Wedding Day morning I was awake bright and early, listening to the sounds of my mom getting up and heading out for coffee and continental breakfast while my dad still snored in the other bed. From the light coming in around the window curtains I could tell it was already sunny. I turned on the TV and watched an old episode of The Fresh Prince while I waited for time to pass -- since I'd showered the night before (so my hair would be dry for the hair appointment) I didn't have much to do in the way of getting ready. Around 8:30 I got up and dressed and washed my face, and headed out to find the girls, all of whom turned out to be in the breakfast area having a quick bowl of cereal (which I unfortunately discovered only after rousing Mike from a sound sleep when I was looking for Angela). Several other relatives were out there too, so I got to say a few hellos and answer that "Nervous yet?" question with a "Nope, not yet."
We piled into my mom's CRV and headed off to JC Penney to get our hair all prettied up. I was supposed to be directing but we ended up driving right past it anyway. We still managed to get there on time though, and all the stylists were waiting for us. "Nervous yet?" my stylist asked. "Nope." I was pretty quiet while getting my hair done this time, just thinking. We decided to stick with what we'd done during the hair trial so I knew what to expect. The only downside to the hair appointment was that due to circumstances (my stylist's station and the way I needed to face in order for her to work) I couldn't see anybody else getting their hair done until mine was finished. All the stylists did a wonderful job and everyone's hair looked just gorgeous. Curls everywhere. I'll have to obtain and post a picture of the back of everyone's head. :)
After that, we all went out for a "just girls" breakfast at Bob Evans, with all our pretty hair and me in my veil. Naturally the servers wanted to know where and when the wedding was (and whether I was nervous yet). :) Apparently just before us there had been a groom and groomsmen who came for breakfast in a limo, so they wondered if we were the other half of that wedding party -- nope! But it was funny that they had two wedding parties in one day... though I suppose it's probably not that unusual during the summer. Breakfast was delicious, it's been a long time since I've been to a Bob Evans after they closed the one in Hamburg, so I was happy with the choice. We also had great service; I don't think the bridal status hurt us there. ;)
We were back to the hotel around 11:30 to get dressed "for real". Nervous yet? Nope. Actually the strange thing is that I didn't seem to feel anything. I kept waiting for something to hit me, some "oh my goodness, it's really happening" feeling in the pit of my stomach, some excitement, anything. But it was actually more of a numbness, like I was just going through the motions. I'd laid out a timetable for the morning: get up at 8, hair at 9, eat breakfast, do makeup, get dressed, leave for church at 12:30, arrive at 1. We followed the plan, had plenty of time for everything, no need to panic, nothing frantic about it. I'll take being completely calm all morning over being freaked out and stressed. Still, I was really surprised that I felt nothing.
My cousin Lindsay did makeup for me. She did a very nice job, it was very light and subtle. Since I never wear makeup I didn't want to have a ton of it on, but she made me look pretty, yet still like me. Then Mom and Molly helped me get the dress on. I'd bought some cute wedding-themed stockings but decided to forgo them in favor of socks, being unsure of whether thigh-hi's would be comfy the whole day or rather drive me bananas. I think now that the decision was wise. ;) Shoes on, two garters on: one was Mom's, the other was Molly's which I had gotten after catching the bouquet at her wedding. That was the one I decided I'd throw, and I stuck a Sabres logo pin in the satin bow. Then my grandmother's teardrop pearl earrings, and my aunt's string of pearls. Something old: all my pearl jewelry; something new: most of the rest of my outfit; something blue: my lovely shoes! I suppose my something borrowed would have been mom's garter since I'll be giving it back. :) It was funny looking at myself in the mirror with the whole outfit together. Kristie, Molly, and Angela looked beautiful in their matching light blue dresses. Then suddenly it was time to leave.
As I was getting into the car with my parents, Wyl came out of the motel in his suit and I decided that was a great opportunity to get a picture of him with his Mustang. In retrospect I should have trooped across the parking lot, dress and all, and taken it myself; instead I handed the camera to my dad -- without checking first to make sure it was in the right mode. Being unfamiliar with my camera Dad didn't know how to change it from view mode to shoot mode so the picture unfortunately didn't come out, which wasn't his fault at all. Our photog did get one later, at the reception, but by that time Wyl had changed out of the suit so the effect wasn't quite the same. Ah well. ;)
I don't know how my parents were feeling on the drive down to the church. I was still "numb", calm and not really feeling anything. We made small talk the whole way down. When we arrived the remnants of the noon wedding were still at the church, having pictures taken. But my relatives had begun to gather out in the parking lot: my grandmother, all my aunts on dad's side, my cousin Jay. The bridesmaids arrived and introductions were made. Mike and Hamilton were on purse duty, which made for some lovely photos. My dad pointed out to Hamilton that his purse did not match his shoes. We all made small talk as we waited around; I was mostly just wondering if Joe was there yet.
A few minutes later I noticed Joe's parents heading into the church. Then our florist came out to say hi and tell me she loved my dress. She was tickled because she doesn't usually get to see the bride all dressed up. After that, I decided it was time to go in. I guess I was starting to get antsy; I wanted to see my groom! There was no grand entrance, no "it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding", no posed shot of the look on his face at the first sight of me in all my bridal regalia. Just the man I love, as handsome as ever in his suit, smiling at me and telling me how nice I looked. :)