Memories from my wedding day.

Me and my wife celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. I reminisced by looking back at the pictures and videos taken by the photographer and our friends and family. I realized I'd forgotten about 90% of my wedding day. 

Most females start dreaming about her wedding day when she is a toddler. A male prepares for his wedding when his fiance says it's time to select "colors and fonts for the invitations." Preparations for our "special day" also included, selecting a photographer, the DJ, the menu, the cake, the location for the reception, tuxedos, brides maid dresses, invitations and of course...the mariachi. Wedding preparations also included several arguments, heated discussions and many boxes of Kleenex to wipe away tears,

Our wedding day was over in a blink of an eye. Were the thousands of tears and calories spent on preparing for the wedding worth it? I didn't remember the color of the napkins, the flavor of the cake, the center pieces or the name of the DJ. Let me tell you the four things I remember from my wedding day;

1. Seeing my beautiful wife's silhouette as they opened the doors in the rear of the church. I'm glad everyone turns to see the bride because I was balling my eyes out.
2. The priest saying, "I am honored to be the first, to present to you...Mr. and Mrs. Joe and Christine Saldivar." We turn around and I saw all my close friends and family in one location. It was amazing.
3. I placed a small ice chest in my car with a nice bottle of champagne. I drove my new bride to the New Port Beach pier and we walked out to the end of the pier to enjoy a toast on our path towards spending the rest of our lives together. I'm sure I should have received a fine for having an open container...but I didn't care. I just married the most amazing person in the world. I think I could have talked my way out of that ticket.
4. Lastly...Jennifer made it to the wedding. Jennifer was the girlfriend of a college friend of mine. Christine was quite leery of inviting Jennifer to the wedding. Not only did Jennifer make it to the wedding and the reception, she wore a RED dress. I didn't know that guests were not supposed to wear colors that divert attention from the bride. Not only did Jennifer wear a red polka-dot dress, she also loved to dance. She is the Tasmanian Devil on the dance floor. I happened to be dancing with a family friend and I heard Jennifer scream from the other side of the dance floor..."Hey Joe, get ready. Here I come!" She sprinted towards me and leaped into the air like Olympic gold medal winner Bob Beamon (see picture above).  I caught her and she wrapped her legs around me while her head and arms gyrated to the rhythm of the music. Oh...my college buddies, my cousins and my uncles began to hoot and holler with joy. My new wife, Christine was not so delighted. Jennifer released me from her WWE leg hold and she was back on the dance floor. Thirty seconds later, I hear..."Hey Joe, get ready. Here I come again!" She started sprinting towards me and launched in the air once again. I had to think fast. What could I do so she wouldn't do this again? I dropped her on purpose. I'm not an animal. I put my arms out to make it look good, but I made no effort to catch her. She bounced off my chest, landed on the dance floor and we both laughed at my "mistake". At the time, Christine didn't laugh, but now, our ribs hurt with laughter when we look back at our wedding day. ​    

Notice that none of my wedding day memories include any of the multitude of very "important wedding preparations". I hope I can help my sons and future daughter-in laws put things in perspective. The simple things and "tragedies" are the moments you will eventually remember quite fondly. Enjoy the simple moments and embrace the embarrassments. But what the heck do I know...I'm just Joe.