Mr. & Mrs. Wallace

On August 26, 2017, I became Mrs. Wallace.

Well, not officially, since in Quebec it’s illegal to change your last name when you get married. *Sigh* dumb law… but you get the concept!

All the planning, the coordinating, the communicating, led to one magical day.

It was everything I could have hoped for, and more.

Seeing something I’d been dreaming of and brainstorming about for as long as I can remember come to fruition like that was something else.

It’s been three weeks since I stood up and married my best friend.

In those three weeks, we’ve been to Paris and back, have returned to work, and have visited with a collection of our wedding guests who all were just as eager to reminisce about the day that could have passed us by just as any other day would have.

Except that it didn’t.

Time moved in slow motion as I saw my husband-to-be in tears when I walked down the aisle toward him, as I quoted the GREAT Michael Scott in my vows, as our nearest and dearest friends & family came up to give speeches in our honour, as we danced to Rascal Flatts’ God Bless the Broken Road during our first dance as a married couple, as we stood hand-in-hand by the fire pit outside our venue and gazed into each other’s eyes, as we walked out of the venue at the end of the night and had people clapping and cheering for us, and as Riley lifted me (a little-less-than-gracefully) over the “threshold” to our nuptial suite.

Once upon a time, the Pimpin’ Eagles may have asked, “Where Is The Love?”. I think it’s safe to say that on that gorgeous sunny summer Saturday, we found it.

The day was filled with beautiful settings, both inside and outside, where people who have supported us and have loved us over the course of our upbringing gathered to celebrate.

I had my fair share of blissful bridal moments.

In a three-foot-radius ballgown squeezed into a big armchair in the house I got ready at, I sat with my best friend and maid of honour, sipping wine and waiting for the moment where I would get in a car and be driven to my future.

At that moment, I had only one doubt in my mind… that I was going to be able to avoid getting pee on my dress.

Spoiler alert: it went off without a worry, just as the wedding did.

Our ceremony was a sunny one, located at an apple orchard on the top of a hill overlooking Montreal.

I held Riley’s hands as our officiant and long-time friend of mine, Ezmie, read the words that inched us closer and closer to becoming husband and wife.

I’ll be holding those hands all throughout our personal “forever”, and that’s the most exciting thing I could possibly imagine.

We took breathtaking photos with our newly blended families following the ceremony. It still brings tears to my eyes looking at the photos that were captured of us with our friends.

If there’s one thing I would wish upon every single couple who goes through this process, is that they are able to look around and feel ever-so-blessed at the people they see. At all times during the day and night. I know we sure did.

The speeches were one of my favourite parts.

I surprised my husband, with a little help from his best man, by singing a song accompanied by guitar.

The waterworks came back for a second round and I saw my sweet Riley give me the look every bride secretly dreams of and wants to see on their wedding day. The look through teary eyes that says, “I am the luckiest person in the world.”

We quizzed our guests on our history as a couple by playing “How Well Do You Know Ramanda?” after dinner (which was DE-LICIOUS by the way). The quiz brought out some friendly competition and I was impressed to see it was a pretty tight race (for most tables…).

Guests definitely came to DANCE. After the first dances were over, everyone jumped up to join us for a classic rendition of I Wanna Dance With Somebody and the party kept going from there.

@seanpaulfansince1993 (aka my husband) impressed all of us with his stellar moves when, you guessed it, Sean Paul blared out of the speakers. There were so many other memorable dancing moments we got to share with specific groups of people who hold particular songs close to heart.

We danced until Tim McGraw’s My Best Friend came on, where Riley & I had our last dance of the evening. It was then that I was struggling not to cry.

I was so happy with how the whole event had turned out. I could not have asked for more.

With our official wedding photos now finished and in our possession, we have been going over the day in our minds as we sift through the gallery. It feels like it was yesterday.

I will always be grateful for the people who came together before, during, and after the wedding to make our lives easier. Riley and I are blessed to have them in our lives and we cannot wait to return the favour someday for all those people who didn’t get up during the “married couples” dance.

My big day has come and gone. I’ve transitioned from a friend, to a best friend, to a girlfriend, to a fiancé, to a bride, and lastly to a wife.

So, now I’m living the wife life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

#wedding