Today is my 1st wedding anniversary! (Edit: I started writing this post on June 5th, but life with a baby means I’m not actually posting it until one week later 😁)

Considering I was only married 365 days ago, it shouldn’t be too remarkable for me to fit into my wedding dress again today. However in those 365 days I grew human being, gained 34 pounds, and gave birth! During my pregnancy, it was challenging to see my body changing so quickly and not recognize my new shape.

I have run long distance since I was 14 years old and I’ve always had a more slender or athletic body type which I hoped I could return to after having my baby. Brynnley would be three months old on our wedding anniversary June 5th, so I made it my goal to try to fit into my wedding dress around that date. The skirt of my dress is big and layered, so my hips and legs were guaranteed to fit. The waist and bust were altered to fit snuggly.

I woke up on Saturday morning and went for a short run around the neighborhood. Then I showered and fed Brynnley and decided to try on the dress before I had anymore food, coffee or water in me to give me the best shot 😆 I called Zeb in to help zip and clasp the back……holding my breath (literally).

It zipped to the top and reached the clasps together! No easy feat for this breastfeeding bust, ha!

Aside from that, there’s not much else of a “story” to this particular bucket list item, so I’ll take advantage of this opportunity to instead share some of the dress shopping and wedding details from 2021 since I wasn’t blogging at that point in time. :)

Wedding dress shopping was one of the highlights of the whole planning process. I’ve ALWAYS loved dressing up, and fully embraced the opportunity to dawn as many $2,000 dresses as I wanted in cute little boutiques with bubbly and my best friends.

I knew I wanted a big ballgown skirt. I didn’t want anything super slim fitting all the way down because I wanted to eat, drink and dance the night away at my wedding without thinking about “sucking it in” haha!

I tried them all – long sleeve, no sleeves, sleek satin, pure sequin…..and ultimately it was a strapless ballgown with intricate beading and horsehair hem with lots of layers and tulle that was “the one.” Making decisions can be a little overwhelming for me, so we took a week to think about it and I returned to the boutique with just my mom to make our ultimate decision. She and I both shed some happy tears when I stepped up to the wall of mirrors and envisioned my wedding day. Decision made! I jokingly told Zeb that I had found the perfect yellow crocheted turtleneck dress to keep him wondering until the big day. ;)

I really enjoyed the whole wedding planning process! Picking out each detail like the songs, signature cocktails, favors, decor, bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts, signage, and timeline were all things I found FUN leading up to the big day. I watched tons of YouTube videos on tips and tricks for pulling off a perfect wedding without a wedding planner, and I have to say it really paid off. We had, what I would consider, truly a “perfect” wedding day. The uncontrollable factor in an outdoor reception – weather – did throw us a curveball with some wind, which meant that some of my tabletop decor needed to be modified and it knocked over a vase of flowers on our guest book table, but all things considered I would say we were completely blessed with a snafu-free day that I am still riding on cloud 9 from a year later :)

I knew early on that I did not want to do the first-look with my groom, Zeb. I wanted to build anticipation for the first moment we saw each other on our wedding day to be at opposite ends of the aisle, with our family and friends between us while the wedding music played and my dad escorted me to the white alter that Zeb built with the floral arrangements I put together with my mom and friend Hayley. I like the traditions of weddings, like spending the night before apart. I slept at my parents house the night before our wedding, though I don’t think there was much “sleep” that night with all of the excitement and anticipation and nerves.

My mom, dad and bridesmaids, plus my mom’s best friend/my suto-aunt all met at the venue at 10am to start setting up the ceremony and reception spaces and adding our decor. I was impressed that we covered all of the set-up by noon, plenty of time to transition into getting myself ready with my bridesmaids in our gorgeous bridal suite!

The photographer and videographer showed up around this time, so we popped some bubbly before the hair and makeup team arrived to work their magic. Zeb and his groomsmen had a much more relaxed timeline leading up to the ceremony, so Zeb went fishing in the morning and arrived at the venue several hours after we did.

Leading up to the ceremony, I got lots of special moments with my mom, my dad, and my best friends. I was SO NERVOUS about the wedding ceremony and reading my vows in front of our guests. Looking back, I think that it was one of the best decisions to skip the first look and write personal vows that we shared with each other for the first time at the alter; it made the wedding ceremony so emotional and personal, and I loved our vows to each other. Once we were pronounced husband and wife, we sent the guests to cocktail hour in the beautiful outdoor rustic venue while we took our photographs and finally joined them for some drinks before the dinner and toasts began.

We did the traditional bouquet toss and cake cutting, spending the rest of the night dancing away to some country, some 80s classics and some pop which resulted in the epic candid shots. Candids really are the best!

Our full wedding highlight video is on YouTube here: Zeb & Kenzie’s Wedding Highlights.

Zeb and I rewatched the highlight video, the ceremony and the toasts videos on our first anniversary after we arrived home from dinner and it will continue to be an anniversary tradition for us because I love reliving this day over and over!

As I’m writing this, I have also already crossed off Bucket List Item #6 so I will be working on that post over the next few days…..as my infant allows. :)