Signing off as a Dennihy

After nearly two months, a lot of paperwork and ~~several~~ far too many naps, I’ve recovered from getting married, changed my name (as far as the federal government is concerned) and I can officially call myself a White. It’s been a whirlwind of two months and we’ve loved just about every second of the journey.

Everyone tells you that your wedding day will be the best day of your life. Our entire wedding week surpassed every expectation and filled that claim for more. Everyone also shares endless advice. I couldn’t love that tradition more, especially one particular coworker who kept me sane the week of by sharing a new story daily (thanks Adam).

I’m sure I could blog and share photos for hours, but to tribute all of the advice and stories shared, it felt best to break down down the day with our favorite shared words of wisdom.

Five pieces of wedding advice worth sharing

1. Get plenty of sleep the night before

First, this didn’t happen whatsoever. Though after staying out with friends until 3:00 AM on our wedding day, I wish it did. So did the five hours I spent napping on the couch on Sunday.

Living close to the wedding venue (and having in-laws who also live within a few miles) I was fortunate enough to have the girls stay at Patrick and I’s little home on wedding eve. When we planned it this way, I thought to myself “Fantastic. My own bed? I’ll sleep like a baby!”

No such thing. After about 1:00 in the afternoon the nausea set in and didn’t subside until after the ceremony. Having the cops come to your door at 2:00 AM after a neighbor backed into your bridesmaid’s car didn’t help either. Yes. That happened. But survive we did – and thankfully no one was hurt.

2. Every hour, step back for a full minute and just take it all in

This did happen. From the moment we joined hands at the alter, to soaking up our loved ones all together on the dance floor at Johnny’s Hideaway at 3:00 AM, this was hands down the best advice we were given.

Per the advice of our planner, we opted to forgo cocktail hour, choosing to have plated hors d’oeuvres brought to a room in the offices of the reception venue. It may have only been 15 minutes or so, but just taking a few minutes to soak in what was happening, just the two of us, was so special.

3. Dance … and then dance some more

We may not have had the chance to speak to every one of our guests (if we didn’t speak to you 1:1, know we love you just as much), but we did make the most of the dance floor.

P is NOT a public dancer. Pretty early on in our dating days, I made him a compromise that he only had to dance with me for one song at every wedding we attended (which meant a LOT of girlfriend dance days) … if he would agree to dance every dance should we ever get married. Welp, that paid off. Maybe I had a hunch 😉

4. Don’t leave for your honeymoon the next day

I don’t know how people make it to the airport 12 hours later. See the five hour Sunday nap comment above. That combined with a going away brunch for our out of town guests allowed us to recover and savor every second with family and friends.

5. It will go by in the blink of an eye

So that’s not quite advice, but I don’t think I really understood what anyone meant until we experienced this ourselves. Our entire wedding week literally flashed before our eyes and from what I hear, the years and then decades will continue to do the same. And in this case, we look forward to soaking it all in, one moment at a time.