Has it been a year already?

ok so this post is a little late, but- better late than never right??

Our one year anniversary was back in November. November 6th, to be exact. It just so happened that on that date this year the annual Prom was held.

Every year our group of friends (which is large and varied) throws a charity fund raising prom. Every year it is for a different charity- This year it happened to be for our friend Mark who is climbing Everest in 30 short days. (He is donating a euro to charity for each foot that the mountain is tall- that over 29,000 euros people- a lot of fundraising!) Well this year prom happened to fall on the date of our anniversary. James and I decided to go all out and get VIP tickets (which included a stay in the very nice hotel it was held at- our group of friends booked out the entire hotel!) and live it up. Your first wedding anniversary only happens once!

When we arrived at our hotel room our friends had ensured that there would be a little present waiting for us- A lovely chocolate bottle of champagne and a card which they all wished us well!

I thought it was such a sweet surprise! I was so happy that they had remembered us and felt it was a cherry on what promised to be a great night anyways! Well the surprises didn't end there.

We arrived downstairs as the prom began (it was a masquerade theme as you can tell by our masks) Basically the prom is an excuse for everyone to get dressed up and have a great time- in Irish terms that is DRINKING. and lots of it. No one had to worry about taxis and the hotel agreed to keep the bar open just for us all night- and trust me when I say, the Irish CAN and DO drink all night. Just like most Europeans actually. I just think the Irish get more excited about it haha.

Well so as things were getting under way- Our friend Jimi stands up and begins to speak. I KNEW something was up as soon as someone handed him the microphone. You see, Jimi is the reason why James and I know each other in the first place- I knew jimi for a few years before I met James, who was one of his friends.

Jimi called James and I up to the front of the room. He explained that we got married a year ago exactly. He then expressed his displeasure that not a single person from Ireland was at the ceremony and that they had decided to right this wrong. He was going to re-marry us- right then and there. And he just so happens to be an ordained minister (you know the internet type) for the specific purpose of marrying people in hilarious situations.

All of the sudden flowers matching my original bouquet from my wedding were thrust into my hands- the little bride top hat crammed on my head and James was pinned with a boutonniere. This was all planned, very sneakily.

And so we were remarried- a year to the date of the original. There were definitely a lot more people there than the first one and it was something I will NEVER forget. I was so shocked, and grateful that we had such thoughtful and amazing friends to do something like this.

(sappy sappy sappy i know)

well a few hours and several drinks later- the culmination of the evening was upon us. The crowning of Prom Queen and King. James and I were actually joking about it earlier in the afternoon that it would be funny if we got it, but knew we wouldn't cause we wouldn't vote for ourselves and no one would probably vote for us either. We would rather cheer someone else on.
And after everything else our friends had done for us we definitely wanted someone else to have some of the spotlight!

Well it wasn't to be- we ended up winning the crowns! everyone had several drinks in them by voting time and decided that we should end things with a bang.
(This is our friend Mark-the one climbing Everest in 30 days- crowing me. I'm pretty sure he was just trying not to poke an eye out)

I have to say- it was definitely out of the blue- James and I were actually outside when they called our names. A friend had to run and get us back in the banquet hall!
I personally found the entire thing hilarious (and had quite a few carlsburgs in me at the time, so most everything was hilarious) as you can tell by this picture.

I believe my train of thought was along the lines of- FINALLY!! It only took me 10 years after my senior prom but who's the Queen NOW?? haha. complex much???
It was an amazing anniversary. One that is going to be damn hard to beat and I'm ok with that. I feel so fortunate to have such great friends out here that made our first wedding anniversary really special and I can't wait for next years prom to pass on the crown and see whats in store!

(and if anyone is interested- Here is the website for Marks Everest climb. He is trying to be the youngest man in Ireland to climb Everest and he leaves for Nepal in under a month!)