Just like Christmas morning...in June

Holy. Gifts. Batman.

To say that we were given a lot of gifts is an understatement. To say that we were given a lot of thoughtful gifts is an even bigger understatement. I think it is safe to say that people do not hold back their generosity and creativity when it comes to weddings! Honestly, I feel silly when I look back and compare gifts that I have gotten for other people and the gifts that we received for our wedding...mine simply pale in comparison. I have vowed, however, to do a better job and put more effort into wedding gifts from this point forward!

Clint and I aren't real big fans of opening gifts in front of people. In fact, it is one of our least favorite things. We mean no offense to the gift-giver, or anyone else who may be present, we just don't like that much attention. And the wedding alone was enough attention to last a lifetime! So we decided (many months ago) to open the gifts by ourselves when we returned from our honeymoon.

Sidenote: It was also very important to us that we leave for our honeymoon the night of the wedding. Once again, we did not mean any offense to anyone, and we hope it didn't cause any hurt feelings, but it was something we felt strongly about. We definitely wanted the big "getaway" scene from the reception, and we wanted to be able to leave for the honeymoon asap. I guess you could say we were a little antsy :) Because of this decision, we knew we wouldn't be pressured to have the gift-opening brunch the next morning, and we were more than okay with that.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand. We opened our wedding gifts together, the Saturday after we returned from our honeymoon. It took us HOURS, and it was a very emotional experience. After opening a few gifts that gave us some emotional responses, we knew we made the right decision to open them alone. We just wouldn't have felt comfortable enough to have those heartfelt reactions if others were watching, you know? One of the most touching for me was a crystal bowl that belonged to my Great-Aunt Edie...she was a wonderful, hilarious, vibrant woman who passed away just over 3 years ago. Most of the memories I have of her, and all of the stories I hear about her, bring a smile to my face and having something so beautiful that once belonged to her means a great deal to me.

We were genuinely shocked and touched by the gifts we received. We felt it was enough of a gift to have our guests attend our wedding...but to have them give us such generous and thoughtful gifts was just too much! It really put into perspective how many wonderful people we have in our lives, and how many people truly care about us, our marriage, and our future.

We are working on the 'thank yous.' We are about half done at this point and hoping to finish them this weekend...so be looking for them in the mail soon! We are so grateful to everyone who came to celebrate the day with us...we are very lucky people!