Our Anniversary!

 First, let me thank Dana from The Stone Rabbit for letting me use her wonderful idea for this post!

Thirty three years ago today, Bob and I were married at a beautiful Catholic church in Wien, Missouri. Our wedding was large for the time but these days I think it would be considered an average sized wedding!

The proposal and rings

Bob has always been a romantic and his proposal was every bit as wonderful as a girl could imagine. There was a roadside park between Marceline and Brookfield that we used to picnic at quite often. Bob prepared a picnic dinner, and there at sunset, Bob got down on one knee and proposed to me. I guess it is obvious that I said yes! We chose our wedding colors from the colors in the sky during the sunset, pink, lavender and blue.

Bob purchased my ring in Kansas City at a store called Dolgins. His parents loved to shop there and it was always such a fun place to go. He picked out a beautiful solitaire diamond ring with a band that wrapped around it for the wedding ring.

I bought Bob's ring in Brookfield. I found it, loved it and bought it without even asking him! It has three kinds of metal: 14k gold, 14k white gold and 14k rose gold with a part that is antiqued. It is still beautiful after all these years!

The scary part? I was 18 and Bob was 19. Just kids ourselves.

The date set

I always wanted to be a June bride. I don't really know why because I don't remember going to a lot of weddings in my youth. It probably was the closest time after graduation I could get! I ordered my invitations, napkins and favors from a paper place in Kansas City.

The church reserved

Bob and I were married at St. Mary's of the Angels Catholic Church in Wien, Missouri. I was a Baptist and Bob was the Catholic one. I had to go through some "instruction" on how to be a good Catholic wife with a priest who didn't like me very much. Bob's mom became my godmother. I was so grateful for her guidance!

Cake ordered

One thing I wanted for sure was a big wedding cake! I had a lady from Wien make my cake and we had such a fun time designing it. We had a lot of cake but we didn't have much left over! The cake table was covered with a crocheted tablecloth made by my great-great grandmother. The blue bowls were won by Bob at the Marceline 4th of July Carnival the year before we were engaged. The cake topper was used by Ashley and Eric on their wedding cake.

Flowers ordered

I ordered my flowers from the Marceline florist. I love daisies and used a lot of daisies in pink, lavender and blue. My bouquet was lovely and had Sonja roses, babies breath and stephanotis. A crystal rosary was intertwined through the bouquet that was a gift from my mother in law. We had sprays of gladiolas on the altars and on the candelabra. The boutonnieres were daisies and lilies of the valley. Boy did they smell good! Bob's boutonniere was stephanotis and a rose pulled from my bouquet.

The bridesmaids dresses

My sister and sister in law wore blue dresses made from flocked organdy. They mimicked the neckline of my wedding dress. The bridesmaids wore lavender and the candlelighters wore pink. The flower girl wore a white version of my gown. Everyone wore floppy hats. I am sure they are a 70s fashion statement!

My dress

I wanted to have my dress custom made. I ordered fabric and lace from a warehouse in France. I ordered lace medallions from Paris, too. My seamstress and I sewed on thousands of pearls all over the dress. It took hours and hours to get all the pearls on that I wanted! I wore platform heels and a white organza hat that had ribbons that went all the way down the back of the dress. I had the train on the dress lengthened an extra two feet!

Our day

Our day started off a bit rainy but that was a good thing since rain is a Steffes family good luck omen!  It also settled the dust on the roads of my country wedding.  We left Marceline and got to Wien to get ready.  I remember my cousin Stephanie was so excited!  She kept going back and forth from me to Tammi saying "this is so cool."  Darren, who was the ring bearer, thought HE was the one getting married and told me he had changed his mind!

Our life

I will be the first to admit that our life together has not been perfect.  I was a headstrong bride who was very bossy with her husband.  I couldn't make up my mind about what I wanted to be "when I grew up" and that caused a lot of stress.... plus I was a bit of a prima donna.... we've had our ups and downs as all married people do.  I have learned a lot about how to accept and give forgiveness.  I wouldn't exchange one minute of our married life for anything different.  All the growing pains have lead to what we have  now... partners for life in this crazy world.  Since I have a blog and Bob doesn't, I can tell the world how much I love him and there isn't much he can do about it!  Thank you God, for the blessing I call Bob! 

Linking to Wedding Blog Party 2010 !