The Wedding

Ah, where to begin. Wednesday and Thursday before the wedding saw various and sundry friends and relatives arrive in Seattle. Sarah's parents arrived in the morning and mine in the afternoon along with my sister Cindy, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Emily, Cousin Bill and his wife Joanne. Things started pretty normally by trying to decide somewhere to eat. Of course, no one agreed so we were off and running. After a quick bite at Arby's, we all adjourned for a night of rest agreeing to join up for fun and sightseeing the next day.
On Friday, Deanna (maid of honor), Sarah and I met everyone (including my good friend Todd) at the Space Needle. That was fun. It was a beautiful day and everyone enjoyed the views. After that, it was time to eat so everyone agreed to go to the Pike St. Market. Once there, no one could agree on one place to eat so we split up and agreed on a meet time. I split off with my family for a wonderful sit down lunch at P. F. Chang's.
After lunch, we met the group for the next leg. Some were tired and wanted to grab the next shuttle back to the hotel. Some wanted to do the ferry. Some wanted to shop. Shopping won out but drama ensued again when the shuttle wouldn't arrive to pick folks up for 2 hours. Todd, being the straightforward guy that he is, found a bus for them to take back to the hotel and we put them on it. After that, Todd, Deanna, Sarah, and myself parked our weary behinds at a Starbucks for a bit of conversation. Sarah's long-time friend Stephanie arrived in town and joined us there. We had a great time! Deanna told us all about the Eharmony guy she was going to meet in town and Todd had a fit. He told her there were some issues in her own life she had to get straightened out and we all laughed hysterically.
After Starbucks, we walked around downtown for a bit. Todd and I had a great conversation sitting on the leather couch at Restoration Hardware. We all met back up and grabbed a cab back to the Needle. We parted ways until Saturday.
On Saturday, Sarah had to run errands so she took the jeep. My parents picked me up at the apartment and we went thrift store shopping. Rehearsal was at 11am so we hustled over there for that. All went well so we adjourned to Romio's for our Pre-Wedding Celebration. Everyone loved the pizza and had a good time. While there, Sarah's friends Rick and Jen and my friend Butch arrived. After the pizza, we treated everyone to a viewing of An Inspector Calls (the show running at Taproot). After the show, the parents and such went their merry way and the youngsters prepared for a night of fellowship at Adam and Heather's home in Beacon Hill.
Once at Adam and Heather's, both sides of friends blended beautifully. Poor Deanna had to entertain her Eharmony date and missed out on most of the fun. Todd was a big hit. At one point, Sarah's friend Jen said to him, "I wish I had known you forever." It was a fun night. We stayed up way too late but we laughed a whole lot. I dropped Sarah and Deanna at the hotel and went back to the apartment for a good nights sleep.
The next morning, awoke and spent some quiet time at home. Sarah didn't want me to see her before the wedding so I was alone...doing a few chores and getting ready. Todd called and asked if he could take me to breakfast. I said yes because I was getting antsy. He picked me up and we went to the Library Cafe. We had another wonderful talk but before long we had to get to the church for the wedding. (Oh yeah...that!)
Things went rather smoothly and I began to get antsy. I was never nervous, just ready to get the show on the road. Just before the ceremony, Todd and I were in the dressing room and he called Karen (a good friend who couldn't come) and we talked a bit. At one point, we lost the signal. She called back and asked Todd if I had fainted. Apparently the last thing I said to her was, "Gosh, it's 5 minutes 'til the wedding," and then nothing.
Finally the time came and I marched my little butt up to the platform with Randy (our pastor), my dad (best man) and Deanna. The music started and out came Sarah. Boom! From that moment, I had to fight back the tears. She was beautiful! She walked down with her parents and the ceremony began. After her parents gave her away, Randy almost drew blood trying to push me forward to escort Sarah to the platform. My brain had checked out.
I don't remember in what order anything happened after that. Charity sang beautifully. Stephanie did a reading that was powerful and meaningful. Sarah wouldn't look at me and I knew why. She was fighting back tears as well. When the time came for the vows, I lost it. I barely made it through. I sounded like a blubbering idiot. Then it was Sarah's turn. I knew she'd cry too. I knew she's sound like an idiot too. I was wrong. She sailed through it like a pro. Oh, the shame. The big teddy bear broke down.
The ceremony was fun and I was so glad. We made cracks. Randy made cracks. He called a "time-out" when both Sarah and I were crying and Mark had to come to the platform with tissues. My dad pretended to lose the ring. It was corny but alot of fun. The perfect wedding for Sarah and I.
Once we were pronounced man and wife, it's a blur. There were pictures, a reception, leaving to through a cloud of bubbles...but I barely remember any of it. It was a wonderful day. We said our goodbyes and headed to the Silver Cloud Inn for the night. Once there, we were so exhausted. We ate our carryout plates from the reception and then I went out and got us dessert. We crawled into bed, watched the last part of "Silence of the Lambs" (how dreadfully romantic) and then watched "Austin Powers." (even more romantic) Finally the lights went out and we tried to sleep. The next day was a busy one. We had to prepare for our honeymoon trip to Orlando. But that's a story for another entry.