The Wedding Day

The day of our wedding I woke up with the June sun shining through the curtains of my room at my mom and dad’s house. Every bedroom I have slept in up to this point has had at least one east facing window and because of this I am a naturally early riser. This morning was no different, with me up hours before I needed to be. Leave it to me to not take advantage of extra sleep on my wedding day.

I had played it through my head over and over how I thought my last night in my parents’ house would be and what it would be like to wake up the next morning, knowing it wouldn’t ever really be the same. Unlike I’d expected, I did not cry myself to sleep the night before. I was too tired. And I know you may be thinking, “Really? Cry?” Yes, really. I have always been a mama’s girl and no matter how excited I was to be getting married it pained me to think that I could really never go home again in the same way. We were going to start a new household. No longer would I be under my parents. It all seemed so new and frightening.

But what did I do? I went to sleep the moment my head hit the pillow and like I said, I was up with the sun the next morning and into the kitchen to make my coffee. My mom was awake, my dad already off to work (he has a 24/7 job in the oilfield), and at least one of my brothers was conscious already. Made myself some breakfast, took a long bath, packed up the rest of my stuff, and headed down to Granny and PawPaw’s to pick up my matron-of-honor and one of my bridesmaids (Heather & Aaryn). Together we drove over to Duncan and went to the nail salon to get all gussied up.

The only decent place to get your toes done (that anyone knew of) in Duncan was the salon in Wal-mart, so there we were. I made a coffee run at McDonald’s (Umm, yes. Again.) then settled into one of those comfy chairs to wait my tootsies’ turn. I think the massage chair did wonders to keep the knots from forming in my back. That’s where I tend to direct all my stress (there and my brain and intestines, but you don’t care about that). Eventually it was my turn and that, my dear readers, was The Best pedicure I have ever had. It lasted longer than any other pedicure and NEVER chipped. Bless their hearts at the Duncan Wal-mart. They know what they are doing.

Excuse me if I have to come back and edit some of this, because I realized that I lost quite a bit of my memory from the middle part of the day.

After we were done there, we went to the church to drop some things off and then grabbed a quick lunch. Next up were our hair appointments. Aaryn had one right before mine and we went to my cousin-in-law Cortney’s to have it done. Elizabeth Diefenderfer, a former co-worker, was doing the photography and she arrived to take photos while we were at the salon. It was right at this point that I started to get antsy. I couldn’t sit down. I was pacing in the shop. I knew what was going on though. Adrenaline was starting to fill my veins and I had that constant “I-need-to-take-a-tinkle” feeling that I used to get before a basketball game. You know, like right before you get on a roller coaster? THAT. At least I wasn’t having a panic attack.

After our hair was all done we went back to the church and started getting ready to take a few photos before the wedding. Just the ones without Kevin and I together though. Yes, we’re traditional. I hate being griped at for it. And I’ll be honest, I totally judge people who go ahead and see each other before the wedding. Sorry. I think my mom and my bridesmaids helped me to get the dress on. It’s a heavy sucker. Before I really knew what had happened, we were all completely dressed and ready to go take some pictures. Those went fairly quick, since I’d made a list beforehand of everything I wanted and I didn’t have any ridiculous bridesmaids. Thank you, ladies.

While all this was going on, Dad kept approaching me with his phone to show me pictures of Kevin (who was back in the choir room) and all of his groomsmen playing Phase 10 (whatever that is). I guess that’s a bit of a cheat, but whatever. Blame Dad.

When we were done the four of us (me, Heather, Aaryn, and Delisa) were ushered back into the lounge outside of the ladies’ restroom to wait for everything to begin. Oh boy. My tummy is turning just thinking about it. We had about an hour left to go and this time went by more quickly than anything else. There were a few people in and out of the room; Lindsay, the wife of one of the groomsmen, to deliver a letter from Kevin to me (I sent her back with one for him); a few aunts who couldn’t quite contain their tears; my grandmother who brought by the hair pin that I secured my veil with (belonged to her mother, my Nannie) and the handkerchief that I carried (belonged to PawPaw’s mother, my “Granny Christ” [pronounced KRISS] or Grandma Maggie Johnson to the rest of the family) and left quickly because she wasn’t going to be able to hold her tears in; and a few random people to say “hello.” (If you were there and you remember more of this, please share in the comments. I have lost a lot of it!)

I don’t know how it all went by so quickly, but suddenly my dad was peeking through the door to tell us that the video presentation was almost over and that they’d be seating the families within minutes. That meant it was almost time. Oh. My. Lands.

(Since you all haven’t seen it, unless you were there, here’s the slideshow we played. YouTube quality is AWFUL, but the DVD version is great.)

There were a couple of small snafus with the timing and people knowing when to be queued in (blame me for being the wedding coordinator at the rehearsal), but it all worked out without me knowing.

I was standing there, the music was playing, and my girlie friends were walking down the aisle. The doors closed and then there were violins. Without any warning, I was on my dad’s arm and he said, “It’s all going to be fine.” The doors opened and there we were. And there, at the end of the aisle…was him.

Tomorrow – Reflections on the Ceremony WITH *tada* The Wedding Video!

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