Like many Military couples, we have TWO wedding anniversaries.
One we’ll call the Courthouse Wedding and the other we’ll call the Church Wedding.
You see, there is a lot of PAPERWORK when you marry a soldier.
—In order to qualify for quarters on post, you need a valid Marriage Certificate.
—In order to get an ID card you need to be enrolled in DEERS and have a photo id with your new name. (Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System).
—In order to enroll the new spouse in DEERS you need a valid Marriage Certificate.
The list goes on and on – I won’t bore you! 
I will, however, share that when Seth proposed to me in September of 2005, we thought he would be deploying in the spring of 2006. So instead of waiting perhaps 2 years to plan a “dream wedding”, we decided to keep things simple!
22NOV I gave two week notice to my job and started packing my apartment.
24NOV “Courthouse Wedding” over his Thanksgiving 4 day weekend.
28NOV Seth goes back to Missouri, clears single soldier housing, and secures family housing. Seth also completes all paperwork required to enroll me in DEERS, TRIcare, etc.
28NOV I started applying for new Driver’s License, Social Security card, and Passport with my new married name (that I misspelled for about 3 months.)
15DEC Seth flies to PA to help load my Silverado and a 10 foot U-Haul trailer.
16DEC We start the 1,000 miles trip and lose one dining room chair in Ohio.
17DEC Seth carries me over the threshold into our new home.
31DEC “Church Wedding” planned for close family and friends.
Ok that list got much longer and more detailed than I initially planned…
November 24, 2009 at 3:27 pm
We got married in a courthouse in Calhoun County, Alabama, 3 months before he deployed to Afghanistan in 2002. He wanted to make sure the Army took care of me if something happened to him.
When he got home, we didn't do a big church wedding, but on our first anniversary, we had our wedding reception. It was awesome and amazing and I was so thankful to have him home to do it.
Hallee
November 24, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Um, now don't judge…we're STILL engaged. The only reason I know the day is because he "proposed" on Christmas Day. LOL! I was not one of those little girls that dreamed of her wedding. Except at times like these I don't even think about not being married. Right now I don't even have on my engagement ring.
I love him…he (Joe) loves me. He makes me laugh…a lot! He exasperates me. He's okay if the house isn't perfect and tells me not to worry about it, because he doesn't care. He puts up with me and my hollering ways. He works very hard to provide a good life for the kids and I. He comes home each night. He teaches our sons to repect me and to respect women. Our daughter adores him and thinks he's the best thing since slice bread. He does her hair, plays dolls with her, and reads with her almost every night after he's worked 12hrs. He leads by example. He's not the most romantic guy but he does have his moments when he floors me. I love him and he loves us.
Thanks for reminding me why I love him SO MUCH! (You got the part where I said he exasperates me, right?! LOL!)
Happy Anniversary! Btw, that's a gorgeous photo of the two of you!
~ingrid
November 24, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Happy Anniversary!!
November 25, 2009 at 12:29 am
What a gorgeous little bridge I love it! We were married in my Aunt's big backyard with 40 of our closest friends and family. We only have the one wedding anniversary, but I also like to celebrate our dating anniversary, which was 5 years on November 4th!
November 25, 2009 at 2:49 am
Happy Anniversary! We had 2 weddings, since we were missionaries overseas when we got married. It was in Hungary, and there the only officially recognized ones are at the "mayor's office". So we had our legal wedding, and then the next day had our church wedding.
November 25, 2009 at 9:02 am
Love the wedding photo! And Happy Anniversary! As the Mims', well we only have one anniversary, he proposed October 12, 2003 after I had finished singing at a concert, so it was in front of EVERYBODY! Eeke! 6 months later (March 20th) we were getting married, in a wedding garden in Austin, Texas. The ceremony was medium sized with about 30-40 family members, and the reception was a bit bigger with about 100 of of closest family and friends.