Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Where it all Began


My wedding was everything that I always wanted it to be. The people that I wanted to attend were there. The guys that I always wanted to be my groomsmen were. And, most importantly, I married the kind of woman that I had been waiting for.

Our wedding ceremony was held outdoors at the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links in St. Cloud, Florida. It’s a brand new place that Sandy and I fell in love with as soon as we saw it.

As I readied to walk down the isle for our 4:00pm ceremony, I noticed how beautiful the evening sky was. You may remember a previous post of mine where I talked about times when I would pray to God while walking under an evening sky. Many times, I’d talk to Him about the woman that He was going to guide me to eventually. Thanking Him for what I knew He was going to do. Now, I was getting ready to walk under a similar sky, preparing to receive that very woman I prayed for all those times in the past. It was a serendipitous moment that I never could have predicted.

As I found my spot on the platform, my best man, David Pentecost, looked up at me and said with true enthusiasm in his eyes and with a grin on his face, “This is nice, man!”

Of course, when the time came for Sandy to make her entrance, she looked amazing. As I stepped down from the stage to receive her from her Dad, I shook his hand and gave him a hug… and almost began to cry at that point… but I held it together.

Before we knew it, we were being pronounced Husband and Wife!

The reception that followed was held indoors at a venue that is right beside where the ceremony took place.

I really believe that the love that Sandy and I share, showed through and everyone could sense it. I had so many people come up to me during the reception and tell me how much they were enjoying our wedding. Some even said that it was one of the nicest ones that they had ever been to!

We spent our first night at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in downtown Orlando and then ventured down to Clearwater, Florida for the remainder of the week. It was a carefree time and everything a honeymoon should be.

The following Saturday night, as we were slowly making our re-entry into our new normal lives together, we stopped by Downtown Disney before returning home. After we watched “Yes Man” at the AMC theatre, I got my camera and tripod out of the car. I had to capture the image that you see above. It’s Sandy and I standing outside of the “Pop Gallery” at Downtown Disney. This is where we first met face to face on December 22, 2007 after finding each other on Match.com.

Once I met Sandy, I never looked back. I had no reason to.