And the Wedding

I've discovered that your child getting married is a lot like your child being born. Time both speeds up and slows down.  The actual wedding day seemed to go by in a flash, but moments during the day were like a slow motion film.  Here's what happened.

The day started at 4:40 am for Drake and I.  I don't think we could have slept another minute if we had wanted to.  Drake especially was very keyed up.  No doubt he would say the same about me.  The reason we were up so early is that we expected the hairdresser to arrive about 5:30 am.  We gave each of the bridesmaids a session with the wedding hairdresser, Tammie Garza.  This woman is very professional and with an assistant turned out hair dos for six bridesmaids and Sarah in under three hours.  

Now, you understand why I made the kimonos.  Everyone wore their kimonos during the 6:00 to 9:00 am getting ready time.  Drake and I are floating around making sure everyone got yogurt, coffee, and the kolaches we brought from West, Texas while we tried to get ready ourselves.  In a calculated move to settle me (and himself down), Drake read out loud to me the Texas Ranger baseball story of the previous night's game.  I'm sure everyone thought that very bizarre, but it felt like normalcy to me.  Suddenly, about 8:00 am, rain begins pouring down.  Sarah is close to tears.  Drake, checking the weather radar, rashly promises her that it will not be raining for her wedding.  I'm sending up silent prayers since I know Sarah picked this venue for the unique processional it offered.  Slowly, slowly, over the next hour the rain dribbles to a stop, but it remains ominously overcast. 

Meanwhile, the "getting ready party" is a rousing success.  Everyone is laughing, eating kolaches, and putting on make-up.  The hairdressers are steadily working through the bridesmaids.  Amy and Emily look lovely.  I thought Shanleigh's hair was really gorgeous, but I was most impressed with Shailie's hair since her hair is long, thick and naturally curly.  I really should have gotten money back for Anne.   

On to make-up.  The make-up designer arrived to 'do' Sarah.  She got 'airbrushed' with make up that would last all day and would be tear proof.  (She and I inadvertently tested that property as I was getting her ready.)  At the conclusion of the makeup session, here's the most beautiful bride I've ever seen.  Ok, Ok, I'm a LITTLE prejudiced.   

And here's they are:  Sarah's bridesmaids - Shanleigh (Jay's sister), Amy (Best Woman), Shailie, Sarah, Emily, Anne and Lauren.  

Next, Drake, Sarah and I leave for the Mansion on Judge's Hill, the venue of the wedding.  The next hour was my favorite part of the day.   It was a bittersweet drive.  We all took our accustomed seats in the car, the places each of us have sat thousands of times - Drake driving, me riding shotgun, and Sarah in the back seat behind Drake.   However, this time the family drive felt like both an ending and a beginning.   This was the last time we would drive as a family of three.  The next time Sarah would drive with us she would be Sarah Lynn Smith Wilson, and our family would be four, not three.

We took a hotel room at the Mansion for Sarah and the girls to put on their dresses, jewelry and shoes.  Pastor Marilyn and her husband, John, stayed in the room the night before the wedding.  They graciously vacated it the morning of the wedding, so we could use it for our final preparations.  Drake left us at the room, and I helped Sarah put on her beautiful dress and get ready for one of the most important days of our lives.  This was an intensely emotional time of joy for both Sarah and I.  There were a few tears blotted by her great grandmother's handkerchief as we tried to express what we were feeling.  This was a moment of connection between myself and Sarah Lynn; one of the best times in my life as Sarah's mother.  Here is my angel baby ready for her wedding in her gorgeous dress wearing her "something old", the pearls, which was one of our wedding gifts to her.  These are the ones Drake gave me for our 10th wedding anniversary, and they are now Sarah's.

Our next hour was both fun and nerve wracking.  Sarah left to do her 'first look' with Jay.  Drake and I toured the reception area, and then went to greet the groomsmen, Jay's parents and our early arriving friends. 

Drake and I, Kit and Jeff (Jay's parents) are all so happy, and so ready for the event we have planned and worked on for six months.  It's hard to believe at this point the day is actually happening. It's almost time, and there's a big problem...

The one thing we couldn't buy, couldn't schedule, couldn't control:  the weather. It's been overcast all morning, and raining intermittently. The staff of the hotel are drying the guests' chairs as well as sweeping down the flagstone surface of the garden area.  One of the staff is actually using a small towel and drying small puddles of water that are dotting the length of the processional portion of the flagstones.  At 10:45 am it starts to spit rain.  Guests are putting the lovely programs over their heads as rain drop catchers.  The wedding planner looks at Drake, and says, "What shall we do?"  Without hesitation, Drake says, "We're doing it."  And, true to his prediction, as the wedding processional begins, it stops raining.  Sarah Lynn sweeps down a wrought iron staircase, takes her Dad's arm, and processes up the aisle to the "Spring" music by Vivaldi.  She is a vision, and he is beaming.  

The wedding ceremony was beautiful  Pastor Marilyn's service blessed the union. Jay and Sarah exchanged vows they had written which were the traditional sentiments expressed using modern words.  For instance, they vowed to love one another through 'plenty' and 'want'.  The rings entrusted to Jay's Best Man and best friend, Nick, were given and exchanged.   Just as they are saying their vows, the sun comes out and illuminates them.  The wedding service is going like clockwork.  

However, as we all know, every wedding has a hitch.  In one wedding we attended, a groomsman fainted.  Sometimes bouquets are dropped.  Toddler ring bearers and flower girls act up during the service.  Our wedding hitch involved Kit and I.  Jay and Sarah asked the two of us to light a unity candle symbolizing the new family we were creating as a result of their marriage.  As we did the rehearsal run through, no one thought it was important we actually learn how to light those fire guns.  These look like wands with triggers and fire shoots out of the end as you press the trigger.  That's what is supposed to happen.  Neither Kit nor I could get the stupid things to light.  We tried, and then we tried again.  I was dumbfounded.  How could this be happening?  All I could think of was, "Nobody smokes anymore, so nobody has a damn lighter."  I thought I had covered ever contingency, but I missed this one.  Fortunately, just as the guests were getting restless, Sam, one of the groomsmen, stepped up and produced a Bic lighter.  Kit and I were as relieved as was everyone else.  Whew!   With a final blessing, Pastor Marilyn introduced the newly married couple to the guests.

Time for the party.  Here's my final picture:  Drake and his newly married daughter dancing at her wedding.