Eat, drink, and be married.

So we did it. I may have gotten flustered during the ceremony and said the wrong words, and got grass stains on my wedding dress from jumping around in an apple orchard, and never got around to eating a piece of pie, but we did it. I woke up to cloudy skies, and shivered as a strong wind blew across the lake during one of many photo sessions, and when I heard someone say "It's misting outside!" sometime in the night, I simply brushed it off and kept on dancing. We're married now. We did it.

When you have a DIY wedding, but you're far from a DIY bride, it certainly helps to have friends and family who will lend a helping hand. Or maybe 50 helping hands, during a span of 16 months, including one long, whirlwind weekend of joining together and making it all finally happen.

That's what I saw when I looked around on my wedding day -- every brown basket filled with apples, every light strung across the trunk of a tree, every sign posted along the grounds, every green flag and pie stand and hydrangea bunch and baby's breath garland and lit candle and song played represented someone very close to us who helped make our day incredibly special. Our wedding was not only a union of two people madly in love, but a proud display of what beauty and perfection results from family and friends who truly care. My heart swells with love and gratitude for each of them, and you know who you are. Thank you.

And now, it's back to life as usual. We're taking our honeymoon in February, to Mexico, when it's good and cold in Chicago and a week at the beach is sure to cure any bout of winter blues. There are boxes of china to unpack and recipes upon recipes upon recipes to share. And there is a husband, and a wife, and every day, together.