We’re Married!

I haven’t wrote for a few days because all of the focus has been on this past weekend and marrying the love of my life!

The wedding was this past Saturday and it turned out perfectly. It was everything we could have hoped for.

She handled much more responsibility than I did, let’s just be very clear about that from the start. She coordinated everything and it worked out so well. She did a fantastic job and we both had a ton of support from family and friends with everything that we needed.

On Thursday a couple of my best friends got into town for the wedding and I was so excited to spend some time with them. I saw them early in the afternoon when they got in and I had some stuff to do for work later in the day but after that Steph and I met up with them for dinner and drinks. It was an awesome way to spend the night. They’re great people and anytime I can spend time with them I make sure it is a priority to do so.

Friday morning Steph and I woke up early to go get my Mom and her boyfriend from the airport. They arrived at 830am so we had to leave the apartment by 8 to make sure we got there in time. The Denver airport can be confusing with two sides to exit out to and they had some trouble finding where we were parked to pick them up. We finally found each other and started on our way home. We talked the whole way home about the wedding and the excitement and nerves that go with it.

Once we got back to our apartment we put in an order from Urban Egg for some breakfast. Steph and I love that place and we almost get it every weekend. We put in an order for pickup and Steph and my Mom headed out to get it for us. They were going to stop for some bagels on the way too. While they were out getting the food I found the Masters on TV and Bob and I watched it together.

They got back with the food and we ate together and enjoyed each other’s company. Once we finished eating Steph left to go get ready to pick up her friends and cousins from the airport as well. While she was doing that we got ready to head into work as I had a personal training session. I was excited because I wanted to show my mom and Bob the place. It was their first time seeing it and I wanted to show them the progress we have made. Due to the circumstances we are not open and can’t conduct business but it was nice to show them around so they could get a vision of what it will become in the near future. They both really liked it and had a lot of nice things to say about it. That means a lot to me because I know deep down she is worried and wants this business adventure to be successful for us.

Once we finished up there we went back home and I dropped them off at their hotel room. It was right next to our apartment so it was super convenient. They checked in and rested a little bit. Our plans were to meet up later with my friends and her friends and cousins to have dinner together. Once I dropped them off I went back to our apartment and I passed right out. I was tired and took that opportunity to take a nap.

My friends came over after a while and we were just going to hang out and have a couple drinks before dinner. Steph called me a little while later and she needed me to go to the Park Meadows mall because someone hit her car and drove away. I went over there and the cops were there to help with the accident report. Two bystanders video taped the whole thing and actually got the license plate of the car that hit her car. When I got there I took her 2 cousins over to their hotel so they could check in and get ready for dinner.

I went back home and showered and got ready. I drove myself, Nate, Nicole, my Mom, and Bob to dinner. We went to the first spot, Los Chingones and put our name on the list. We couldn’t sit 10 at once so we had to do a group of 6 and 4, plus the wait was 1.5 hours. So I put our name down and then we went across the street to try another place. It was the same rules of groups of 6 and 4. After a few back and forth messages we decided on a third place, On the Border for some Mexican food. We could get seated right away but still had to sit separately.

We got there and ordered gigantic margaritas and ate way too many chips and salsa. We all had a blast at dinner and it was just a shame we couldn’t spend it seated together.

After dinner we headed home. I dropped my mom off at the hotel and then Nicole went back to her hotel also. Steph stopped by to grab some things to stay with her friends for the night. Then Nate and I stayed up late at my place drinking whiskey and watching Jersey Shore 😂. It’s just so entertaining to watch. We remember watching it during our college days and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drink and share some laughs. We stayed up until about 130am before he went back to his hotel and I went to bed.

I slept surprisingly well considering I was getting married the following day! My mom called me around 10am asking what I was doing (still passed out lol) and she wanted to have breakfast with me. So I got dressed and headed over to the hotel and me, her and Bob had breakfast there. It was quiet and pretty good. They asked if they could help with anything and from what I understood everything was taken care of. I was feeling very relaxed and just excited for everything to unfold. I couldn’t wait.

After breakfast I got my car and had to load up the alcohol I bought for the wedding and then stop at the gas station to get a bunch of ice. I loaded everything and took it over to the house to get set up. Her and all of her friends were there setting up and everything was looking amazing. After dropping it off she asked if I could go back and bring over some pictures of us to display. I went back and called Nate on the way to pick him up and see if he wanted to come with me. We got the pictures and headed back over. I dropped them off and then we were talking with Kate and she thought it would be a good idea to put up the fourth wall of the tent to make it warmer. Nate and I spent a few minutes getting it set up. After we put up the tent there wasn’t much else to help with at the time so we went back home.

