment for our sins through His son Jesus Christ, so that we may be reunited in an eternal marriage someday. This marriage is depicted at the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation and is called "The Wedding Supper of the Lamb".
“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
So today is a statement and a celebration. Today, as we make our vows before you and before God, we make them knowing that this day, and our life together to come, is one that points to God to symbolize His pursuit of us, and his marriage to us. And it is a time to celebrate this great Love that God has shown us.
getting ready
details
first look
group photos
the ceremony
cocktail hour & reception
our amazing wedding photographer... Kristen, you're incredible
Our Wedding: The Tea Ceremony
It's been nearly a year since this whole wedding shenanigans thing went down and of course, it's one of our favorite weekends to reminisce and look back at photos of. We basically had a two-day wedding because we wanted to incorporate the traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony and doing this on the actual wedding day would've been very stressful and too long of a day. The evening following this, we had a "fancy" 10-course meal at the Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant off of Rainier in Seattle. Mostly this was for my extended family and my parents' elaborate list of friends. It was fun though and it'll explain why you've seen me in multiple outfits because yes, I did have another wedding dress for this as well. Call me a diva. But not really.
Truth be told, the tea ceremony was probably a highlight of the weekend for us. We loved how much joy was in my parents' home- the home I grew up in- was that morning. And I'm really glad we decided to have the tea ceremony. Our gowns (ao dais) were custom made in Vietnam and given to us by some of my dad's closest friends. I sure felt fancy in them :) Enjoy some of these photos, thanks to our dear friend Shelby.
Stay tuned for part 9- photos from our wedding day!
Our Wedding: The Newspaper Program
I saw a sweet wedding invitation printed in a newspaper format once. This would be too expensive to mail out, as they're bigger... but I still wanted to do something with this idea... so we decided to make our programs into newspapers instead. This was Aaron and mine's favorite part of wedding planning: designing our wedding program. We wanted something different and it was really fun to collaborate with him and to see his creative side in this as well.
We used the Newspaper Club to print these and loved how they turned out. Inside is a quick summary of our story, thank-yous to our vendors, bios of our wedding party, activities for the kiddos at our wedding, and some photos ;) You can view the PDF online here... and if anyone out there loves these as much as I do and want something similar for their wedding, holler at me because I'd love to design one of these again!
