Samantha's Wedding Dress Wishes {wedding week}

Samantha from Hooah And Hiccups talks about her wedding day.
My "real" wedding was perfect. Although it was not "traditional", it was all my husband and I needed.

Because he is active duty in the United States Army, our lives are very day-by-day basis. So day-by-day, in fact, that we were not sure when I would see him next after visiting for his graduation from Basic Training.

For us, the best option was to get married by a small ceremony in Georgia with only our parents present. We were married by a reverend in a beautiful garden along the Chattahoochee river in Columbus, Georgia.

But, just like any other girl, I longed for the long white dress, the beautiful romantic wedding photos, and my moment to shine. We planned a wedding for the following June, purchased the dress, booked the DJ, and asked our bridal party.

Well of course, the Army had other plans for us and decided to slap orders on my husband and deploy him to Afghanistan. The dress was returned, the planning came to an abrupt hault, and dreams were crushed.

"One day I will have my chance" I told myself...

Almost 2 years later, two photographers in the area were able to make that dream a reality for me. We staged a "Wedmock", a mock wedding. We booked a venue, ordered a cake, made all of the arrangements, and it was up to me to find a dress.

I asked around for people that might have dresses I could borrow, and looked at secondhand stores. A friend of mine so generously offered to send me her dress to borrow, and I anxiously awaited for it to arrive in the mail.

When it did, I opened it and looked at it, and tears welled in my eyes.

It was the exact same dress that I had picked out and was forced to return because my husband was set to deploy to Afghanistan.

The exact, same one. I couldn't believe it! Was it a coincidence or sign from God that I was meant to wear that dress?

The pictures we now have will mean more to me than these three women may ever know. They are a sign of believing, a sign of love, and a sign of fate and destiny.