October 18, 2003

The morning of October 18, 2003.

***

I was up bright and early on our wedding day- Jeff was able to sleep a little later. I was really looking forward to my morning. I knew we had a time crunch but I knew it would be worthwhile. I had an appointment for a one hour full body massage at 9:00, a hair appointment at 10:00 and Jeff and I had to be at the Chapel by 11:00 for the 11:30 ceremony. My massage was incredible. I was so relaxed afterwards... ahhhhh! Then the stress set back in pretty quickly. My hair appointment wound up running late as the hairdresser was held up by her previous client. I didn't get in her chair until 10:15! I had to leave the salon by 10:30 so I could get back to the cabin, take 10 minutes to get dressed, and then race out the door to get to the Chapel! I explained my predicament to the hairdresser and she worked a FAST miracle on my hair! In addition, she gave me a fantastic shortcut back to the cabin- didn’t have to go anywhere near the main drag! She had me out the door in 20 minutes and I was back at the cabin in 5! Jeff had everything ready to go and we had awesome teamwork happening to get me changed and out the door.

We got to the Chapel in the nick of time and were actually able to spend a few minutes getting settled and calmed down before everything got started. We met with the preacher and discussed marriage and our relationship. He offered wisdom and advice on keeping a marriage long and healthy. I was handed my bouquet of ivory and red roses. Jeff and I continued to make eye contact and I know that I have never felt so calm and confident before. The time had come to get started and we were ahead of schedule! In fact, most guests had arrived and we were ready to go at 11:20! My family (mom, dad, brothers, aunt and uncle) had not yet arrived so we did convince the wedding planner that we should wait until the scheduled time before we got started. The wedding planner used the additional time to take some outdoor pictures.

Everyone had arrived and was settled inside. The wedding planner told us to wait outside. We would hear the music start and the door would open. Jeff and I would come down the aisle together and the ceremony would start. Jeff and I had a few brief moments to share alone together before the music started- time to calm each other’s nerves, a quick “I love you!” and then we heard the bridal march!

The door swung open and there was a small sea of friendly, smiling faces. I remember seeing cameras flashing and people tearing up and huge smiles. I know I saw Brian, Jim, my mom, Connie and Joey and David… I wanted to hold a memory of each face. But the aisle was small and we had reached the end before I knew it. The moment that we had been planning for and looking forward to had finally arrived. We stood before the preacher and our beloved family and friends and began the first step of our lives together.