Yesterday, the husband and I celebrated three years of wedded bliss. I’m not even being  sarcastic when I say the words wedded bliss. (So far) life with the husband has been simply amazing. Of course, our marriage is not perfect. Whose is? We fight, we cry (okay, I’m the crier), we roll our eyes, but we also laugh and joke and love each other.

Our backyard wedding

Thinking back to three years ago, I’m struck with how my passion for all things local started on our wedding day. I was adamant that every food item be from a local vendor. I wasn’t concerned about the food being grown and/or raised locally (I hadn’t progressed that far yet) but I wanted everything to be from the places the-husband-to-be and I loved to go. At the time we lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and I wanted to support MY community.

My apartment is on the right, but can you see the view of Plymouth Harbor? Oh, how I miss that view.

So with a simple backyard barbecue in mind, I set out to plan the menu, using the restaurants and coffee shops we visited on a regular basis for inspiration. Our friend Jimmie (Dr. James A. Hebda now, smartypants) grilled chicken for everyone with his own special marinade. The side dishes came from our absolute favorite restaurant in Plymouth–Water Street Cafe. Their chicken salad is amazing, especially if eaten with a side of pasta salad. I ordered the bread, sun-dried tomato/garlic and rosemary/olive, from Blue Blinds Bakery, which boasts cozy fires and yummy mate tea.

I used to eat this bread for dinner with goat cheese. SO GOOD!

And the best part of the whole day (besides the saying I do thing) was dessert, of course! Not only did we serve cupcakes from a local bakery, but we also had a sundae bar with ice cream and toppings from a local dairy farm, Peaceful Meadows. We shared our first kiss at Peaceful Meadows on a rainy evening (go ahead, say it, you know you want to: awwwwwww). The sundae bar was delivered during dinner, so when the two delivery people showed up in their bright pink Peaceful Meadows shirts loaded down with ice cream, everyone cheered.

Sundae bar, the aftermath

Yellow cupcakes with lemon filling and chocolate cupcakes with chocolate filling. Yes please!

“Pinky swear you won’t shove this in my face?”

He kept his promise (mostly). A good start to our marriage.

Looking back makes me realize how far we’ve come. We’ve grown as people and as a couple since our marriage began. Now, we live in a new place with more local places to discover.  We also eat better! Overall, the husband and I are healthier, happier individuals because of the life we chose to live together.

Now before I get all sappy and introspective, I will only say one more thing: Husband, I’m blessed to have known you when you were in kindergarten and I was in sixth grade (I’m such a cougar), and even more blessed to have met you again for the first time four years ago. Nothing has been the same since, and I like it that way.

(Okay, I’m going to be a bit gratuitous with myself and share a few of my favorite wedding photos. Enjoy.)

Happily Hitched!

Walking the Plymouth Jetty

Dancing in the park

Happily ever after? So far, so good!