Finally, I can officially say I am a married woman! May 19th, 2018 I walked down a small humble aisle in a gorgeous lodge, to my best friend and made him mine forever… well, officially that is.
I’ve been with DJ since I was essentially a kid still. I met him at 18 years old- I knew nothing, had next to nothing and was coming from a rough place in my life and required a lot of love and healing. I needed someone caring, loving and bold. Bold enough to tell me I’m wrong, make me get my crap together and love me hard. DJ did all that and more. He has undoubtedly helped me become a woman, not only in this relationship of ours but as a single person. He has always wanted the best for me even if it didn’t include him. This is how I knew he was the one. We used to say “Forever” and talk about marriage and everything.. YEARS ago. We were dating a week and said “I love you”. It really was never a question, even when others thought we were crazy- we always knew this was the real deal.
We got engaged in St. Marteen on November 15th, 2016. Just shy of our 5 year anniversary (because I am an impatient jerk). Long story short – he asked, I said OF COURSE (eventually after crying), and I almost broke my face running into a door in excitement. It was a great day (lol). I had this gorgeous promise of forever… and knew instantly. I. did. not. want. to. have. a. wedding. This is for a long huge list of reasons to be honest but to keep it short.. My family is very mixed and broken (we’ll get into that another post), I hate attention, and just never been into the idea of spending a lot of money for a day that comes and goes. Like most things in our relationship, Dj talked me out of what I wanted cause he thinks he knows what’s best and next thing you knew we had a date and venue. Ugh…
And now, about a year and half later… I am cringing while saying, like most times.. he was right. I literally could not have asked for a more perfect day. I could go on for hours- no… days, about our wedding but I’ll try to just go over the highlights.
I’ll start with the day before- we had to set up our own wedding. This was stressful and crazy to include in the weekend, and added a whole level of stress to me because if something didn’t look right or flow right… it would be my fault. Like usual… I stressed for nothing (this will be something I likely say a lot). My tribe is awesome needless to say. A lot of our bridal party, our parents, my uncle, my niece, and some people in between really rallied together and helped it become perfection. They understood me and what I wanted. My mom and Amy were really instrumental here. I know what I like, I know that they know what that is.. I am not the best with delegation and direction. SO… when you cannot do… you ask someone else to do. Two ladies who have been married, created their own days and wanted what was best for me… and they killed it. But everyone really did so much. String lights, bar set up, centerpiece creations and flower arrangements was just a few. I walked out of there feeling totally different. Dare I say, a little more… excited? Yep. So we went back to our hotel, I got ready and went to our rehearsal dinner. And it was great. We got to give gifts to our favorite people, eat great food and of course… rehearse. (thanks Amy) But really my favorite moments of the dinner was surprising my sister-in-law with a graduation cake and my mother-in-law with a birthday cake, and a moment most people didn’t see. DJ and I snuck off to a corner and prayed. Just took a second of that crazy insane day and prayed together. For our day, for our marriage, for our love. That time the next day, things wouldn’t be too different daily but they would be a lot different. Crazy.. but I feel like that prayer worked. Or I’ll tell myself that anyway.
I had spent MONTHS nervous, stressing and working at making everything. Obsessing over every detail and scared to death to do all the things involved in the day. But I woke up on the morning of our wedding and felt such a new sense of calm. I knew that everything was gonna be what it was and all that mattered was I was marrying the love of my life. I got ready with my momma, my bridesmaids, my flower girl and her lovely momma. Those moments is where I got to see these girls get dolled up, talk and get ready for the day… and I will cherish this morning with them all. Then, before the guys would need to take off, DJ and I took a minute to have my brother-in-law exchange our wedding gifts for us and video everything (something I will cherish FOREVER). We both cried ugly tears, which we were both excited about (lol). I had my mom help me put on my dress, had a first look with my dad, and fought back tears every 2 minutes. Now quick- My parents are my best friends in the universe. This day was possible partly because of them, and it was so much more special because they were involved. My mom did so much… bridal shower planning (it was amazing), bach bash help, and every special detail on my day. Their well thought out gifts, little letters or notes, and items from their wedding day. These are things I could only dream of some time ago, moments I used to pray for.. my parents are really freaking awesome. (more details of these wonderful people in a later post)
But then… it was OFF! I won’t lie.. I was getting nervous as we made the drive to the ceremony, so another thing I was thankful for was taking a minute right outside the door with my dad and getting a quick pep talk from him. Really, all it took was “it’s gonna be okay, you got this” and we went. I saw DJ and every single day, every heartache, trauma, good day and bad, everything… was worth it. I have loved him for 6 years, 6 months, and 1 day… and this moment was my favorite out of all of them.
My best friend in the whole entire universe married us. My sweet uncle Craig. The one human in the entire world who has been by my side since the day I was born. Hindsight, that was one of the best decisions I made about the wedding. He was the PERFECT person for the job. His words were perfect. Our hand binding ceremony with our parents, gram and our niece Brea… perfect. Our vows to each other.. perfect. I never made a better promise. We got to our reception before everyone else which was also a really amazing part of our day. We got to see everything put together, absorb the scene (and a drink or two) and really bask in the work everyone put in and how beautiful it was. Oh, and sign the marriage license.. that was important too (lol). From this point, I have no other way to describe it but perfect. Our introductions, our first dance, my dance with my dad, the speeches, the food, the drinks, the cake, our speech. EVERYTHING. Every vendor was perfect and added a unique touch to our day. Our venue.. I mean… we got to feed ponies… freaking ponies at our wedding! We danced all night long, non stop. Seriously- it was a room of people we love dearly, whom we know love us back, and we were all happy for the same thing… DJ and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together.
So yes, it pains me but DJ was right. I needed that day. I needed a wedding day. It is a day I will never forget. I walked away happy about every single thing. The only negative thing was.. that it ended and I wanted it to last forever. But being Alicia Ruppert forever, and a few photos, will do just fine.
Ruppert Ranch 