I’m exhausted. I’m so tired I can barely see straight. I feel like I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks (perhaps because I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks). The other day, I tried to have a snack of chips and salsa, but had to give up because I was too tired to lift the chips from the salsa jar to my mouth.

Oh, also, as of 7 p.m. Saturday evening -- I'm married.

I’m still processing the weekend, which seemed endless at times and was, at the same time, over far too quickly. It seems like only yesterday we were still trying to figure out where everyone would sit, and today we’re on our fourth day of gazing, shell-shocked, at our rings and getting used to using the words “husband” and “wife.”

My friend Shanna had one crucial piece of advice for me before the wedding: While everything is going on, be sure to stop, look around, and appreciate the moment. During the wedding Saturday night, Shanna grabbed me by the shoulders several times and asked, “Are you looking around?” Possibly as a result of her insistence, my memories of the weekend have gelled into discrete incidents and elements, including these:

-- I remembered to eat only when Alicia, my matron of honor and best friend from college, reminded me. On Friday night at our welcome barbecue for out-of-town guests, Alicia asked me if I had eaten anything. I hadn’t -- although somewhere along the way I'd managed to down three or four beers. She said she’d fix me a plate and asked me what I wanted. I said, “Just a steak.” She brought me an eight-ounce steak and two pieces of bread, which I immediately used to make a steak sandwich. As I bit into my Flintstone-esque dinner, Seth’s mother’s boyfriend turned away from his grill and said, “Forget Seth, Maia. Marry me.”

Photos: The Wedding

Jul 06, 2011

The "Golden Fleece," a gold-bedazzled shirt that made the rounds at the wedding. You can't plan things like this.

Photo courtesy Maia Nolan-Partnow

Photos: The Wedding

Jul 05, 2011

Maia and bridesmaids Darcy Olesen, left, and Geneva Nolan, center, take stock after making the final adjustments to the bride's attire.

Photo courtesy Alicia Brady

Photos: The Wedding

Jul 06, 2011

The candy bar. Because it's a wedding -- who wants to eat healthy?

Photo courtesy Maia Nolan-Partnow

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-- My dad’s former Anchorage Fire Department partners stepped up in surprising and generous ways. One caught all the fish for our welcome barbecue and then spent Saturday helping my dad rig up our chuppah at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, and another arranged for a magnum of Veuve Clicquot to be delivered to my hotel suite the night before the wedding. And then both of them sent gifts in addition to their already generous contributions to the celebration -- a reminder to me that when you grow up in the fire department, you grow up in an extended family that reaches out to support you when you least expect it. And let me tell you, I needed that magnum of Veuve. We opened it at breakfast, carried it around all day, and polished it off just before I put on the dress.

-- My bridesmaids and I got our hair done and then strolled over to M.A.’s for a hot dog around lunchtime. For the record, you can walk around downtown Anchorage on a Saturday afternoon during tourist season wearing a veil in your hair and a sweatshirt that has “BRIDE” spelled out on it in rhinestones, and no one will raise an eyebrow.

-- I cried all the way through our ceremony. Seriously. I had to let go of Seth’s hands at one point to wipe the tears off my chin.

-- My Aunt Donna arranged all our flowers. I think I owe her my firstborn.

-- We gave up our lives to DIY projects in the months before our wedding, and while there were nights when I cried over my Cricut, the handmade flag bunting, paper birds, labels, escort cards, table numbers, crepe paper poppies, wine bottle vases, topiaries and repurposed vintage guestbook were absolutely worth the effort. Also, I’m pretty sure I owe my sister-in-law my second born for all her help. I'm running out of potential children.

-- Want to win your guests’ hearts? Two words: Candy buffet. Although despite my exhortations to guests to take more home (I'm looking at you, Stephen Nowers), we ended up with dozens of pounds of leftover candy. We now have a candy buffet in our kitchen.