I have been preparing myself for this day for a couple of months now. The excitement and work of yesterday’s gorgeous wedding here in Riviera Maya, Mexico is over, along with this morning’s day-after session. I’m relaxing with my computer in the beautiful marble lobby of the hotel, under a thatched roof, in the breeze of fans, sipping on a cool Mimosa. Paradise, right?
Any other day, yes- this would be paradise. But today, August 8 2009, my paradise would be in Wisconsin instead. Today is my one year wedding anniversary, the first anniversary celebrating the day when I joined my life with my wonderful hubby, Eric. The day when I went from a Holterman to a Haberman (that’s right- three letters!). The day we hula-hooped on State Street. The day church bells rang out during our ceremony. The day we said our vows! I’d happily trade my breezy tropical surroundings for our cozy living room in Fitchburg, or even the humble darkness of the computer room we share with our two puppies. Heck, I’d even sacrifice the whole 24 hours to an online role-playing game, as we’ve spent so many hours together doing just that!
On the other hand, my presence here in Mexico today is just another demonstration of my husband’s humble selflessness. Back in spring of this year I received a phone call from my good friend Becky, sounding a little hesitant. She explained that she had an exciting request, but that I may not want to take her up on it. She needed a photographer to accompany her to a wedding in Mexico: but it was over our one-year anniversary. I was immediately torn! On the verge of taking my business full-time, I wanted desperately to go. A hopeless romantic, I wanted desparately to spend our one year anniversary in my husband’s arms, making him terribly uncomfortable with endless professions of love and devotion all day. So…perhaps it isn’t all that surprising that Eric’s response to this dilemma was, “GO, honey. This is an opportunity and you need to take it. It doesn’t matter what day we celebrate.”
So here I am. Because we cannot be together today, I wanted to share some of my favorite images from our engagement, wedding, and honeymoon to commemmorate this special day and share a piece of how beautiful it was with all of you. We really did have a gorgeous and perfect wedding day in Madison, filled with family and friends.
First off, here’s my favorite three images together: one from our engagement, one from our wedding, and one from our honeymoon. I love how we are holding hands, facing the future together in each one.
I love this image of our pastor, David, blessing our union:
Our kiss! I’m such a shortie.Â
 That’s OK…Eric doesn’t mind!
One of my favorite images from our wedding day was this one from the recessional…to the Star Wars music Eric picked out:
Hula Hooping! This really was unique and fun. Thanks Norris, for being that guy that goes with what’s around!
When I met Eric, he didn’t enjoy having his picture taken… Learning patience for photographs (and his wife who both takes them and loves having them taken) has been just one of the things he has worked so hard to do for me these past four years of our lives. To make our engagement and wedding images fun, he requested this fun shot for the boys’ sake. I love it!
The geeky love of my life:
To my wonderful hubby:
Over the past year, we have been through so much. We’ve purchased a home, I’ve changed careers, we’ve added a mischievous little bulldog to our family, and we’ve adjusted to life as permanent partners. You’ve been there for me each step of the way, and I feel that we’ve become more of a team with each challenge. Though there is plenty that remains to learn about one another, I am confident that we’ll only continue to grow in our love.
I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you!
Special thanks to Norris Carden for our wedding and engagement images, Melanie Benson for our honeymoon images, and Rebecca Eby for our connection session earlier this summer!
by Mandie Haberman
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