I'm Happy in a Love Like This

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t be more excited to present a guest post by my beautiful wife Lisa. Here, she reflects on the experience of having Bruce Springsteen’s “Happy” as our first dance on our wedding day (April 30, 2011).



Though it’s up for debate who is “The Boss” in my relationship with Steve, after nearly four years of dating, it was Bruce who came as one of the first signs that Steve was contemplating making me his wife. Steve sent me a YouTube link to the song “Happy” and told me that the song made him think of me and that he’d like to use it as our wedding song one day. Very excitedly, I quickly blurted that I thought it was a great idea and as I listened to the song the first time, I paid no attention to the lyrics or the Gilmore Girls tribute images in the random fan video, as I could only think about walking down the aisle to meet Steve. Though I withheld my initial elation, for the next several months I watched that video multiple times a day. Eventually I could look past Steve’s comment about it as our wedding song and took the time to think about the lyrics. I recognized what a perfect song this was to describe the feelings Steve and I have for each other.

Fast forward two years and Steve and I were in the midst of planning our wedding. Our band was booked and despite their best efforts to convince Steve that they would do an amazing cover of the song, it was decided that we’d rather pay $145 for them to rest for three minutes than to not hear Bruce sing “our song.” We had a blast taking dance lessons, listened to the song while repeating the steps in our head, and moved the furniture around our studio apartment to create enough space to practice. The day before we were to travel to Chicago for our wedding, I decided that I must have Steve’s ring engraved with its lyrics and am forever grateful to the jeweler who I convinced to complete my request faster than he originally quoted.

I’m happy in love like this

Our wedding day really was everything I had ever hoped it would be. Even in my dress, which I was convinced was too long and would cause me to trip, we made it through our first dance just as planned. We may have been a bit off beat and I certainly wasn’t the most graceful. But we nailed the steps and I remembered to let Steve lead as we chatted about the day’s events and quietly whispered some of the lyrics to each other. Though it’s not a song I’m likely to hear in the grocery store or in the car (unless I’m listening to E Street Radio), whenever I do take the time to play it, Bruce’s voice will continue to fill me with a sense of comfort and love each time I hear “Happy.”