Posted on by jinj88

By request: Our wedding!

I got a request from a reader to write about my marriage to Tony. If anyone else has any suggestions let me know.

Ah, wuv, twoo wuv!

Tony and I dated for 4 years before we got engaged. Our relationship up to that point certainly was not perfect. We had already broken up twice. Each time was a dreadfully, emotionally taxing, tear-filled hour to hour and a half until we got back together. Both times for silly reasons because I have a trait that is purely unique compared to other women where I read too far into things and create problems where there were not any. *wink*

I suspected the “question” would be coming up shortly when I discovered some of my rings missing from my jewelry box and knew Tony had taken them for sizes to get just the right ring. I was excited and didn’t say anything to him because, even though I knew it was coming, I wanted to feel surprised. Tony has never been good at taking initiative on gifts and surprises, so I was very excited to see what he had planned for this memorable moment in our lives.

Finally, the fairy tale moment arrived. I came home one evening after classes and work to a house (trailer) filled with lit candles. It was beautiful and I was touched. Then, I saw Tony, standing over by the dining table waiting for me with dinner all set out and ready. He said he made me dinner and then we sat. Then we started to eat. Then he started some small talk. We continued to eat. It got a little awkward, surrounded by candles, huge sweeping romantic moment it was supposed to be and we just chewed chicken in silence with a few awkward words in between. Then, like infinity and 20 minutes later, he shuffled off his chair and got down on one knee and sputtered out some loving, adorable words, and finally, placed the ring on my finger. The ring he had been so careful preparing for and sizing and researching. He had swiped three of my size 7 rings, taken them with him in shopping, picked out a ring, then carefully placed the beautiful size 4.25 on my finger. It didn’t go past the first knuckle.

Let’s skip ahead 1.5 yrs when we finally got married. It was the summer after my first year in vet school. Tony was working as an OR nurse at UGA vet school in Athens and we were planning to get married at my dad’s house – the one I grew up in. We were trying to keep costs down in any way possible. The most money I spent on individual things was my dress – bought on clearance for <$500 – and the tent. We had the most amazing friends and family who contributed to the affair. My uncle (the absolute best cook of meats on the grill) cooked barbecued chicken and pulled pork. My cousin’s wife is a pastry chef and made my cakes. (Good cakes too – not covered in fondant – red velvet, chocolate with peanut butter icing, strawberry, and something else that was amazing I just can’t remember.) A friend of Tony’s family volunteered to be the photographer to build her portfolio. Tony’s youth minister was the preacher marrying us. Tony’s mom, a hair stylist, did all the wedding party’s hair. My cousin played the guitar for the ceremony on a rocking chair on the front porch of the house – he played “Time in a Bottle” when I walked down the aisle.

Uncle Ward – master griller
Kim – master baker, but helping with veil. Fabric like $13 at a craft store. Ring of flowers picked and braided that day by me.
Tony’s mom (in the middle) – master hair dresser. My mom on the left sewing my veil
Jeff – master musician

We used my MP3 player just plugged into the sound system that came with the tent for music during the reception, we went out and bought all the decorations including mostly fake flowers and peacock feathers, but we also went to the flower shop the morning of the wedding (which was also the day before Mother’s day) and bought up all of their flowers that were white or purple and made due. We borrowed tables and chairs from the church the youth pastor was from.

The ceremony started. It was a balmy evening with a romantic haze (okay, it was smoke from the Florida fires.) My cousin beautifully played acoustic guitar. The wedding party came down the aisle. Then the ring bearer (my niece from my sister); then the flower girl (my niece from my brother) who made about 3 circles around a tree before she was finally ushered onto the aisle. Then I came down and the preacher started talking. We had written our own vows and it was all going beautifully when the deep guttural sound of a choking dog pierced the serenity. People tried to ignore it, but there was my beloved childhood dog, Maybelle a lab/pointer thing (nowadays maybe called labrointer or a pointador, but back then, just a mutt) chewing on a deer leg – she was fine, but my mother was mortified.

Tony with ring bearer and me with flower girl

The preacher finally announced that we were married and told us we could kiss when I was attacked. Like it was going to fall off, Tony grabbed my head in both hands and kissed me so suddenly I was more stunned and embarrassed than flattered. (I’ve never been much for PDA anyway). I even tried to push him away a little. After that, we announced the reception would be in the back yard and would everyone please grab the chair they are sitting on and carry it to the reception – again, my mother was mortified.

