This past Saturday, the 12th, I had the honor of officiating my first wedding. It was pretty cool because it was the wedding of two of my close friends, Jake Thurman and Kristen Matlock. I was slightly nervous but figured that since I had everything manuscript, it couldn’t go just horribly wrong. Their wedding was in Luther, Oklahoma which is a little ways outside of Edmond where I went to college. This meant that I got to be reunited with all of my friends from college. A large part of who I am can be attributed to my roommates and a few guys I lived practically next door to.
Every time I pay a visit to Edmond, I am now asked the same question. “When are you gonna bring your wife and girls up here for us to meet?” Finally, that question could be answered when I convinced them to join me. We made the six and a half hour trek up to our Edmond hotel on Friday just in time to check in before going to the wedding rehearsal. The girls are good travelers when they have distractions in front of them (ex: dvd players and iPads). I brought my girls along with me to the rehearsal and that’s when all of our fun began. The longer we were around my friends and their spouses, the more Ashley and the girls took to my friends. It was a beautiful thing for me to see because I have wanted them to know a large part of why I am the way I am and the people we spent the weekend with had a large hand in influencing that. By the end of the weekend the girls were inviting them over to our house to spend the night, which is something that might be a little harder than they realize with it being just a little bit of a drive.
As the main event approached on Saturday night, I was hanging out with Jake and all of the groomsmen outside when I got a text about 15 minutes before the wedding was supposed to start. It was from Ashley and all it said was “completely lost”. I immediately called her and she was in semi-panic mode because of how badly she wanted to be there for the whole thing. I didn’t say it over the phone because I didn’t want her to feel bad but I felt the same way. This made me realize something.
Every time I do anything publicly, I want my wife there. I think it’s something that we both want and I also think that when our roles are reversed, she wants me there just as bad as I want to be there. I have found a lot of comfort in being the number 1 fan of my number 1 fan. We are each other’s biggest cheerleaders, even if we might be terrible at whatever it is we’re doing. Ashley could be my only audience and that would be alright with me.
After switching GPS apps on her phone and some grace, I received a text about 5 minutes before the wedding saying “victory” and to my relief, I watched my gorgeous wife and 2 cute daughters sign in at the wedding and sit down. We started a few minutes late and so I had time to watch them make their way in and I told all the groomsmen how hot of a wife I had (not sure if any of them heard me though so I thought I’d mention it here to make sure they knew I said that!). I also got to be in a unique position in that I was the last guy with Jake before he became a married man. He helped me realize what I was like right before I got married and that that was that he was nervous as all get out. I did my best to remind him that I was doing 95 percent of the talking and that all he had to do was say I do, repeat anything I told him to repeat, and kiss Kristen when I told him to. He told me the same thing I told myself which was that he understood and yet was still nervous. I finally told him the last thing I remember before getting married and that was that he will feel nervous the entire time all the way up until he sees Kristen walking down the aisle. Once he sees that, everything else will go away and nothing will make him nervous anymore.
When he finally saw his stunningly beautiful bride, Kristen coming down the aisle with her dad, he had a look on his face I had never seen before. It was a smile that looked like he was comforted. I never got a chance to ask him after the wedding if that nervous feeling went away, but if it didn’t, then he sure did hide it well.
Honestly, my favorite part was when Jake and me first got up in front of everyone. Jake was busy scanning the area seeing who all was there and smiling at all of the family and groomsmen/bridesmaids coming down the aisle. I was scanning the area, but only looking for one person. It turns out, Ashley was trying to make eye contact with me the whole time like she already knew what I was doing and to say “I’m right here!” Officiating Jake and Kristen’s wedding was something that I’ll always cherish and remember, but my favorite part was having my wife and girls there.
As the reception went on, Audrey and Addison became social butterflies as my friends all came to meet them and Ashley. They did what they tend to do and found 2 or 3 people to cling to and play with. Somehow, Ryne Wilson came out on top as the top teddy bear of the night with Corey and Amber Pless taking a close second. A big shout out to my best friend Colby Fabrie for convincing the girls to give our boxer puppy yet another last name now making him Triton Tyrone Bonine Lankford Esquire Colby.
I think that road trips are starting to become one of my favorite things to do with Ashley and the girls. We don’t like the drive too much but so far, our trips to Nashville and Oklahoma City have been well worth the trip. I’m so blessed to have family that loves and appreciates my roots and influences. That’s the dream. I’m living it.
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