Our Wedding Day

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As some of you may know I was married to my beautiful wife, Tiffany, last weekend. As many more of you may know, it takes a lot of energy to plan and execute a wedding. Forgive me for allowing my weekly Steemit meditations to slip.

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Tiffany and I live just outside of Portland, Oregon in small town called Fairview. We moved here 3 years ago from Southern California in search of a slower pace and a more conducive space for who we are as people. We have been together for 4 and a half years and I asked her to marry me on the Oregon Coast on our 3rd anniversary. I have 2 children from my previous marriage and Tiffany has been absolutely selfless in welcoming them into our home and providing leadership to them as their stepmother. She is a true blessing and polishes my sometimes jagged edges with grace and gratitude. How could I not marry someone so truly unique, overflowing with intrinsic beauty and value.

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The Venue

As an artist, managing finances is not always my strong suit. I am ultra grateful for every commission agreed to and for every print sold because sometimes neither happen for extended periods of time. Some months are great and some months are anxiety-filled but I crank away everyday in order to raise our family. Because we needed to figure out how to manifest our dream day on a relatively limited wallet we put in a lot of work to find the perfect location.

After searching for property in the Columbia River Gorge and around Mt. Hood only to come up with costs ranging in the 10's of thousands simply to rent the space, we turned our attention back toward the location of our engagement, the Oregon Coast.

Hours of Google searches finally resulted in Tiffany coming across a beautiful venue overlooking the Pacific Ocean called Stone Crest Cellars in Newport. We were blown away by their total willingness to help us create a magnificent space. Stonecrest's owner, Judy, is well aware of the costs of a wedding and has developed her business to better serve folks who don't have exorbitant amounts of cash to burn. (As of this writing the average cost of a wedding in the US is on the order of $26,000.) Judy serves a truly valuable function for the rest of us and hopefully more entrepreneurs follow in her footsteps. We are grateful for her and her husband Craig.

We took a weekend trip out to meet the owners and get a feel for the vibe and quickly decided it would be just right for what we hoped.

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The Big Day

As nearly any married couple can tell you, nervousness mounts to crescendo in the weeks leading up to a wedding. Ours was no different. We had beautiful moments sharing our butterflies and some really large mountains to climb that tested our commitment. (I even spontaneously chopped my long hair:)) But we made it and it really could not have been better.

Tiffany looked like an absolute princess. Our family and friends flew in from all around the US and Tiffany's brother, Jonathan, even ended up timing his leave from the Navy to make the trip out and "give Tiffany away" (her father passed away a couple years back). The rainy days leading up to the wedding completely disappeared and left us with totally blue skies and sunshine. I highly recommend getting married if you aren't, its really quite surreal.

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The Wedding Party

My best friend Collin, whom I have known for some 25 years, accepted the role of my Best Man and Tiffany's dearest friend Allison made the long haul from Florida as the Maid of Honor. My sister, Bailey, was Tiffany's second Bridesmaid and Bailey's significant other, Austin, was my second Groomsman.

I'd say choosing your wedding party was one of the more difficult tasks. Well, not so much choosing but breaking it to other friends that they didn't make the cut. In the end, it is what it is and most of my other friends didn't end up coming out any way so they can all just eat turds :P

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The Reception

Our reception was held just up the grassy hill behind Stone Crest Cellars, in a quaint, greenhouse-style, covered vestry. Judy and Craig, absolutely crushed everything in the most positive sense. The environment was rustic and lush with tropical plant life, the flower arrangements were breathtaking, the appetizers and main course were delicious and there was plenty of laughter and wine to go around. Toasts were made, wedding cupcakes were shared, our certificate was signed and dancing ensued:)

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Afternoon and Evening

As far as it was communicated to me, everyone thoroughly enjoyed taking in all of the beautiful scenery and mingling in the company of new "in-laws". So many beautiful connections were made and past heartaches were mended between siblings. Before we knew it the whole thing was coming to a close.

We said our "Thank yous" and "Goodbyes" and sent everyone off to enjoy themselves around town for a bit. Tiffany and I sat out in front of Stonecrest and talked for sometime, soaking it all in. And sure enough, as is most often the case with me, we were late to the next gathering:)

We spent the remainder of the afternoon piecing together tables and chairs and laughing over pints at the local Irish Pub. I do believe we were finally able to commandeer enough seats to accommodate everyone. Grandpa ended up taking the kids for the night and the rest of us moved on to playing pool and drinking cocktails in downtown Newport. The night was hilarious and well spent among family and friends. We closed shop around midnight And well.... you know the rest;)

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My Vows

It may not seem like a total novelty to write your own vows but I was quite surprised to learn that many people don't. The internet abounds with default commitments and though they can be helpful in getting a grasp on what is appropriate, nothing quite describes your own commitment as a well thought out, well planned, written or memorized statement of your intent. I would like to share mine with you and seal it up in the blockchain for posterity :D

Dearest Tiffany,

I remember the first note you ever wrote to me. A long, flowery email recounting all of the reasons why you thought you might never love again. It was our first "heart opening" session. But for every "what if?" that you proposed, you followed with a more salient "what if we don't?" It was a genuine display of courage in my humble opinion.

The truth is, I had never received such a sincere display of conscience, such a confident investment of spirit from any one... save for... well... my mother.

Since those very early days we've crossed some incredible dimensions. We've seen Heaven and we've seen... other stuff. But no matter what, I have always known in my Heart of hearts that you were my wife.

Tiffany, I love you more than I am capable of expressing. I value your intense loyalty, your unbelievable selflessness. I admire your unparalleled courage and I cherish your open mind. I promise to hold your heart and to commit every day to becoming a better man. Even if some of those days I drive you straight up the wall:)

I want to Thank You for all that you have done for my children (and now your step children). Thank you for every moment that you've made our home a better one. Thank you for every memory we've shared. And Thank You for being here before God and our family.

I Love You beyond my own comprehension. And so I vow to always remain by your side. I vow to respect you and to always be a leader to our growing family. I promise to always give my greatest effort to support you and in kind, allow myself to be supported by you. I vow to listen and to learn from you and I promise to always cherish you as you absolutely deserve.

You are my best friend and my dream woman and to you I give my heart.

I Love You Tiffany!