A Different Kind of Anniversary

       This Halloween, you might notice the doors of Pampered Aesthetics will be closed. Not because we don’t love our clients, but because sometimes you need to pause and honor the moments that really matter. For us, that means celebrating our handfasting anniversary.

 

       Our wedding wasn’t the glossy, Pinterest-perfect affair people expect. My dress? It came in the wrong color, so I spray-painted it black. It cost $125, and there was no way I was spending thousands on something I’d wear once. We were married at the only thing we owned back then—what we affectionately called “the hole in the ground”which was where we lost it all—under our willow tree. Determined to reclaim our story on these grounds.

 

       Our witnesses weren’t a crowd of people we barely talked to. They were our children. Our officiant was Tiffany from The Golden Line. Our photographer was dressed as Wednesday Addams. And that was it. No drama. No family politics. No forced smiles. Just us—intimate, imperfect, and exactly how we wanted it.

 

      Of course, nothing goes perfectly. Landon threw up from nerves right before we had to leave. It poured rain all day, and I was terrified the spray paint would run out of my dress, my makeup would melt, or my hair would fall flat. Tanner ran around putting out fires (not literally, for once). Paige refused to wear the winter tights I bought her, convinced that short sleeves in October were a good idea. Landon regretted not wearing thermals the moment we stepped outside. And me? I was dying inside, determined that vanity alone would keep me looking bomb.

 

And yet… it was perfect.

 

      Because we didn’t pin our happiness on one picture-perfect day. Marriage isn’t a day. Marriage is a lifetime.

 

     After the ceremony, I pulled out the sushi I had preordered—because it was a Monday, and there was no chance I was cooking. We cranked the heat, crawled into bed at a normal hour, and woke up without hangovers to go back to life as usual. That’s how I knew we did it right.

 

      Now, when our anniversary rolls around, we don’t mark the day with diamonds or champagne. We celebrate with really good food. Landon, true to form, only cares about what he’s eating and how it’s presented (for a boy, the little details matter to him). Paige, on the other hand, is my sous chef, always helping me plan dishes with crossover ingredients so we can prep them at the same time. It’s not about gifts—it’s about the food. And honestly? That makes my mom-heart so happy.

 

 

      So, this Halloween, we won’t be in the spa. We’ll be around the table, celebrating love the best way we know how—with food, with laughter, with our little family, and with the memory of a perfectly imperfect day under a willow tree.

Because love isn’t in the grand gestures. It’s in the small ones you choose every day.