My fiancée kept her wedding dress secret for months, so I expected the usual dramatic reveal when the ceremony began. Instead, she walked down the aisle in an old black men’s suit, and I had no idea why until I saw the writing inside the cuff.

I just wanted the normal things.

I wanted to watch Claire walk toward me in a wedding dress, take too many pictures, eat dinner with everyone we loved, dance badly, and finally call her my wife.

Claire knew that.

She wasn’t obsessed with wedding planning, but she seemed completely on board.

We chose a small outdoor venue at an old garden estate about 40 minutes outside the city.

She picked white roses and eucalyptus.

We argued for three days over chocolate cake versus lemon.

She won.