My Wedding Party
 Ten years ago today I got married to Monica. On the day of our wedding she was getting ready with friends and I went to get a manicure. Do what? Okay, let me explain. You see the guy standing next to Monica? No not me. The other guy. That’s my current pastor, Stu Hodges. A few weeks before I got married I was looking at his wedding album and I noticed a picture of their hands. It featured the rings but all I could focus on was how his nails looked jacked compared to his wife’s. Men aren’t supposed to have pretty nails but I looked at my nails and they were full of dirt, crooked because I bite them, and the cuticles were going crazy. So I joked with some people that I was going to have to get a manicure before my wedding day. My mom heard the joke…except she didn’t get that it was a joke. Next thing I know I am presented with a gift card to get my nails done.
I felt like I had to use the gift card so on the day of my wedding my friend Blake (Pictured second to last on the top row) went with me to get my nails done. I told the lady that I wanted something manly done. I’m not sure she understood English. She took care of my nails. She even put on some type of shiny stuff. It was embarrassing. What I didn’t know is that Monica didn’t want any pictures of our hands. She didn’t want any thing but full shots of people. I kept my hands in my pockets a lot on the day that I got married.
Thinking about this has made me go down memory lane. Here are some other things that I did ten years ago today…
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I got married at the church that I grew up at. The wedding was at Liberty Baptist in Hampton, VA.
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My good friend Jamey Menser (designer of robshep.com’s new look and newly committed to Tweet more) prayed with me before the wedding.
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We had an intro video to our wedding. The ceremony started with a video featuring me and Monica. We thanked everyone for being there, told them where the restrooms were, and then featured some pictures of the two of us.Â
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I sang to Monica and it was a surprise. In high school I was in a band at my church. The guys in the band played at our wedding. During the unity candle they played the song “My Will” by dc Talk. The third verse is sung by TobyMac. I may or may not have been a HUGE fan of dc Talk and especially Toby. I met him at a concert a month before our wedding and I handed him an invitation. He didn’t come but none the less I can say that I invited my all time favorite band to my wedding. I digress. So during the song I picked up a hidden microphone and sang the third verse. When I picked up the mic Monica said, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” It was a total surprise to her.
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We left the ceremony to the theme song from Superman. It was awesome.
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That song then transitioned to “Supernatural” by dc Talk. At the time I worked at a traditional church. The lead pastor said out loud, “Rob’s killing me!” The song rocks.
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We rode in a limo and the driver’s name was M & M. True story.
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We had a reception at the Boxwood Inn in Williamsburg.
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That night we stayed at a hotel in VA Beach.
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We went to Chili’s at 9:30 PM because we didn’t get to eat much at our reception.
That was ten years ago. I don’t feel like time flys when I think about ten years ago. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s hard for me to remember life before Monica. She is my better half, my best friend, my lover, and the most amazing wife ever. My vision for our marriage is to love like newlyweds everyday. It’s been ten years and I feel like we are still on our honeymoon. Monica, I love you with all my heart!
What were you doing ten years ago today?
CONGRATULATIONS Rob and Monica!
“My vision for our marriage is to love like newlyweds everyday. It’s been ten years and I feel like we are still on our honeymoon. Monica, I love you with all my heart!”
And that is the way it should be for the rest of your lives! And it will be as long as there are three people involved in your marriage” GOD, You, and Monica!
God Bless Your BEAUtiful Family and may you continue to enjoy living, and walking, and growing together in …
GOD’s Peace.
Thanks! I appreciate it.
Holy cow that’s a huge wedding party! We definitely went out to eat after our reception as well. Left the reception, went the to B&B and got settled in, then a few hours later decided we were starving & had to pillage for food (it felt like it– we were in the middle of nowhere!). We ended up going to a restaurant that overlooked the field where we had our reception. The waitress mentioned there had been a wedding there that day & we were like, “that was us!”
10 years ago today… I was gearing up for my 2nd year of band camp & getting ready to go into the 9th grade- high school! I’d never had a boyfriend. I did have a little puppy named Jigsaw– & I still have him!
And congrats on 10 fabulous years! Reese & Hayden are lucky to have y’all as parents & a great example. 🙂
Wow. Thanks Susan!
Holy moley this is great. 10 years, actually any year ending in a “0” is big stuff. Love your spirit and your attitude toward M. As for me, 10 years ago I was marking time in a Turkish prison. I may blog about it some day when I run out of other things to say. Blessings.
Ha ha ha, that’s funny. 10 years ago was actually about the time I found out I was moving to Turkey for my job.
I def want to hear about this. I think there is a documentary about this. It’s about a guy by the name of Rambo. Did you know him?
Funny, 10 years ago I was marrying my best friend too! Oh wait…that’s you. I woke up from a slumber party with my 8 bridesmaids, went & had my hair done, some crazy lady came to the house to do my make-up, rode in the limo with my bridesmaids from Va Beach to Hampton, and said I do! I liked staying in town the 1st night so we didn’t have to rush to the airport the day of our wedding.
