So, Yeah, that Wedding...

I should write something about the wedding... it's hard. It's kind of surreal. Did all that really happen? Yeah, it did. I've got the proofs for the photo album sitting on my table.

The wedding. My wedding. Gardiner and Me. Everything went perfectly.

No really... it did. We got everything we asked for and then some. We even got refund checks from some of our vendors because we'd overpaid. All the outfits were perfect, the food was delicious, all the girls' hair was perfect, all the guys looked dashing in their tuxes, the flowers were straight out of my fantasies. Every little detail I'd arranged fell right into place. We even got the weather we wanted - just enough snow to give us a beautiful vista of Boston, seen from our reception hall on the 35th floor.

I believe, if I think back on my 36+ years of existence, that this may have actually been the happiest day of my life. I couldn't stop grinning. My cheeks were sore before the rehearsal dinner ever started. I always tease G about having a smug look on his face - I've never seen him quite so smug! My father and I somehow managed not to cry, and the time I spent with him was very intimate, special, unforgettable. My Mom looked gorgeous in her red dress, and my mother-in-law looked equally gorgeous in her persimmon gown. My father-in-law cut up the dance floor all night, and so did my friends. Our photographer was fun, easy-going, and nearly invisible. The DJ kept the dinner music light and low, then pulled out all the stops when the party got hopping. Every instruction G and I had left was followed to the letter.

And I danced. Oh, did I dance. I danced like I haven't in years. I held nothing back. I felt completely free and uninhibited. G and I twirled and dipped and stumbled and laughed and kissed and everyone applauded. I shook my groove thang with my girlfriends until they shut us down at midnight.

The generosity of our friends and family takes my breath away. We set it up so that people wouldn't have to do much - we wanted to do all the work and cover as much of the expenses as possible - the parking, the open bar, the beauty salon for my bridesmaids and Moms, we even paid for one groomsman's tux. It was all so small to us, and so worth every penny... we wouldn't have dreamed of not doing these things. We established a firm "no-gifts" policy. There is TRULY nothing we need - it's not a platitude! I have a storage cubicle full of barely used household goods - some very high quality. We live in a one-bedroom and will for at least another year! Well, people found ways of giving small things to us anyway... a bottle of G's favorite cognac, a favorite frying pan that replaces one I had relenquished to my divorce... Small things from very close friends who know us better than we realize.

And Trip and Slam... they put me up for a couple of days before the wedding. I drove up to their house in Weymouth the Wednesday prior, and crashed in their guest room. Trip drove me in and out of Boston during Thursday Rush Hour so I could get my bridal mani/pedi. They spoiled me rotten. Took me out for sushi, made pancakes for breakfast, let me cry on their shoulders when my nerves overtook me. They schlepped all manner of wedding items from place to place, in the snow. Oh, and they were working from home the whole time. Multi-tasking raised to an art form.

The night of the wedding, they decorated the bridal suite at the hotel for us. How they got in there I'm not sure. Flowers, rose petals, the whole bit. The night after the wedding, we crashed at their house, before driving off into the mountains for our honeymoon the next morning... and they decorated their guest room for us, making a little honeymoon suite. The went to so much effort and invested so much time and creativity, not to mention extra cash for things we never expected... I'm still amazed. And warmed by the love of truly great friends.

Kristin and Lisa were, as usual, a comfort to me. Lisa has been my rock in recent years, always supportive, always listening, always talking me down from my ledges. Kristin has been my cheerleader, and together the two of them kept me from being a complete emotional wreck.

And my Man-Of-Honor was amazing. He kept me laughing, he told me all the right things at the right times, and damn... he gave me the best makeup face I've had in years. In all the photos I'm positively glowing, and not just from happiness. He danced with my niece, he entertained everyone at the reception... lord, there's going to be some wild photos from the last hour of that party. He gave a speech that made up laugh and almost made me cry. He kept it real.

The whole weekend was so overwhelming. Nine weeks ago today.

Wow.

I'll get back to this.