The Wedding Part IV: Before the Ceremony (Sunday)

The Ambien kept me asleep through the night, but it made for an awful morning. At 7:00 a.m. I was so dizzy I could barely stand up. I didn’t want to eat and thought for sure, I might never get the energy to do anything.

Maid of Honor to the rescue with 2 big quarts of Gatorade and a package of saltines! By 8:30 I was ready to get up to the fairgrounds, finish all the work that still needed to be done and get married. It’s always the young ones that know how to cure hangovers…. whatever kind they might be.

Following another delicious breakfast at the Oxford House, I walked into the Resource Center for the last time as Amanda Sanborn and got to work on many things: hanging the stars, creating the photo booth, packing the snack packs I had planned for late night hunger. We set out an example table for the caterer and got rid of all the boxes and bags that we brought everything to the building in. It was another great wave of helpers that allowed us to get things done: my Aunts, cousins, girlfriends it was spectacular. All of the women who could have been at their hotels making themselves beautiful were right there every stride, helping me pull it all together.

At 11:00, I was banished from the building and sent back to the hotel to get ready with my girls. But I wanted to make sure they had nourishment, so I headed up to Jockey Cap once again to get some grinders for us to share.

How hard is it to make 3 grinders, I ask? It became apparent to me that it was damn near impossible… so I sat in Jockey Cap for half an hour just waiting. I had so many things to do, and I needed to be ready by the time the photographer arrived or else the whole day would be messed up. And as I sat waiting, thinking about things getting messed up, the shuttle company called.

There was confusion about the schedule I developed. They didn’t understand what I had wanted and so they thought I was not charged enough.

Ok, now picture this: Bride sitting in a general store 3 hours before her wedding waiting for some teenager to get it together and make 3 simple grinders. The wedding of her dreams somewhat vanished due to a freak hurricane and a terrible vendor. Not to mention, it was hot and humid… way more hot and humid that it had any business being in Maine in September. Then, you tell her you didn’t charge her enough?

Not smart.

So I did my best to remain calm and basically told them that they had agreed to a price and they should honor it. I had sent them a description of exactly what I wanted… in writing. They had confirmed, and so they had no choice but to just make it happen. The nerve….

At that point, my Mom strolled into Jockey Cap and told me to get back to the hotel and start getting ready… she would wait for the sandwiches.

What seemed like 3 days later Mom finally got our sandwiches and brought them back to the Oxford House to share with the girls.  I wasn’t hungry at all, but knew that if I didn’t eat I would probably get sick again. I also finished up the Gatorade that my sister had brought me earlier in the day. Another deep breath and I tried to push pause. Nothing was slowing down and if I didn’t take a second to soak it in, I would forget it forever. So for that brief minute… I sat with my girls chatting and eating like it was any other day.

But it wasn’t, and I was off schedule. The photographer arrived long before my sister even started to do my hair and I knew that in the end, we would be late. All the crap I had given Dan about getting to the ceremony on time, and I was going to be the one who showed up late. I should have known that it would be that way… I’m always rushing around at the last minute, even when he does make us late for things.

So Katie curled my hair and gave me an updo. It wasn’t exactly what I had wanted, but it was pretty and I was late… so when she asked, “do you like it? Because if not I can change it” I simply smiled and said it looked great. It did, it just wasn’t what I originally pictured.

Dan kept calling my parents and me, asking when we would finally be there and my photographer could sense that I was rushing around like an idiot, so she said to me, “I know you’re a bit late and that you want to get up there and get married… but you won’t get another chance to take these pictures.”

She knew me too well… and she knew that I would stop my whirlwind for an awesome picture. So it continued to get later and we just kept pausing for photos. I’m glad I did, but you can tell my Dad wasn’t so pleased about being late. He isn’t smiling in any of the “before” pictures.

At 3:50, My Dad, Mom and I all piled into my Uncle Rob’s car and started driving to the fairgrounds. It’s not a long drive, probably a grand total of 3 minutes, but it was the only part of the entire weekend where minutes were minutes, not seconds. As we passed my Grandparent’s house, I got a little choked up: there I was, on my way to get married to the man I loved, and everyone we cared about was there to watch it all happen.

Dad made some cranky comment about how late we were and found himself the subject of my outburst “It’s my (curse) wedding! We’re not late, they are early. It does not start until I get there, so it’s impossible for us to be late. Calm Down!” What could have been a bad bridezilla moment ended up making us laugh and ultimately, relax.

forced smile

I’m sure the guests who had been waiting for us in the ridiculous heat were relieved to see a car pull in, so they all moved towards the benches and got ready for the big show.

photocredit: Maureen Leary Photography