Notice the fist in his abdomen – preacher thought it was funny

The reception was laid back and fun, we ate rich southern dishes such as barbecue, macaroni and cheese, lemonade, sweet tea, and red velvet cake. Our first dance song was “Dance, Dance, Dance” by the Steve Miller band. We had a dry reception on the surface for the benefit of my grandmother who was stringently against drinking alcohol, but we had a keg stored behind a flap of the tent. Unfortunately, the word didn’t get out that there was alcohol because of the fear that my grandmother would find out, so only a few people partook. By the end of the night, Tony and I left for our hotel where we were staying before we left for Greece the next morning. My dad’s side of the family, though, probably the only ones aware of the remaining keg, stayed. My siblings and cousins all stayed up past midnight drinking and jamming out to the music on one of their car stereos, which then died and had to be jumped off. Somebody passed out in the grass and got eaten up by fire ants. Somewhere around that time my dad awoke to them blasting and yelling out the lines to “Say It Ain’t So” by Weezer which he thought was appropriate for the situation.

Cake is so funny!
So graceful…
K, bye!!

Our trip to Greece was another fun adventure. Maybe another blog.

72 Replies to “By request: Our wedding!”

    1. Great blog. I think you look like a princess in that wedding dress. You both looked great. Greece must of been wonderful.

    2. Great Wedding Story! It looks ideal and beautiful and romantic! You are a most beautiful bride!

    3. Thanks for sharing, your wedding was beautiful, and next story will be your honeymoon to Greece, which is on my bucket list , can’t wait to read

  2. What a great story. I would like to know how and why you named your children. Are they family names or just names you thought were nice?

  4. Weddings are planned for so long and go by so quickly. That’s why photographs are so important.
    Your wedding photographer did a good job, and it’s always fun to go back and look at the little things you may have missed, or have lost to memory.
    I’m enjoying your blog and can’t wait to hear about some of your vet school (mis-)adventures. The veterinarian that I worked for (for 14 years) in the 1970s also graduated from the University of Georgia.
    Thank you for caring for the animals….

  5. Great story and photos. Your writings captivate me and take me to imaginary visuals. I actually got goosebumps when I read that Time in a Bottle was sung. ❤️ My emotions go from giggling at your sense of humor to holding my breath for the next sentence…as in when Maybelle was choking! I anticipated you running to her and saving her life, all in wedding attire! Thanks for sharing. 😊

  6. I’m in vet school, it’s tough but overall so fun. I’m ready to get out there and do my thing so bad! But I would love to know, what do YOU thing the hardest part about being a vet is? Your hardest moments, moments that made you mad or sad? 🙂 sorry for my rambling, thanks 😂❤️

  9. I love the way you write. You are a beautiful, smart, and witty woman.
    Thank you for your blog!

  12. What a sweet story. Simple weddings involving all the family are the best. Thanks for sharing. Loved seeing the pictures too!

  13. What a great story!!!! The details and word pictures were brilliant! P.S. You also are a really good painter. I saw some of your work on-line and I was most impressed.

  14. What a poignant story 💕 You have a knack for writing. I was transported and lived your Wedding Day.

    You had the best wedding and reception on a budget. You are incredible ❗️
    You still look so much in love ❤️

    I would like to thank-you for sharing your wedding day❗️❗️❗️

    Claudia

  15. Loved the story of your wedding. The proposal and wedding were beautiful. You description formed beautiful images.

  17. We also had a very small church wedding with a reception in the church basement. I was not quite 18 yet so money was tight. Your wedding was very beautiful. I think smaller weddings are more personal and fun. You do not need to spend tons of money for a wedding. I think you and Tony make a great couple 💑.

  25. I am very happy to have found you here, Emily. I watched you on tv from your day one and enjoyed then, in all of the years you appeared, as I am enjoying now, learning more about you and your life. Your blog has been especially helpful to me in the transition from following you on the tv series to still being able to follow you after your departure from it through your writing. It’s like finding a character in a good book that you feel a connection with and admire. You just don’t really want to come to the page that says The End! So, thanks so much for taking the time to write and for inviting people like me in to keep the story alive.

    1. Dr. Emily. Please give her the respect she deserves after all her schooling and most of all for being the GREAT Vet that she is as was proven on Doc Pol.

  26. Awww! What a sweet story: not at all spoiled by the “do this to clean earwax” ad that popped up while I was reading it.

  27. Your wedding story brought back memories of our wedding 47 yrs ago…all the budgeting, etc…it doesn’t matter if you have an all out fancy day, in the end it is all about the 2 people at the center of it all!

  28. Hi Emily, since you’re taking requests I would love to hear what made you move to Virginia. Besides leaving the horrible cold weather of Michigan.

