Like Christ Loved The Church

4. Genesis 2:24

A few months had passed, and we were now in the days running up to our wedding. Grace had finally revealed our secret honeymoon destinations; we were going to Bali for one week and then Hawaii for the other. I was as excited as a little boy when she dropped the bomb. She said she felt like a mother watching her son open his Christmas presents, and I told her that she should hold onto that feeling because it would soon become her reality. I think she thought I was planning on telling her that I wanted kids as soon as possible but I had to let her know that the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. For the next few days, I had the phrase 'Baecation' in my head, but I was pretty sure that Grace wouldn't be happy to hear that her honeymoon had been downgraded to something so common and meaningless. People go on baecations with everyone these days. I see people who have been talking for 2 months go on baecations and I see strong couples that have been going for years book a holiday together. This was something special, however. It was going to be our first holiday together as husband and wife and we would be alone for two weeks. I couldn't wait. I was being all mushy and soft which wasn't my thing. See what love can do to you guys?

It was Thursday now, and Grace and I had both arranged to go for a final try on of our outfits for Saturday. Now that we were have a big wedding, I wanted to go all out and have 3 outfit changes: A suit for the ceremony, traditional outfit #1 for half the reception and then traditional #2 for the evening half of the reception. We had to go big or go home now that the venue was going to host the 5000. When I got to the tailors, I looked at my suit with dissatisfaction; the colour scheme was white and blue and I decided to go for a monochrome blue 3-piece suit with a white shirt and brown shoes, but I still wasn't happy. I had the whole of today to make the necessary amendments and make sure that I was happy. After a few hours of trial and error, I decided on the following: a grey 3-piece suit, a blue tie with a white shirt and black shoes. I was liking it. Next, I tried on the traditional wear; a blue design and then white. Grace and I had coordinated outfits, but I had no idea what she was going to look like or what she asked for, so it was going to be surprise. When I got home that evening, my parents insisted that they come over and pray for me. My Christian "stag do" was the evening after so they weren't sure whether they'd be able to see me as they checked into the hotel around the same time. The lads and I were going to the hotel first thing tomorrow morning to see if everything was set up right for the ceremony and reception. When we had finished praying, we sat down and had a heartfelt conversation. They were telling me about how proud they were, and marriage is going to change me forever. My Dad kept on making jokes about me getting a 'dad-bod' (I have no idea where he got that phrase from) and I had to rebuke those jokes with speed. The night ended with some tears and a bittersweet goodbye; I was going to start building my own family which meant a lot of major change.

I woke up the next morning with butterflies in my stomach. The butterflies were still there when I woke up the morning after that and there could only be one explanation for that: it was my wedding day.