The Goodlaff Bride: May Day:! Breakin' 2 Electric Blogaloo--Mr. Goodlaff Speaks

Well, my friends, the end's not near; it's here! I have a few posts about our Mini-Moon, and after that, the Goodlaff Bride will officially transition to the Goodlaff Girl. Changes are afoot!

I think it's easy for us brides and brides-to-be to forget that there are two sides to every wedding planning story, and because you've listened to be babble for nearly a year, I thought it appropriate that Mr. Goodlaff get the very last word on our wedding.

Also, he came up with the title for this post on his own. I had absolutely nothing to do with that...

Mr. Goodlaff, the floor is yours:

It’s hard putting thoughts and words around our wedding day as it already seems so long ago. The whole day was just a blur. I was at our venue at 9 AM to meet The Enforcer to make sure everything went smoothly. My dad and stepmom helped me drag all of our wedding stuff from the house to the venue, the decorating at was going great, and for the first time in recent memory, I had nothing to do. I thought about coming home and taking a nap (I had been up until 1:30 AM the night before writing my vows and watching Elliott Smith videos on YouTube – I couldn’t sleep, OK? We all have our ways of calming down…) but I was scared I’d sleep through my alarm. So I did what any normal person would do hours before their wedding, I got a Starbucks coffee and sat on our couch watching episodes of “The Office”.

About noon the guys started showing up at the house and it was so nice to be able to kick it with four incredible guys. Between my brother, my two friends who I’ve known for 25+ years and my sister’s incredible significant other, I can’t imagine a better group of guys to be with me as I entered that next phase of my life. We chilled on the couch, watched the Giants game and talked about concrete countertops (I nodded my head in understanding despite having almost no idea what they were talking about; I guess construction skills skip a generation).

After I got the call from Miss Goodlaff that we were good to go to the venue, and after spending 15 minutes tying our ties – it’s harder than it looks, especially when you’re trying to do it on someone else – we were on our way. We had the rose ceremony planned as part of our wedding, but I wasn’t sure that we had actually gotten roses, so two of my groomsmen made a quick stop for flowers, which we ended up not needing, but they didn’t hesitate to offer which meant so much to me.
Now, you may have noticed in some of the previous posts that I may have had some water in my eyes, some may call them tears, but I want to assure you that it was purely allergies. Does anybody buy that? Anybody?

OK so they weren’t allergies; I was a mess. Right before we walked in, my groomsmen and I, as well as our officiant, had a quick pep-talk of the hands-in, “1,2,3,GO!” variety. We then entered and I just had an absolute flood of emotions. Seeing all of our friends and family looking back smiling, seeing our year of hard work all laid out in front of me, and most importantly knowing that I was going to marry the girl I loved with all of my heart made me lose it. I had tears in my eyes before I was halfway down the aisle. I wanted to take it all in, but it was all just a blur:

I remember my dad offering me some Kleenex which I very unwisely turned down. I remember watching the ring-bearer and flower-girl make the most adorable entrances ever. I vaguely remember Miss Goodlaff walking in and shaking her dad’s hand as he passed her to me. Her dad asked me the next day if I remembered what he had told me, and I had to honestly answer no (it was “take care of my little girl”, I believe). Mostly I remember little things without remembering the big things, which is strange. For example, I can remember the smile that came across her face when I quoted a song by her favorite band (Konstantine by Something Corporate) in my vows, something not that significant, but that’s what sticks with me. I was in tears, or at least close to tears, the entire ceremony. I think it was just a catharsis, just a release of pure emotions.

The rest of the night flew by. I was heading in to take a picture with my mom and brother in the Photo Booth when our song (“Come on Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners) came on. That is how we ended up with pictures of me dancing in my suit, a life vest and a visor with dreads.

Guest Photos--thanks Emily!

I remember her dad making me so nervous about his prized car that I drove 10 MPH under the speed limit right down the middle of the road so I didn’t scratch the hubcaps. But I most remember getting home, sitting on the couch with my new wife and having the “oh my God we’re married” talk. Adrenaline got us through the day, but once things slowed down, the enormity of it all was apparent.

Now here I am, three and a half months later, sitting on the couch next to my wife reminiscing about our wedding day. People asked me how it felt, and all I can say is it’s the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. I think we both knew very early on in our relationship that we had something special; we didn’t know it was this special, but we knew that something was there. Looking at our lives the next few months, and talking about where we want to be in 3 years, etc. is scary, but exciting at the same time.

I’d like to close what is my second, and probably final, blog post with a quote from Mr. Christopher Turk, a character on the show Scrubs. He was at his rehearsal dinner, speaking from the heart to his soon to be wife and said the following:
“When I look into your eyes, I see the future. I see kids, I see minivans...you name it, I see it. The weird thing is, though, as long as I see your smile, none of that stuff scares me.”

I can’t think of a better way to sum up the way I love Mrs. Goodlaff; none of life’s big decisions scare me since I know I have someone by my side for wherever life takes us.

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Friday, August 26, 2011

May Day:! Breakin' 2 Electric Blogaloo--Mr. Goodlaff Speaks

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