“No measure of time with you will be long enough, but let’s start with forever.”
I’m a pretty tough chick, so you’d never expect to learn that I enjoy Twilight as a guilty pleasure and I’m a total romantic. Breaking Dawn Part One is my favorite movie of the series because of the wedding. When I first watched it years ago, it made me sad because I was in a long-term relationship with someone who lied to me and never intended to marry me even though he knew that was the biggest thing I wanted in the world. Now, I watch the very same movie with joy because it reminds me of my own wedding day (with someone much more deserving of my hand in marriage) and the joy I feel every day I spend with my amazing husband.
As anyone who’s seen the Twilight Saga knows, the wedding scene is serenaded by the song “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” by Iron & Wine, the same song Edward and Bella danced to at their prom in the first movie. It’s a pretty great song, and it was on my Amazon wedding playlist as well but I doubt anyone heard it because we were on a serious budget so we just had a playlist and a Bluetooth speaker, not a full-on DJ.
My wedding day on that beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina was pretty amazing. It was chilly because it was oceanfront in late September, but my closest family and friends were there and everyone pitched in to help set up and make it a great day. My good friend (and amazing chef) Abbi catered the food and it was so delicious. My sister Vida took the pictures and they turned out perfect. My bridesmaids helped me with my hair and makeup because I’m not good at girly stuff like that, and I looked better than I ever have in my life.
When the time came for me to walk down that aisle, I was overcome with emotion. I had already decided to walk down alone as a symbolic gesture of my autonomy and give myself away, and that was a good call because my parents got lost on their drive from Ohio and ended up being a couple hours late, so it was a good thing I wasn’t waiting on my dad to walk me down the aisle. For me, giving myself away was the perfect symbol of who I am: I belong to no man, only myself, and this man was such a great person that I decided on my own accord to spend my life with him. I wasn’t transferred from one man to another in ownership; I allowed the right man to become my valued partner in life. That’s a privilege.
So I guess I have found you, flightless bird. And you’ve found me. We found each other at exactly the right time. Luck like that doesn’t come along often, so let’s enjoy every day.
If you want to hear the song that inspired this post, you can listen to it here.
Musings of a Dog Mom 