Way back in 1999 when we were partying like it was 1999 talking about getting married, Allen and I were initially planning on a wedding in May of 2000. Because I was at BYU in Provo and Allen was at Ricks College in Rexburg.
But the more we talked, the more we realized that was too far away, in both time and distance (we were driving four hours (one way) up and down I-15 every weekend to see each other on icy roads).
So, we made the decision together for me to move home to Iona after Christmas (which is only a half hour from Rexburg). I took that Winter semester off of school while Allen finished his two-year stint at the (then) junior college. A quick glance at the calendar helped us choose February 18th for a wedding day, because it was a Friday before a three-day weekend.
It was totally a decision of efficiency. We never could have known that we accidentally chose the PERFECTEST day to get married. And here are all the reasons:
1- People weren't annoyed that we ruined their holiday weekend with our wedding. Because A) President's Day? Who cares! More importantly B) we got married on a Friday, technically not a day that was part of that three-day weekend.
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| 24th Anniversary trip to Provo |
2- It is AFTER Valentine's Day. So now we celebrate our anniversary when all the chocolates and roses are on sale. And all the Valentine rates at restaurants and hotels have gone down. (It is also partly to blame for how our Valenbot Tradition got started--because we consciously made Valentine's Day a family celebration and our anniversary a couples' celebration).
3- Since it is a federal holiday, we don't have to take a day off work (Mostly. With the jobs we have now). BONUS.
4- Where we live, February is still in the middle of the Colde Darke Wynterr: it is such a great time to look forward to, if not warmer climes, at least a much-needed break from the everyday. We embraced the winter one year and snowshoed to a yurt for our "anniyurtsary" . . . but every year since then, Allen has countered my wishes to plan another winter adventure with, "How about we get a hotel with a hot tub and go thrift shopping for books?" You don't have to ask me twice, bub.
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| 25th anniversary trip to St George |
5- It is far enough away from Christmas that we can afford eating out--or maybe even a couple of nights in a hotel. Haha, I wish I was joking . . .
6- EASY TO REMEMBER. Not only is it always on/around President's Day, we have the added bonus of getting married in 2000. So we always know how many years we have been married. Since I am notoriously bad at calendar math, it's especially helpful for me. (Fun fact, if a math problem starts out with "Jill was born on May 4th, 1935 . . . my heart starts racing because I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER. You can't just throw the calendar into adding and subtracting, it's impossible. WE'LL NEVER KNOW HOW OLD JILL IS)
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| Secret Hot Springs to ourselves? YES PLEASE |
7- It doesn't compete with family reunions, graduations, major holidays, work and school deadlines, or other common annual events. It really is a special day just for us, and it hasn't taken a herculean amount of effort to keep the day (or the whole weekend) open to celebrate!
A few times we have gone to southern Utah for warmer temperatures. Sometimes we drive to the Salt Lake area for Dry Bar Comedy, thrift stores, and a tour of the Hill Air Force museum (I officially know more than I ever wanted to know about the SR-71 Blackbird). On our 20th anniversary, we flew to Costa Rica for a week! And last year we just went on a long walk and then out to eat at the fanciest place in our own town.
We didn't set out to choose the perfect day to get married. We just wanted to get married sooner.
Serendipitous brilliance!
