Before and After Questionnaire: Mrs. Dragon Looks Back

When I think back on our wedding it’s usually in a hazy, “hey, we got married a couple of years ago, cool!” kind of way. I’m excited to take part in this series because I haven’t put much recent thought toward all of those little details I was so worried about at the time!

1. What was your biggest priority about (or for?) the event (e.g., catering, photography)?

I really wanted our wedding to feel intimate and personal. I knew we would eat well and I knew we’d have photos—and so I put my focus on truly making it our wedding. Even two years later I don’t remember exactly what I ate, but I remember the personal photos we selected for decor, the handcrafted invitations, the personalized ceremony.

And, again, two years later our guests have occasionally commented that they haven’t been to a wedding like ours (or that they want their wedding to be like ours!), so I think we did well.

2. What was your biggest concern for the day (e.g., rain, nobody dancing, guests being bored)?

We had an outdoor wedding at the tail end of September in Ontario. I really, really wanted everyone to be comfortable and warm! That’s why we splurged on a tent and sourced patio heaters.

On the day of, I was pretty worried because it was raining hard all morning, but the sun came out just in time for the ceremony! We still had a tent over us in the photos which is a tiny regret, but the main shelter kept everything dry and a combination of heaters, coats, and copious amounts of free booze kept our guests toasty.

3. What DIY project did you care about the most?

Practically EVERYTHING in our wedding was DIY! It’s hard to narrow it down. But when I think about our wedding I think about the bunting. The friggin’ bunting that haunted me for months.

First I over ordered the felt (the roll is still in my house somewhere…) and then I miscalculated the dimensions (thanks, bee readers!!) and then I burned my fingers a million times after I abandoned my original idea of stringing felt triangles on twine.

I should’ve asked our photographer to take a photo of the bunting specifically, but as you can see above, after all that effort it looked pretty cute. And then I trashed it the next day and never looked back.

4. What was your worst wedding-related nightmare?

I can’t remember any specific nightmares now, so I must not have had any that were too traumatizing. I did have a lot of real-life anxiety, though!

5. Did you actually eat?

I did! My sister was a hero and grabbed me a plate of appetizers as soon as the ceremony was over (feed the bride, people of the wedding party!) and Mr. D and I sat down at our sweetheart table for dinner. I ended up eating mostly by myself though because Mr. D ended up helping drag the heaters in when it was getting chilly at dinner, which is another teeny regret (he probably should’ve delegated that).

Yes, our wedding buffet featured rolls of paper towel.

6. What is your favorite picture?

I have this one framed in our living room! It’s my favourite pro pic. But the first photo of us that went up on Facebook still makes me laugh. My cousin took it and captioned it, “Matt already being told what to do.”

7. What was the worst thing that happened at your wedding?

We really had no big bad incidents at the wedding. I’ve told the story of my runaway groom a few times, but that was a tiny, ultimately hilarious blip.

8. What is your favorite wedding memory?

The relief I felt when the ceremony was over! That sounds bad, but I’m serious—nothing felt better than knowing that most of the nerve-wracking part was over and we could relax. I hate being in the spotlight!

I also really enjoyed hanging out with my bridal party before the wedding started, once we were ready. I hadn’t seen some of those ladies in a long time!

9. What did your guests mention the most after the wedding?

Mostly we’ve heard compliments about the way it looked. My mom’s backyard was absolutely gorgeous and we really went all-out in trying to include handmade, personal touches everywhere.

Other than that, people seemed to love that we had a small wedding. I think that big weddings are more of the norm these days so we were a low-key, refreshing change for some guests.

10. What did you do after the wedding?

We cabbed it to a hotel room my mom had booked for us and ordered pizza (which took FOREVER to come—future brides and grooms, make sure there is food for you at your final destination). Then we woke up sick the next day and I had bronchitis within a week, hah.

Bonus: Did you have a private after-party with your new spouse or crash afterward?

See: hours-long wait for pizza. We had to occupy our time somehow!

• before-and-after
• brockville

Mrs. Dragon

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