  29. Was just so great to hear about your wedding!! It felt like this was just perfect for you and Tony!! Thank you , will be waiting for the next blog.

  30. You are a must read. Keep it up.
    Love your thoughts and stories.
    Yeah, you got advertising !!

  33. You looked exceptionally happy on wedding day , nice to see your smile, and made a beautiful bride. Looks like had a lovely family wedding enjoyed by all. Hopefully will never have to use your fist on anyone, almost used on Tony during kiss LOL

  34. In Instagram I said I would by the book, now I want to see the movie. I pictured everything I read like it was a movie, comedy of course.

  35. Just recently found your blog and I am enjoying reading it. I will really miss you on Dr Pol, but I understand why you needed to leave. It was obviousl that you really care for the animals. Your funniest episode, to me, was when you got the mouthful of goat rumen contents and what the Male goat owner said!

  36. You were a pretty bride! Tony looks handsome too! A wedding is one day a marriage is a lifetime … I am happy for you.

    I want to know how you came up with your children names

  37. Dear Dr. Emily: I am a chemical engineer, and my hubby is an electronics technician. I am the breadwinner. Presumably you would be the breadwinner as well. Since you aren’t afraid to handle tough topics, I’d like to read your thoughts on how your marriage handles the concept of a nontraditional income situation. It may be a non-issue like in ours… but when we meet new people, they always ask him what he does for a living. Not me. And when they hear we moved to our current city for my job, I get funny looks. Still. In 2020.

  39. Loved the chance to “peek in” on your special day! I laughed so hard about the wedding kiss and fist to the abdomen because I had a similar situation 52 years ago. Laughed then cried because he passed a few years ago. Enjoyed the part about the choking dog and had visions of you stopping the wedding to extract the slobbery bone outta the dogs throat. Thx again!

  40. You made my day again, lovely story lost my wife a few months ago, we where married for 48 years every thing came back. Stay toget her it’s worth it. Love your family.

  41. I love your blog. It was wonderful to hear about your wedding. So many times the fun details and blips get forgotten. I smiled when you mentioned “Time in a Bottle “. We had that song sung by a friend as he played acoustic guitar just like you did.

  42. Hi Dr Emily,
    Your wedding story is so sweet! Thank you for sharing. If you ever come to Minnesota for a visit, let me know. I would love to meet for coffee or something, Just don’t come in the Winter though, you’ll freeze LOL

  43. Small weddings are the best. Love reading your blogs. Always look forward to the next one. You should consider writing a book someday. I’d definitely buy it.

  44. So hoped to find a blog tonite! Your use of words makes them alive as though we are there in the story line. ( so did you stop the wedding to tend to the choking dog?) We had one month to plan a wedding to take place during ‘leave time from Navy’, it was simple and frankly I remember little except for the quick get away w/o anyone knowing. We met when he was 11 and I 9……50 yrs and counting………..it has been the pets in our lives that has been the glue! And that is the truth! First one, a guinea pig from humane society, then a parakeet , more guinea pigs a mutt, then raised two litters of Schnauzers and have had one or two in our lives the last 30 years. thank you Dr. Emily for sharing ‘yourself’

  47. Lol! Wonderful memories! You paint such a lovely picture..I can almost imagine being there! Thanks for sharing! 🥰

  49. Your wedding was a lot like ours! My husband proposed in a letter he sent the 2nd week of his basic training, on the 20th of Oct, 1987. When I responded yes I found out we had to get married during his Christmas exodus in between his basic training and his military training school. We settled on Dec 20th which gave me 2 months to pull it all together. We had everybody working on food, decor, music etc. I pd $99 for my dress, about $100 for flowers and $200 for the big old bar we hung at and $200 for the band (my best friends husbands band that I spent a lot of Friday and Saturday nights going to go see). That was 32 years ago, those are the weddings that hold marriages together, not the keeping up with the Jones overblown affairs. You and Tony should have a long and happy marriage!

  50. I too had a backyard reception (with family friend grilling!) and a budget wedding. I think weddings are too costly and wasteful anyway!
    I really enjoy reading your blog. I had just started following you on Instagram and saw about the blog. I will miss seeing you on Dr. Pol, but am glad I can keep following your adventures! Best wishes!

  51. What a great wedding story. These are the weddings that people remember because it is about you two and family and not how much a person can be spend. Love reading your stories. They always put a smile on my face.
    You are a great vet and I have learned so much from you on our tiny farm. Keep the stories coming.

