But before I regale you with my most recent of life, love, and marital quips, I must make it down the aisle!
I left off at the night before the wedding day, having just gone to bed after a fabulous rehearsal/rehearsal dinner.
July 25th, 2009, I woke up around 7:00am. Cranky. Because I hate getting up early...love sleeping in...but I just couldn't stay asleep any longer. Granted I shouldn't have woken up cranky because, hello, it was my wedding day! but chalk it up to wedding day jitters and lack of sleep. Slowly all the girls started to wake up as well, and before long we were all dressed and ready to head to the hair salon...in the fabulous limo mom & daddy rented for the ENTIRE day for us!
We arrived at the hair salon only slightly disheveled looking...and with only two girls (myself and Monica) on the verge of vomiting from carsickness (due to riding backwards in the limo). I'm pretty sure I frowned the entire time I got my hair done, only because I was scrutinizing Mindy's (my hairdresser) every move. That and I was starving. AND we realized we had left my tiara and veil in the hotel room. So Stef & Lori volunteered to take the limo back to the hotel to pick up the hair accoutrement's and swing the limo into the nearest McDonald's to get the cranky bride a bagel. Once they returned, my hair was perfect, and my bagel was devoured, I started smiling again, and the tired, cranky demeanor started to fade.
After we all had our hair done, we piled back into the limo to head back to the hotel, grab everything we needed for the wedding (i.e. my dress...sorta important), and get to the Regency! At the Regency we unloaded all of our stuff into the bridal suite and were swept into the back dining room where we had our own private table lined with pre-set lunch menus specifically for my wedding day...and lots of mimosa's! After lunch we went back into hiding in the bridal suite where we all started getting our make-up done and getting dressed. Todd and I exchanged gifts (well someone brought them to each of us) and thus started the first of many tears of the day. He wrote me the sweetest note (he's not big on written words ;) and gave me a pair of gorgeous diamond earrings -- and a baseball hat in Michigan colors with "Just Married, July 25th, 2009" stitched on it, and my new last name stitched on the side. Little did I know, he also purchased one for himself, which he later donned at the reception...but I'll get there.
Finally it was time to put on THE dress and make this thing official! After much assistance from all 7 of my bridesmaids, and a few embarrassing underwear pictures, I was in the dress...and starting to hyperventilate/cry/pee my pants all at the same time. I wish I could describe what I was feeling in words, but there's just no way. It was the most excitement I've ever felt, combined with the nervousness of being in front of 150 people, combined with thoughts of what is my dad going to think when he sees me? and what will Todd's first reaction be? combined with my heart pounding out of my chest...I just can't describe it, but if I could bottle that feeling and every so often open up that bottle to breathe in the emotion of that exact moment, I would. It was incredible.
I headed out of the bridal suite to find my dad. There's another emotion that's indescribable. Being a daddy's girl your entire life, and suddenly you're standing in front of your father -- the first man you ever truly loved and the first man that ever truly loved you. And now he has to give you to another man. While my heart was so full and happy about my future, at the same time it was breaking for my dad. The little girl in me wanted him to scoop me up and carry me to the car and take me to get a Slurpee and pretend I'd never grown up. But the adult in me -- the adult that he raised me to be -- stood strong, feeling so blessed to have one amazing man love me enough to give me away to a man that he trusted enough to care for me, protect me, and love me the way he has since I was born. Naturally as soon as daddy and I laid eyes on each other, the tears began to flow -- from both of us.
So we hopped in the golf cart to drive up to the ceremony. Dad smiled the whole ride, saying very little to me (I think so he didn't cry more)...I held on to dad the whole ride, saying it was because I was afraid of falling out of the cart (which I kind of was), but mainly because I just needed those last few seconds of holding on to my dad.
We reached the top of the hill, and I looked down through the rows of family and friends and caught Todd's face. The sun was shining right in his face, so I know he could barely see me (in all my white-gown glory) through his squinting eyes, but I could see him...and suddenly my stomach, which had been full of butterflies, settled. I breathed a big sigh of relief. I was ready.
Dad and I started our walk down the aisle...
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