You may remember my first “official” date from Part 4. Matt and I dated for almost three years.

During that time, we’d gone on a couple of trips, studied together, and spent a lot of time together. I’d gotten to see him angry, sad, disappointed, and happy and how he reacted (things that were on my what-to-look-for-in-a-husband list).

When I had a migraine so nasty I was just laying on the bathroom floor unable to move and wanting to die in my apartment, he came over, made ice, brought extra ice packs, helped me to the couch in the living room, set up all my fans, helped get me medicine, and sat there with me in the dark for hours until it eased.

We went to a conference tournament for basketball (something he got me interested in watching at our college), and we decided it was so much fun, we’d keep going every year, sort of as a mini vacation.

In early 2024, Matt got a house, and a yard that his dog, Suki, loved running and digging in so much.

But the end of July 2024, that was all about to change…

One evening, as I was visiting Matt in his new house, which now had rocking chairs in the backyard that I’d convinced him to get after mentioning how much I’d always wanted the Cracker Barrel ones as a kid, he had a fire pit going and we were making s’mores. And then he asked me if I would want to marry him. And to think I’d been panicked when he asked if I wanted to go to Perkins as just friends or something more.

It did not take me nearly as long to answer this time.

Clearly, I told him yes. I was so giddy – he wanted to marry me!

My grandmother was visiting when we decided we would get married, and she was one of the very first to find out – she even went dress shopping with me at a cute western store in the mall in a neighboring town.

Since most of my family is still on the East Coast, we decided we wanted a very small wedding. I was starting back at work in about three weeks, and my lease for my apartment was renewing in about a month, so we decided (much to the slight panic of our parents) to get married in three weeks – just before I went back to work and then I didn’t have to deal with the hassle of breaking a lease and taking time off.

A week before our wedding, all of my stuff was moved into Matt’s house, I moved out of my apartment, and into my parent’s home.

Matt and I did pre-marital counseling with the pastor who would marry us. I think he was slightly concerned about our reasoning for the short time frame, until we explained the situation.

Matt didn’t propose to me with my actual engagement ring – that was far more special. The ring itself and the smaller diamonds were passed down from his family, but they didn’t have a large one to fit in the center. Years and years ago, my grandmother had given me her ring, which had a large diamond in it. My ring is the perfect mix from his family and my family, which makes it so much more special – like it was meant to be that way. It came about a week before the wedding – just in time for my mom to take engagement pictures of us.

We got married in August, in the small chapel at Matt’s family’s church. With my parents, sister, his parents, grandparents, and sister present. There were a total of 13 people in that chapel for our wedding.

I’d found the perfect song to walk down the short aisle to – Shenandoah. It was so special, because it was played by my violin instructor from his recording, and because I was from the Shenandoah Valley. Dad and I had been practicing walking to it at home, and he said he would keep me on beat.

As my dad and I stood out in the hallway, I heard everyone talking in the chapel. The music started. We had some time before we entered, and Dad looked at me and said he loved me so much, and that if I wanted to leave, he had the keys in his pocket. I smiled (and almost started crying) and told him that I loved him too. He gave me a hug, and after making sure I was ready and okay with this, we turned the corner into the chapel. All those public speech competitions I’d done for 4-H had never made me this nervous.

Mom was crying, I’m pretty sure my sister was too, and even Matt’s mom and sister were crying. I couldn’t look at any of them, I’d start crying too (I’m an empathetic crier, you see). Matt looked very emotional, too, and I knew if I looked at him too long, I’d start crying. So I bounced my eyes between him, my feet (had to make sure I didn’t trip at an inopportune moment), the pastor, and Mom. Good thing Dad was paying attention to the music – I certainly wasn’t.

We finally arrived, and Dad gave me one last hug before shaking Matt’s hand and going to sit by Mom. The pastor remembered how I’d joked about the marriage ceremony from The Princess Bride during one of our counseling sessions. When it came time, he looked at Matt and said: “Do you have da wing?” Everyone busted out laughing…which was good, because Matt was staring at me the whole time and I was staring at the pastor, determined not to cry – it wouldn’t have been a cute cry.

Our sisters handed us the rings (or, da wings, as some say), and I don’t think my hand ever shook as much as it did that day – I’m surprised I didn’t drop the ring. With that, we said our “I do”s, and that was it – I was married to the best guy in the whole world. I wasn’t nervous anymore (well, except for having to kiss in front of everyone’s parents, which seemed awkward to me – I’d tried negotiating a handshake, but we were now married after all), and as we kissed, and he grabbed my hand, I felt so calm and excited for the next chapter of my life.

My parents threw a party for everyone who was at the service at the local park, and I’m glad they’d gotten food – I was hungry, although before the wedding I was convinced I wouldn’t be (parents do know best). We sat there, eating cucumbers and strawberries, and sandwiches and cupcakes (pretty much all of my favorite foods) with purple tablecloths and decorations.

It was weird. That day, I’d had a whole rollercoaster of emotions. I’m not sure sad is the right word, but that morning, I’d been contemplating some things. My name was about to change. I would forever be living with Matt, and no longer with my parents. We still lived in the same town, only 5 minutes away from each other, but it was a strange feeling. I think my sister fed off of that energy, too.

But I was also so very excited to be married to Matt – he is such an amazing guy and I was so happy that I would get to spend the rest of my life with him.

Later that day, August 18^th, 2024 – I went from Reagan Schaeffer to Reagan Larson (I moved up in the alphabet, you see) and I was so happy that Matt had gotten me to talk to him almost three years ago. Part of what I’d dreamed of as a kid was coming true – I got married to a man who loves me so much, and he even already had a dog (it was a bonus!).

As I went to bed that night, I was exhausted from the day and all the emotions I’d had. It was weird, now referring to Matt as my husband, and not my boyfriend and fiancé. But it was also so very nice. I’d married someone who loved me for who I was, with my flaws, and who chose to spend the rest of his life with me. I couldn’t have been happier.

If you missed the previous parts to this saga, you can find Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 here! Next week is the last installment in this series!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments! I love hearing from you! You can contact me here, or leave it below!

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