  52. Thank you for sharing this emily… I’ve watched you on tv since the very 1st episode where they show you riding down the road in the jeep announcing that your the newest vet at dr pol clinic..your honestly an amazing person…its an honor for me to be able to read all of your blogs and learn a little bit about your life…keep being such an amazing person and like u said ur happy to be urself so don’t ever change!!!

  53. Great story. Love the dog and family drama (although very minimal)! Your sense of humor is so entertaining!!

  55. I thoroughly enjoyed your love story and that of your wonderful wedding. It’s so important to keep your sense of humor, isn’t it? 😄 You were such a beautiful bride, and are even more beautiful today. My husband (of almost 48 years) and I switched satellite television providers in late December, and only discovered The Incredible Dr. Pol show with 12 Days of Christmas then. Since then, we have become avid fans of yours as well as the amazing people you work with. I was happy to see the link to your wedding blog, and will definitely be reading from now on. Congratulations on your wonderful marriage, children and career! I wish you love, luck and laughter in your life, and a marriage that lasts at least as long as mine has! ❤️

  56. You both look so good. Sounds like a fun wedding. I was lucky too, my wedding gown fit perfect right off the rack at $650.

    If I leave a comment I’ve noticed that I still have to resign in with every new post you do. I follow others on WP and have an account and I don’t have to give my email every time. I’m not sure how to fix that.

  57. You and your family seem to be on the right track! Follow your heart and write a book! We’re all interested!

  58. Thanks for sharing!! Absolutely wonderful Blog!
    Found it quite by accident and now share with everyone at work….a lot of laughs at lunchtime and has given us a time to share the insanity of our lives too!! More, more, more!!

  59. That is a very heart felt, honest and emotional story. God wanted you and Tony to be married and keep presenting itself until you got it right. Actually your problem of reading to much into things is not yours alone to bare. My wife is just like you. When you left the show it felt like we lost a member of our family. I don’t know if you would even entertain the idea, but my wife and I would love to meet you the next time we are traveling the long way home. Every once in a while we decide to ride through those beautiful mountains we used to call home.

  60. Great story! The simplicity of it made it a more memorably day for everyone !
    Thanks for sharing.

  62. I love your wedding story! I’m really enjoying your blog and I’m keeping my family up to date. You guys make such a sweet couple!

  64. Sounds like a perfectly wonderful and beautiful wedding! I’m not one for all of the pomp and circumstance-social climbing weddings to spend a fortune to impress the town. So to me, this sounds PERFECT! Thank you for sharing!!!

  65. Sounds like a sensible and memorable wedding.
    All of my kids who are married have been fairly sensible and none have gone broke on a wedding. I catered the food for most of them myself-meaning I cooked all the food for 50-200 people, depending on the wedding.
    I’ve never understood women who refuse to get married because they want a ‘royal’ wedding that costs a fortune. It is seriously one day of your life- do it cheap and take the money to put down on a nice starter home. A much better investment.
    Of all my children’s weddings (and I have 8 kids), my favorite was my one daughter who lives in California. She and her fiance’ flew home to Ohio to get married. Her to-be in-laws flew in the day before and I picked them up at the airport and put them up at my house for the night. We’d never met, but were ‘friends’ on fb.
    My eldest son had sent off and gotten his ‘minister’ license as he had married his sister-in-law and her husband 2 weeks prior, and so he married his sister and her husband.
    The wedding was held in another daughter’s back yard. We rented chairs for guests to sit on (75 chairs for $75) and my daughter whose home we were at, her husband put up a tent for the food, which had netting to keep out the flies as there is a cow farm across the street from my daughter’s home.
    I had ordered and paid for fried chicken from a local chicken restaurant. The groom’s mom made a Tex-Mex style macaroni salad (she is from CA), with cilantro, tomatoes, ditalini pasta, and other items I cannot remember, but it was very good, though very different.
    The song played for the wedding was a song the groom had written, sang, played music to, and produced on his own. Just a wonderful song.
    My daughter had a bouquet of flowers my step-mom had bought for her, and a niece and nephew played flower girl and ring-bearer. They had practiced the night before.
    Pictures of my daughter and her husband along the white fence with cows in the background turned out awesome. Pics of them riding a tandem bike on the back road are so cute.
    The wedding was so much fun, so laid back, and all about family and marriage and God and love. Total cost was under $250 for the entire wedding, and my daughter and her husband forked out $400 for round trip tickets from Burbank to Cleveland, They also rented a car to drive to our house, a 2.5 hour drive, heading straight to the courthouse to buy a marriage license for $60.
    Best wedding ever,
    Just like yours. Family and fun without breaking the bank.

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