Oh, my wedding day. What a fantastic day that was. From start to finish, the day was flawless. Well, mostly flawless. As flawless as a girl with OCD and a need for perfection can handle.
As I sit here typing this, I still can't believe that it's over. But the pictures and stories and the boxed up wedding dress (that's actually currently being shipped to Syracuse so I can wear it again...more on that later) tell me that it is, in fact, over. My days of being obsessing with wedding planning and making sure I am the most fabulous bride I could possibly be are over. Now it's on to obsessing over our new house that's being built and being the most fabulous wife I could possibly be.
And I don't mean to brag, but 3 and a half weeks in, and I think I'm doing a pretty fabulous job as a wife. ha!
So what follows are the details of my wedding day that I just had to get down in writing, both to share with the world, and to engrain in my head since I'm still trying to make sense of it all.
The night before the wedding, Brian's parents hosted an amazing rehearsal dinner for us at Bugatti. It was so wonderful to have our closest friends and our family there to celebrate with us on the eve of our wedding. I remember stopping myself several times that night and trying to take it all in, take in the extent of what was happening. I felt like that episode of "Friends" where Alec Baldwin guest starred and he kept taking "mental snapshots" of every moment because it was all so important to him. Even now, I still don't think my mental snapshots can do the night justice. It was a lovely evening with the people I care most about in the world.
But that was just Wedding Eve. The next day, Wedding Day, I learned what it truly means to love and to be loved.
My bridesmaids and I spent the morning getting all dolled up for the evening's festivities. I had so much fun just sitting around, drinking mimosas, and laughing with my best friends. And it was made even better by the fact that the fabulous Bailey, who has been doing my hair for 15 years, was there all morning to do everyone's up-dos, down-dos, curly-dos, everything-dos. It's just not a wedding with Bailey!
And it certainly isn't a wedding, or at least not MY wedding, if my sister, Morgan, isn't doing my makeup. The girl is a magician, I tell you. Not once throughout the night did I have to reapply anything other than lip gloss. Yeah, she's that good. Her makeup job even held up through the 90+ degree heat I stood in during my bridal portrait shoot in Deep Ellum.
My mom came over around 1 that afternoon and added to all the fun we were having. My mom is so awesome. That really is the best word to describe her. Awesome. She was already in her wedding attire: Black pant suit (not the mother-of-the-bride boring kind) and fantastic pink shirt underneath. Totally my mom's style since it allowed her to throw up the rocker sign several times at the reception!
After all the ladies were ready (and looking ever so hot!) and lots of hairspray had wafted into the air, we made our way to the church where I would get dressed. We pilled all 11 of us into a Hummer limo and cranked up the hip/hop so we could raise the roof, literally, on our way to the church. Good times and good talks took place in that limo. Moments that I will cherish for the rest of my life, no matter how cliche that sounds.
When we arrived at the church, we all took off for the bride's room, so I could remain undercover until my fierce moment to shine.
Getting me dressed only took one fabulous person: My amazing Matron of Honor, Kim. That girl is good. I mean REALLY good. I know there are all sorts of heroic characters out there to whom a great deal of gratitude is no doubt deserved, but she beats them all. Hercules. please. He's got nothing on Kim. And she's also a champ at making a girl feel like the most beautiful bride that ever graced a church. Somehow, having Kim there made me know that everything was going to be alright. (and it was)
After I was dressed, all the other people in the wedding party went outside to line up for the processional. I had a few moments to myself before my Daddy came to get me. During those few moments, I cried a few happy tears and I prayed. But mostly, I thanked God for leading me to such a wonderful man. I thanked God that I was there, about to marry the man of my dreams, the man I never thought would come. My man, my prince, my Brian was there...and now he was waiting at the front of the church for me.
When my Daddy knocked on the door, I knew it was time. We walked to the front of those huge double-doors. I looked at my Daddy and we shared a smile, a smile that let me know I will always be his little girl and he will always be my Daddy. Then, the doors opened. I tried to count to at least 3 so I could soak it all in, but we were already moving down the aisle and I was already crying.
The rest of the ceremony is somewhat of a blur, but there were definitely several moments that I will never forget: Handing my mother a single peony; my Daddy kissing me on the cheek and putting my hand in Brian's; Kim helping me up the stairs (remember to breath, don't lock your knees, don't pass out); Brian taking an ever so long pause when the minister asked him to repeat the words "I promise"; Brian realizing he was suppose to say "I do" and not "Yes!"; our ring bearer machine-gunning people in the crowd (thanks, Tommy, for the comic relief!); the sand ceremony that left our vase with a pathetically small amount of sand in it; putting on Brian's wedding ring; our first kiss; the announcement of us as husband and wife.
Ok, so maybe I remember more than I thought. But it's not hard when there were so many memorable moments.
But there are things I didn't remember until I saw the pictures: How beautiful all the bridesmaids looked lined up behind me; how well I held it together (I thought I would be bawling); how beautiful the church was.
After the ceremony, we all gathered in a room and waited until people left so we could start the formal pictures. Much like the rehearsal dinner, having all those people gathered in the same place was one of the best moments of this experience. All the hugs, kisses, love...embracing my new in-laws, being asked if Brian's neices and nephew could now call me "Aunt Heather"...
The ceremony was perfect...not because everything went according to plan, but because of those little moments that weren't in the script. I could not have planned it better, which is saying a lot because planning is my passion. It was exactly how my wedding ceremony was suppose to go. It was full of love, laughter, prayer. It was full of fabulousness.
And that was only the beginning of the evening.
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