Wedding Gowns, Flowers, and the Big Day

 

This tale of true love began in the month of August 2022. I met my sweet man on the dating site, Plenty of Fish. I was under the impression that "it" would never happen on that site, so I headed into my account to delete my profile. I was done. I figured if it was meant to be, it would happen in good time. But as I opened the profile, I noticed a good-looking man had replied to my query about who he was. 

I asked about him the last time I had been on the site because his eyes were kind, and his smile was nice. He had replied with a quick, "thank you," and moved on to ask me about myself. We chatted for a while and then chose to call each other. The conversation was great, making each other laugh and learning about our individual interests and opinions of life in general. Later in the day we moved to video chat. Could this man be a real person? Someone who is not out for the typical scams I had dealt with before? Turns out, he was. 

He is my Prince Charming, my sweet man, and my ideal. We met and quickly learned how good life can be with a partner. We laugh all the time, even over the silliest of occurrences, and smile at each other constantly. He always reaches for my hand when we're out and about and opens doors for me. I hear the beautiful words, "I love you, babe," consistently throughout the day and night. He warmed my heart and gave me security in knowing I wouldn't face another relationship that didn't live up to the hype of what true love can be. I had found the one, my man, my partner and soulmate. 

On Thanksgiving Day, in front of my family he didn't know, Terry proposed to me. For anyone who reads the blog, the post describes the day in better detail. But I have a wedding to get to today, so anyone wondering can read the post highlighted above. I was elated, but still watching for those "red flags". Fortunately, they never came. We moved on throughout the year, still laughing, still telling each other how we felt, still sharing our lives. Apparently, this was happening. It all felt surreal. 

We roll into June. June 17 was our planned wedding date. My daughter and her husband created a magical place on their ranch for us to wed and my son-in-law, John, took it upon himself to craft an amazingly beautiful pergola for us to stand and proclaim our love for each other. It was perfect. The setting, the pergola, the guests, all of it. 

Now I am typing this blog as Mrs. Macrae, not Vicki Perry. Yes, we are in the honeymoon high phase of life right now. I'm waking each morning to, "Good morning, my beautiful bride." I couldn't be happier. Terry tells me he couldn't be happier and has never felt like this before. 

The pictures are posted below, as I promised we would share the best moments of our wedding day here, on our blog, to keep these memories forever. We hope you enjoy the moments as much as we enjoyed living them that day. The honeymoon photos are going to follow, in future posts. But, without any more delay, here are the pictures of our special day. Simple, yet beautiful. Joy, laughter, family, and of course, love were the themes of the day. 

My son-in-law, John, presided over the wedding. He did it with class and love. We thank him so much for the beautiful ceremony, for keeping it light, and for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule to get ordained to complete the ceremony. We love and respect him dearly. And how about that amazing scenery?

With my stomach in my throat, we began the walk up to the pergola where we would become Mr. and Mrs. Macrae. So much anxiety! I had tears flowing down my cheeks before we even started. It was an extremely emotional weekend, with a baby gender reveal and now a wedding. Beautiful times in our lives that are so amazing. 

Terry and I reading our vows. Yes, my hair is a complete mess. I had it curled, but the wind was so strong up on the hill that day, the curls fell right out. I was blessed with that mess from birth. 

It was so cold and windy, but the day held off the predicted rain and the wedding went without a hitch. We were both extremely happy!

We said our vows and placed rings on each other's fingers. 

So on June 17, 2023 at 6:20 PM, we became husband and wife. Now the festivities begin!

Our beautiful family, eating a dinner of pulled pork, smoked beef brisket, baked beans, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, fruit, chips, and whatever else was put in front of us. We were hungry!

I love this amazing group of people! 

This is the meaning of life to me. Family, good times, laughter, joy, and making memories. I can never get enough. 

Our cake and cupcakes. 

Finishing our meal so we could get on to the cake cutting and throwing of the bouquet. Terry is proudly wearing his "Husband 6-17-23" shirt. I had my "Wife 6-17-23" shirt on too, which is white with rose gold printing, but it was so cold that I had to wear a light hoodie over it. 

My granddaughter, Madison, getting goofy.

Stepdaughter, Shar, and baby Zyrah.

Every time I took a bite, the camera was clicking. Made me laugh. Terry and I were and are so happy that the day went off without any issues. We had a blast with our family and things could not be better. 

My daughter, Dawn, and her husband, Andy. They spent two days smoking the meat for the big day. We are grateful for them! They also purchased the meat as a wedding gift, along with a group gift of a hotel room at the coast for a honeymoon. 

Daughter Brandy and her husband, Dan, happy as always. They "fit" together and always have.

Granddaughter Jess and her husband, Brandon. Love these two! Jess not only took our photos but did hair and makeup while taking care of her baby, Zyrah. Super woman!

My daughter, Marina, John her husband, and the children. Big Madison, little Madison, Kaylie Rose, and Keenan, our grandchildren. They were the hosts of this wonderful time and place. We love them all for the efforts they put into making this so special. 

Throwing the bouquet to some of the single ladies in our familial group. My new daughter, Mallory, is on the left-hand side of the ladies. She is difficult to catch in a photo! She tends to sit in the back and stay out of focus. Hmm, maybe we are related ...

