This morning, I got to enjoy what I’ve enjoyed for three whole years now: I opened my eyes, and I saw my husband. I can’t image life without him, or life with anyone else.

Today we’re celebrating three wonderful years of marriage. Three years ago today was the most beautiful day of my life: Perfect fall weather, surrounded by my family and friends, enjoying the gorgeous payoff from months and months of hard work. I loved-loved-loved our wedding! We spent the entirety of our honeymoon repeating to each other, “It just couldn’t have been any better, could it?” And that was true — for the most part.

There are some things that would have made our wedding less stressful. There are other things I wouldn’t change for the whole world. But now that I’ve seen weddings from three angles — bride, bridesmaids, and wedding professional — I’ve got a different perspective than I had before my own wedding. So here’s my list: The changes and the keepers:

Things I’ve Learned I Would Do Differently:

• Have a first look! (I really wish Danny and I had had that special time on our wedding day).
• Hire wedding professionals who truly understand my vision for my wedding day and mesh with my personality.
• Not try to DIY everything (I ended up wanting to pull my hair out!) I would instead choose just a few projects that are really important to me, and outsource the rest.
• With the DIY projects I would undertake, I wouldn’t procrastinate! I’d get them completed as soon as I could.
• Really research my options — I wouldn’t  just go with what I’d seen at other weddings because I assumed that is the only way something can/should be done.
• Spread my wedding budget out according to what is most important to Danny and me, not according to how wedding magazines tell me to spend it.
• Get a wedding planner! It would have be so wonderfully freeing — for my mom and for me — if someone else had been overseeing the wedding plans, especially the day of the wedding!
• Make more time to enjoy the lead-up to the wedding with my family.

Things I’ve Realized I Wouldn’t Change for the World:

• My groom (he’s a keeper).
• Making sure I spoke to every single guest at my wedding reception, making them feel welcome and wanted and appreciated.
• Choosing a venue and menu that fit my vision and made our guests feel well taken-care-of.
• Having a kids-only table at the reception, where the kids were entertained with coloring books and small games. (And they got their food first. Stroke of genius on the coordinator’s part!)
• Having decor that was meaningful to me, not just space filler. Everything was built around coleus plants, which my family has always grown since I was a child; I always recall seeing it in our backyard.
• Giving the pastor time to perform a ceremony that was much more than just vows; it was a worship service.
• Scheduling really fun, meaningful bachelor and bachelorette parties — a chance to get our best friends all together for a time to relax.
• Pies instead of wedding cake! It was personal (we love pies!), a little different (though more common now), beautiful, and perfect for fall.
• An incredible honeymoon — because we really needed that time to relax after the hectic week of the wedding.

Well, we’re off to celebrate our anniversary today with some other wedding work. Yes, we’re working today — scouting venues for upcoming weddings, making some deliveries and whatnot. Then we’re heading out to dinner. It’s a much less glamorous day than three years ago. It’s a much less adrenaline-packed, exhausting day than three years ago, too.

Three years ago, life as we know it now began. I would change some things if we were getting married now, for sure. But I wouldn’t change most of it for anything in the world.

~ Laura