Loved it. Love you!
It was a great day! Love you and Monica, Did
Thanks Did! Glad you were my best man.
nice…congrats on the anniversary! never had my nails done…smiles. nice on singing to her…and as a surprise…that is awesome!
Thanks Brian. Don’t get your nails done. It’s awkward.
Congrats! Best wishes on many, many more anniversary celebrations!
Ten years ago…I was parenting two toddlers along with my beautiful wife. They grow up so fast!
Two toddlers? Do you have twins? Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Anniversary to the two of you – love you guys and plan on making a visit home soon.
The fact that you left a comment made my day! Wish you were a part of that wedding. If I could do it over you’d be there.
10 years ago today i was moving from one part of VA BEACH to another….and i was in middle school(i was 13!!!!)
Wow. Young buck you are.
Congrats on your 10 year anniversary!!!! Oh, and congrats on the new look of the blog. Great choice to go with WordPress.
Like you, in September, I was getting married to my wife. We’ll make 10 years. Our honeymoon was wrecked by the events of 9/11 (2 days after our wedding – and I’m from NYC). Yeah, hard to have fun when your city is being wrecked.
So, that’s what was happening 10 years ago. #crazy
Thanks Moe! Wow. What a crazy day that was for you. Did you guys do anything fun or just stick by the TV?
You two are amazing. It’s great to see how excited you both are about eachother. Love it. Enjoy each and every day.
Thanks Bernadette!
Happy new year! You don’t look a day over newlywed.
Ten years ago today, I was…uh…getting ready to turn 20? That’s not nearly as interesting or monumental.
It was a great day–manicure and all. Happy Anniversary!
Thanks for the manicure. It def made a memory.
Keren invited my two favorite guitarists to our wedding: The Edge and John Petrucci. I didn’t find out until after we were married since she didn’t hear back from either of them. But it’s still awesome she tried to get them to come!
That is awesome! Sorry they didn’t come.
Happy Anniversary! Ten years ago I was super excited to start going to Christopher Newport University! Classes were just a couple of weeks away. I was also working at Topeka’s at the time.
Nicole, I forgot that you worked at Topeka’s. It’s crazy that it’s gone. Thanks for the comment.
This is awesome! Especially the manicure disaster story – only women are supposed to have disaster stories at nail salons – you crack me up! Um…10 years ago my daughter was turning 14 (her 24th birthday is in 2 days) and my son was 9 years old! He’s turning 20 in a couple of months and now living in California to pursue his music dream. Wow good grief – time really does go fast – you can count on that! We were living in another smaller house back then and our daughter had just finished her 8th grade year at our private Christian school where I was music teacher for the junior high and directed a choir that she was in. That was a great year. Greg and I were married 20 years that year and took our first cruise to Mexico early that year – it was the first of many cruises and many more memories. Next month we celebrate 30 years and go on a ten day cruise to Alaska with our married daughter and son-in-law 🙂
Congrats! 30 years and a cruise! That’s amazing. By the way we have an epic battle going on with Words With Friends.
Happy Anniversary you two!!!! 10 years?! Hmmmm…….what was I doing 10 years ago? I was getting Brianna ready to be one of your flower girls for your wedding!!! And chasing Johnny around who was only 4 at the time. Now he is starting high school. Feel old yet?! We wish you and Monica many years of happiness together. Raise those two miracles Hayden and Reese with nothing but love which we know you will!!!! Love you!!!
I was looking at the picture and noticed how young she looked. That’s crazy that Johnny was only 4.
wow, congrats! i was a measly college student…
Measly…I bet you were rulling things even back then.
Wow! Congratulations on ten years!
Ten years ago I was getting ready to begin…7th grade. Yup.
Hot dang. 7th grade. That’s great you young whipper snapper you.
Ten years ago I had been engaged for about a week.
We didn’t get any hands pictures at our wedding. The photographer had us take our rings off after the ceremony so he could get a close-up of the rings on the marriage certificate.
Nice. So have you ever got your nails done?
Nope. You’re on your own with that one.
Ten years ago, I was a junior in college and managing a toy store. I had been dating my future wife for about 6 months.
I knew I liked you. What toy store?
Congrats on 10yrs Rob! 10 yrs ago I was celebrating my 12yr anniversary with my awesome wife, Ang. Aug 4th rocks!
Troy, that’s your anniversary? Very cool!
You two are like newlyweds! and you have certainly inspired this “oldlywed”! Ten years ago I had just signed up for my first college classes toward my nursing degree after reading “If you want to walk on water you’ve got to get out of the boat”! Luke was going to be turning 9, and Dan had two more years of college left. That was a monumental time in my life. Congratulations to both you and Monica~ love you both and the wonderful example of what marriage is supposed to be that you live. Continued blessings!
Thanks Ruth! We love you too!
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