My deceased parents attended my wedding

Cat and I got married! We tied the knot on May 28, 2016. It was my dream wedding in every way. We were surrounded by SO MUCH LOVE… I’m so thankful to our family and friends who came to support us and be witness to this special moment in our lives.

As I got ready for the day, I wondered if I might fall into a puddle of sorrow at some point, missing my parents and feeling sadness about their absence…Here I am looking at my parents wedding album and my written vows (Photos by Jos Studios).

Before the gown… I was trying to stay centered.

I asked my Aunt Phyllis to put my veil on. The veil was my mother’s.

When the day arrived, all I could feel was incredibly blissed out to the max, grateful, thankful and full of love, unlike any experience I have ever had. I didn’t cry at my own wedding, not once. I never felt bad. I never felt sad. I just felt pure joy. And that’s what every bride should feel on her wedding day.

In order to accomplish this, I decided early on that I would focus only on the love, and wouldn’t let anything take me out of the moment. Nothing was worth all the time, energy, money, spirit, or present moment

I worked with a seamstress to update my dress to use pieces of my mom’s wedding dress and her veil. I also added a piece of one of my dad’s CBS hats inside my dress over my heart. These little details made me feel like they were surrounding me and I really felt like they were a part of my day… until I saw this.

My cousin, Shelby, took this photo with a Polaroid camera right after we invited my parents, Cat’s dad and our grandmothers into the ceremony. Take a look at that “cloud” over us. Not visible in any other photos or video that was taken that day. I would say that was them.