We spent a little while watching more Jersey Shore and had one more glass of whiskey before the festivities began. At that point he left to go back to his hotel to get ready. I was doing the same. I trimmed my beard, showered, and then put on my suit and tie. It was funny right before I was about to leave to go pick up my mom and head over to the house she called and asked if I was asleep lol. I of course wasn’t and was anxious to get over there.

We got there around 345. Everything looked beautiful. We had brought Champ with us of course and made sure he had his tuxedo on as well. People started gathering in the kitchen inside the house. We started serving drinks to everyone as they started arriving.

The officiant arrived and she was getting her camera set up to record the ceremony for us. Unfortunately the tripod she was going to use broke. That forced us to adapt and we now needed someone to hold the camera and record the ceremony for us. I made an announcement to everyone there, about 30 people, of who wanted to accept the job of recording for us. No one said a word the first time I asked lol. I repeated the question and one of my teammates and good friends stepped up for us. He took the camera and got it all set up and ready to go. Before we headed outside I signed the marriage license and got Nate to sign as my witness. We didn’t want to have the license outside as it was very windy that day.

At that point we got everyone outside to start sitting down and get ready for it to start. We got in position and the officiant and I were talking about a couple last minute things. We were going to do a candle lighting and needed to make sure we had them set up and had lighters ready to use. She also said she was going to pass us our vows to read to each other. I stopped her real quick because we had talked before how we wanted to write our own vows but wanted her to read them for us. She was caught a little off guard by it even though we talked about it before. Anyway we got that squared away and then our good friend started playing the piano as we stood up because she was about to walk down the aisle.

As soon as I saw her walk out I got a huge smile on my face and couldn’t stop. She looked absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be standing up there waiting to marry her.

When she got up there with me we faced each other and the smiles continued. The officiant started with a prayer and then into the ceremony. We held each other’s hands and I could see her shaking from the cold. It was about 45 degrees and windy! She was amazing throughout.

It was funny because we had Champ outside and we could hear him crying throughout in the background because he just wanted to be up there with us lol. Then a few minutes into it the neighbor’s dog started barking and all we could do was shake our heads and let out little laughs.

When we got to the point of our vows to each other she read mine first. She started reading and my heart melted when Steph started to cry. A friend bought some tissues up to her to wipe her eyes as the officiant continued. We got through the readings and I just couldn’t stop smiling. I couldn’t have been any happier in that moment up there marrying the love of my life.

The next part was lighting the candles and it was going to be tricky in the wind. It took us a couple attempts but we made it work. We each lit our own candle and then together used them to light the candle in the middle.

Then we put the rings on each other’s fingers. Then it was time to announce us for the first time and husband and wife and share our first kiss. We were officially married!

It was a beautiful ceremony and everything that we wanted. It was just amazing.

Once the ceremony ended we went inside for her and her witness to sign the marriage license. We got that done and then went outside to the tent to take pictures. The photographer was amazing and we got pictures with everyone there and can’t wait to see how they turn out.

Once we finished pictures we went inside to cut our cake. It was really good and we fed each other a piece. Then of course our baby, Champ, had to get a piece of wedding cake too lol. We got a lot of good pictures I am sure of it and can’t wait to see.

After the cake cutting we went outside to do our first dance and the mother son dance. Steph and I shared our first dance dancing to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. We did pretty good especially for her dancing with no shoes on in the grass! Then my mom and I danced to “A Song for My Son”. She cried during the song and said she tried to listen to it a bunch beforehand to not cry but it didn’t work. I loved that she was there with me and was able to dance with me. That means the world to me and I love her so much.

Once the first dances were over it was time to eat! We got our favorite local Italian place, Cranelli’s, to cater for us. It was delicious.

At that point in time it was just time to drink, dance, and party. The rest of the night went really fast and we just had an amazing time with everyone. Couldn’t have had a better time and hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves.

Towards the end of the night we sat down around the fire pit and had cigars. There was about 10 of us at the time and we were all smoking and talking with each other. It was the perfect end to the perfect wedding!

Once we finished those up we did some cleaning (I didn’t help too much). Then we jumped in the cars and headed home. For the first time we were spending the night in our apartment as husband and wife!

It was the best day of my life and I couldn’t be happier for our future together. I love her with all my heart and can’t wait to spend my life showing that!

Thanks for reading about our special day!

Until tomorrow,

David Banko