Granddaughter, Kylee caught the bouquet.

Terry is always telling me things that crack me up. This photo shows one of those moments. 

Ah, the cake. We did nothing special. No smearing it on each other's faces or anything like that. We were trying to avoid riling up the group. One of my family traditions is to start a cake fight. Typically, it begins with my daughter Dawn and grandson Keenan. We purchased a small, double layered 8-inch cake along with 30 cupcakes to avoid some of that nightmare at Marina and John's beautiful home. Terry and I kept things mellow due to his cochlear implant that runs about $10,000 for the processor. We also held back because we didn't want to incite any sort of ideas of having the traditional cake fight that Marina had told the kids we would have no part of at the wedding. Well, you know kids and how well they listen (even if they are adults). 

Kaylie Rose walked up behind her mother and smashed a cupcake right in her face. This lit Marina up. I was shocked Kaylie had the guts to do this, but I found out later that Keenan had told her to. We still did not make it through a family gathering without the cake fight. It never fails. Poor Marina. 

After Terry and I shared the cake, we moved on to the toasts. Terry toasted me, our marriage, and our love. Marina toasted Terry and told him thank you for doing the little things that make me happy. My daughter and I looked at each other and the tears almost flowed, but we kept them at bay. Hey, makeup and stuff, you know? It was a beautiful toast and once again, I truly love my family. 

And since we have males opening the champagne, of course there were the moments of putting the bottle by the crotch and opening it to spray outward. I think it is a boy thing. 

After the ceremony, the toast, and the cake, we all sat around chatting for a while before Terry and I headed out for our honeymoon. This is what I love the most. The large family, the closeness, the love shared. Lots of laughter. 

Jessee and Brandon's daughter, Zyrah, my great granddaughter. She scored a cupcake and was so happy about it!

The sun was setting into the cloudy, gray skies. Behind us sat a photo opportunity that Jessee took advantage of. Gorgeous orange lit up the hills behind us. 

One final photo before we left for the honeymoon on the beach. Marina placed decor around and on the swing for photos. We couldn't pass up a chance to kiss again while we were sitting!

Terry and I loved our wedding. As we left for the honeymoon, we chatted about how wonderful the entire day was. Family, the love, the times we laughed, and of course, our wedding. Terry vowed his love and respect to me, and I reciprocated. Mine read a bit differently though. I had to throw in the vow to love him even when he is serving lunch to the wrong woman in a restaurant. For those who follow the blog or care to click on the above link, you'll understand why. 

We arrived at our hotel, checked in and thought back on how the day went. Our love was bound today. Not only was the love flowing between us as it usually does, but the love shown to us from our family was and is amazing. We love our large family and all that entails. It was a perfect day, an absolutely perfect ceremony. Blessings overflowed today. We have been blessed, for sure. 

Our evening was spent sitting out on our balcony at the hotel that hung out over the waters of the Siuslaw River as it calmly flowed under the bridge. The bridge lit up at night for safety reasons, but in our case, we chose to believe it was for romantic reasons. The reflection was gorgeous and definitely displayed a romantic, calming scene for us. 

One thing we noticed during the day was that no matter how beautiful the scenery is at the ranch, or how romantic and dramatic the lights made the venue or how stunning it all was, what stood out the most was how great it was to create memories, between us and family members. We kept it light and quick, yet Terry and I shared our feelings with each other. The rings are symbolic of our love, but the vows we said and the promises we make was what made the ceremony. 

Sharing time with family was heartwarming and beautiful. I have missed my family and our gatherings over the time Covid-19 kept us all in our homes in solitude. Now that we are able to convene in groups again, it's time to share the precious moments that we missed out on. As I write this post, my heart is full. Full of love and the feeling of complete joy. Our wedding was the best, although simple and that's how we wanted it. But what we got in return was more than we could have ever asked for and that was the love and kindness of our family. 

My husband shared moments with me on the way down to the ranch that meant more to me than anything I have ever been told. Without sharing our private moments in this post during that chat, the gist of it was to say to me that he would protect and love me unconditionally until the end of our lives. Of course, he had me bawling most of the way there, but they were happy tears shared between us. I can't be happier or more in love than I am with my sweet man, my husband, my partner, and my soulmate, Terry Macrae. He has my heart and soul lit up, more than ever before. We both feel we were brought together by an unseen force sent out by the universe, and as time moves forward, I see that is the case each day. He is perfect in every way, my awesome sweet man.  

We wish everyone the best in their lives and hope you find someone to share the best feeling one can feel in the way of love. A partner, a brother, sister, relative of any kind, or a pet. The homeless man or woman down the street could do with some of this type of love and kindness. Bless you all and we hope you find your someone, your person or fur baby that brings this love into your life and that your life is filled with love. This is our wish for you and to you. Allow yourself to open up and fall in love! Best feeling ever. 

Terry, Jessee, and me at the Oregon coast. 

Photographs were taken by JJean Photography, Jessee Jean Ricker, my granddaughter. All photos are under copyright and may not be used for any reason. Do not download these photos.