Our First Wedding Anniversary

Today is mine and Stu's first wedding anniversary! We're spending it away on holiday with some dear friends of ours, but I thought I'd share some of my favourite photos from our day and some of the things I've learnt during our first year of marriage.

I've learnt that really, marriage doesn't change a whole lot. Life is pretty much the same, we still binge watch tv shows on Netflix, hang out in our local with our friends, pick on each other relentlessly, but now we do it as husband and wife instead.

I've learnt that in Stu I have a husband who supports me and is literally there through sickness and in health. He's been there with me when I've been at my most ill, and held my hand and looked after me, and I'm so so lucky to have that.

I've learnt that I'll always smile when I look at my wedding ring, but that I will eventually manage to stop crying every time I hear one of our weddings song! They fill my heart with complete delight and take me back to the day itself.

I learnt that you can absolutely have a wedding playlist filled with metal, rock, pop punk, ska and glam and still fill the dance floor all night long. I know a lot of more alternative couples worry about having music that they love and people getting up and dancing, but our dance floor was filled all night long. You might be surprised to discover that your Uncle from Wales is actually a massive metal head, or that your cousin's husband is a punk rocker at heart. I was so surprised at what people loved! We had a ridiculous mosh pit to Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name and I broke my dress head banging and it was SO much fun.

I learnt that once you've been married for 6 months the baby questions start and never seem to stop. From total strangers to family friends, people seem to think it's OK to ask when you are having kids. I'm not having children, it's just not something I want from life, and I don't understand why people think it's OK to ask you questions about this. While I've made a choice to not have children, plenty of others have that decision taken away from them and I can't imagine the hurt of having people pry about it. I've also learnt that people look at you like a monster when you say you don't want children of your own. I have 3 wonderful step-children that I'm so lucky to have in my life, but having children isn't for me.

I've learnt that time apart is important so you can both do your own things. We do so much together, but sometimes it's also awesome to just chill out on the sofa on your own in your pants eating pizza and watching Ru Paul's Drag Race. Sadly Stu is just not into Drag Race despite my best attempts! Sometimes when you are married people see you as a solid unit, so you are invited every where as a couple and it's expected you'll do everything together, but it's important to do your own thing too and not lose who you are as an individual.

I've learnt that being silly together is so important. Weddings can be really serious, but that's just not us. Being ridiculous and daft is so integral to our relationship that it had to be part of our wedding too. Take time to laugh and just be together and be delirious and happy that you are married. In our daily life play fighting and tickling and laughing at cat memes on the internet is the stuff that keeps us laughing and together. Memes are important stuff!

I've learnt that all my favourite photos from our wedding are the unposed ones. It's the photos taken when we didn't even know any photos were taken that we really love. Like the photo above, we were getting ready to have our photo taken and Stu was pretty er... tipsy by this point, and he just came over to me laughing and cuddled in and it's probably my favourite photo from the whole day. It's so natural and us. Let your photographer follow you around and capture you in your natural habitat! I'm so happy we booked Donna of ClickClickBang and her husband as a second shooter (which was a decision we were lucky to be able to make about a week before the wedding!) because so many moments got captured that could have been missed by a single shooter because they just can't be everywhere at once.

And I've learnt that being lucky enough to marry your best friend in the whole world is everything. Being best friends as well as partners makes our lives so much fun, and I feel so lucky to have been able to meet Stu.

I just hope he likes the present I got him!

Much love,

Kitty xxxxx

I Don't Want Children And That's OK : Colourpop Eyes