9 Years and 9 Fun Facts

I was just rereading my anniversary post from last year.  I can't believe a year has passed already! I loved celebrating my husband in last year's post.  He is such an amazing husband, father and friend...I really chose well! :) 

This year we came to WV to celebrate our 9th anniversary.  Months ago, my dear husband booked an overnight get-away in a cabin (didn't I tell you that he is amazing?!) while the older kidlets stayed with the grandparents. Baby came with us, but he still pretty much sleeps all the time, so that was okay! :)  Being in WV has brought back a lot of fond memories of our special day, so I got out my mom's photo album and decided to post 9 Fun Facts about the Bragg-Campbell wedding:

Fun Fact #9: Traditionally, guests are seated on either "The Bride's Side" or "The Groom's Side."  I was so worried that one side or the other would be lopsided that I asked the ushers to seat people on both sides as they came in regardless of where their friendship/relationship resided, thus filling the church from front to back.  Truth is, we had so many common friends it didn't really matter, but it gave me peace of mind.

Fun Fact #8: The photographer that we chose was an interesting fellow. In many of my portraits he positioned me in such a way that it appears there is a plant growing out of the top of my head...either that or I'm wearing a large greenery-type headdress. 

Fun Fact #7: My niece, Kalee, was  our flower girl at 3 years of age. My nephew, Chase, was our 6 year old ring bearer.  I now have a 3 and a 5 1/2 year old of my own. Weird.

Fun Fact #6: My grandma made wedding cakes. My mom made wedding cakes. I had been planning my wedding cake since I was 5. I used to spend hours pouring over Wilton wedding cake catalogs. I had two pictures that I loved. My mom combined those two pictures and made my cake...and it was EXACTLY what I had planned! 

Fun Fact #5: We had 12 in our wedding party (not including us!) Karen Malay, Jessica Floyd, Tiffany Sears, Kara Shuff, Kristen White, and Kalee Canterbury were my gals. Josh Philips, Brett Floyd, Daniel Canterbury, Gary Canterbury, Drew Stowers and Chase Canterbury stood beside my hubby.

Fun Fact #4: We got married on a Friday night.  I had always wanted an evening wedding because I wanted lots of candles and sparklers as we left the church. Later, the sparklers created so much smoke outside the doors that the smoke detectors inside the church went off!

Fun Fact #3:  Originally, I had planned to have the wedding colors as red and purple.  (Hey...I STILL think they look good together!)  I had already made all our arrangements with the florist.  A few days later I was in a craft store and PJ brought me purple and pink flowers.  I loved the colors together and went to the florist to change plans. It was when she opened up her appointment book to write in the changes that I saw a giant frowny face over our names.  She was upset about fact number 4.  Fridays are apparently NOT popular days to have wedding flowers delivered.

Fun Fact #2: I carried a bouquet of roses. Under that bouquet I carried the same white Bible that my mom carried in her wedding.

Fun Fact #1: My wedding dress was the first one that I tried on. I stood in front of the mirror at the bridal shop and random people passed by saying that the dress was made for me. I felt the same.  I LOVED my dress.

BONUS FUN FACT: I wrote about this in my year 8 anniversary post, but it's my favorite memory so it gets to be written about twice!  After I said, "I do" PJ was supposed to say the same...only at that exact moment, he dropped my hands and walked away leaving me in front of everyone, alone.  He got his guitar and sang, "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman.  After the song he returned to me, picked up my hands, smiled and said, "I will."

BONUS FUN FACT: (I can't stop at just 9!): We had dear friends, Ray and Dinah Perdue, cater our reception.  We had SUCH an amazing feast.   Thinking it would be nice to visit with guests as they waited in line to get food, we put the Bridal Table next to the food. I actually ate my wedding food in the car after the wedding because I never got to eat at the reception...but I DID get to visit with every guest!

BONUS FUN FACT: (It's my blog, I can do what I want!) Mindy Harris was my wedding coordinator. I nearly gave her a heart attack because I was late to my wedding. I had hair issues.

PJ and I had known each other as friends for years! I remember, in college, making the bold statement that PJ was like a brother to me and that I would never date him...so instead I married him. And I'm so glad I did!