2004-05-25 - 10:19 a.m.

The wedding was almost too good to be true. It was exactly what I wanted, exactly as I'd imagined it to be - it was mind-blowing, really. Sure, there were a few slip ups - we didn't formally cut the wedding cake, except for a picture, and so we didn't do the toast right then - my brother in law's toast was absolutely amazing - he said things about me, and us, that had me full out crying for the first time that day. There were a few pictures I wanted to take that I didn't, like me with my grandmother and me and my brother alone, but it didn't phase me much at all.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and about 75, after a morning of ominous clouds and fog. My mom and niece and I went to get our hair done in the morning, then went for breakfast with my in laws, and then I went to the restaurant to meet the florist (who is my friend's boyfriend - and my friend was there as well) The restaurant is an old stone mill with a slate patio in back, a stream running alongside, and is ringed with rocks and wildflowers. I came in to find them, surrounded by big white florist buckets of flowers, and they arranged them right there for four hours - they were absolutely STUNNING - including mine - and whatever they charge me won't be nearly enough.

The chapel was perfect, too, although a little hot - while I was up there getting married I could feel sweat dripping down my side - how lovely and bridelike - it's a little clapboard chapel, painted yellow, literally in the middle of the woods. Like a storybook chapel. It's hundreds of years old, and inside it's plain wood floors and plain wood chairs and beautiful windows - and the florist did beautiful arrangements in deep red and yellow, and the ceremony was short and sweet and we actually had FUN up there. P told me later, tears in his eyes, that I was absolutely beaming. And I could feel it, too.

Then the cocktail hour on that amazing patio, with sun shining through the trees, and a classical quartet - sped right by for me, but I hear it was fun - and then inside for dinner, 4 courses with two wines for each, and a wine guy explaining each one. (Yes, everyone got drunk) Some of us got up between courses and went outside to smoke, and people moved around from room to room, and when it was over we went back outside for cake and coffee and champagne, and we ended up bringing back the full bar. My nephew played catch with my new cousin-in-law (who's 30, hee), my niece called P a sissy, and my girlfriend Karen had the kind of fun I hadn't seen her have in years. Our families got along famously, and my godfather and his Dad got up and gave great speeches, and so did P and one of M's (can't call him the boyfriend anymore, can I?) friends from high school. The guys drifted off by the stream to smoke cigars, and my friend Kelly made P her immediate sidekick (face flushed with all that wine, she screamed, "I LOVE him!" - the Jack to her Karen. Heh.) And it was relaxed and easy, and the local bluegrass band the boyfriend hired was a huge hit, and they stayed an extra hour.

I almost can't believe it. I can't wait to get the pictures - we had a photographer, but one of M's friends is an amateur photog himself, and took rolls and rolls of candid shots, and one amazing one he calls the the J-F-K shot,a side view of us coming into the chapel with me on his arm, holding my flowers in front of me. I got some from my sister in law, and all I have to say is I hope I didn't look like that for real. I'll have to wait for the proofs.

And thank you, all, for all your good wishes. They mean a lot to me!

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