Year One…

I’ve been married to this boy for one year.

I’ve been his wife for 368 days.

I still find myself looking at him, smiling, saying over and over in my head, “That’s my husband… my husband”, as if it’s all some surreal dream.

I was never one of those little girls who twirled around with a tablecloth on their head, squirrelling away images in a secret scrap book, dreaming of my big one-day-moment. Sure, Ken and Barbie tied the knot a few times, but that’s as far as I got in the world of weddings.

During my dating years, I thought it would be nice to marry at some point, but it certainly wasn’t high on my agenda.

Oh, ho no.

So it’s sometimes crazy to think that in the blink of an eye, my whole life changed. Mark swept me off my feet and just 9 months after he asked me to be his wife, on 4th August 2013, I was waking up for the last time as Miss O’Brien.

Image by Horseshoe Photography.

Our wedding was lovely and one of the most beautiful days of my life. Getting married really is quite something ladies & gentleman. But, was it perfect…? No. Was it everything I’d imagined…? Not quite. I’d probably say that’s true for the first year of marriage too.

The classic line “So how’s married life…?” haunts you for the first twelve months and I for one have really struggled with an answer to this question. I thought I would have a constant newlywed glow, a permanent glorious smile and a simple answer to those quizzical friendly faces. But I didn’t, neither of us did.

We didn’t get married to live happily ever after. We got married because we wanted to be a team. A team of two, for the rest of our lives. We’re good for each other, we balance each other out, we make each other laugh, we know we’ve got each others support and we recognise this everyday by uttering those three precious words. Oh, I also fancy the pants off him and he’s my best friend. Just in case there was any doubt.

Our first year of marriage has gone so quickly and, like many I’m sure, we’ve probably crammed in a little too much. We’ve both started new businesses, both made changes to accommodate the other and we’ve also taken that first step into family life with the new addition of Gatsby! He’s cute yes, but a pup is no picnic.

Image by Horseshoe Photography.

So all in all it’s been a year of adjustment and it’s been hard, but it’s also been glorious.

I feel so privileged to have this life, so privileged to be carving out this journey and so privileged to be his.

Planning our wedding and becoming a wife has been a beautiful journey and I’m learning a little bit more about Mark everyday, I’m also learning more about myself too. Mark has shown me such generosity, such support and such love whilst I’ve been creating these pages and I know amongst all of his giving I’ve probably done a little too much taking.

So, I’m excited to be in year two… Excited to go on another new adventure with the boy, excited to try harder and learn even more… But most importantly, I’m excited to be in this moment.

For all of you in the throws of planning your wedding, there’s no need to try for perfection.

Your team of two is already perfect.

Lots of love…