August 21, 2005 - Reflections of the Happiest Day of My Life Yet
“The Happiest Day of My Life Yet”
That’s what John wrote on his calendar when we set our wedding date. I must say, it is pretty accurate.
The last week and a half has been unbelievable. In fact, this morning when I woke up in my Virginia home, it was as if all of it was just this long drawn-out dream.
John and I flew into Los Angeles California on Saturday, August 13. We spent the whole week making last-minute preparations for our big day and meeting with people who have kindly provided their great services to us. Monday we met with the florist, Tuesday we met with the DJ, Wednesday I went to my final dress fitting and Thursday I had a consultation with my make-up and hair stylist. Friday was Uncle Frank’s Surprise 50th Birthday Party and Saturday was the wedding rehearsal.
I must say that “the fun” with regards to the wedding began on Saturday, the day of the rehearsal. John and I were suppose to meet with the Pastor, who was going to minister our wedding, a half an hour before the actual rehearsal so that we could give him a revised version of our vows and other things that are to be said during the ceremony. Well, last minute plans plus Los Angeles traffic kicked into gear and we were late. A bit irate, I kindly sat quiet and just let the day take its course. 15 minutes before the rehearsal I began getting phone calls from what felt like a bunch of people. First it was my sister, Joy, asking where we were. Then it was the Pastor asking what room the rehearsal was to be held at the hotel.
I attempted to call the catering manager who was supposed to have that figured out for us. There was no answer. Finally we were in the parking garage and there weren’t any empty parking spaces. John dropped me off in front of the elevator. I frantically pushed the up button, but for some reason the elevator that came first was going down. Since it was empty, I decided to take it, hoping that I could somehow get it to go up one level before it began its journey down to the lower parking level. No luck. It proceeded to go down. Funny though, the people waiting for the elevator were my sister, Michelle, and my mom. As the elevator began its way up, I told them what was going on. There wasn’t much time to tell them everything because mid-sentence the elevator came to a stop at the lobby and two of the groomsmen were there to greet me hello. I just smiled hello and ran to look for the Pastor. I profusely apologized to the Pastor for being late. Suddenly I found myself being surrounded by all the wedding party and family and friends. “What a mess!” I thought to myself, but I kept focused and tried to do things one thing at a time. I went to the concierge at the front desk and asked where our rehearsal is to take place. They had no clue. I had them call the catering manager who was nowhere to be found. As I waited to hear a word about where the rehearsal should take place, I went over to the Pastor, introduced him to my soon-to-be husband and we began going over the details of the ceremony. Once we got the banquet room to rehearse in, we went through the program two times. The first time was a complete mess. The second time was a lot better except for the fact that one of the groomsmen was holding the ring bearer at his ankles upside down!
John and I parted after the rehearsal lunch. Yeah, so what if it wasn’t 24 hours, it was enough to get us anxious to see each other!
The rest of the day was for last-minute preparations. Michelle, my mom and I went to check into my room at Embassy Suites, and then we ran a few errands which included picking up my dress from being cleaned and steamed. After Michelle and my mom left the hotel I took some time to relax while I waited for one of my bridesmaids to arrive.
I couldn’t sleep well that night. I got a total of 3 hours of sleep if that. I didn’t really understand why. I wasn’t nervous or anything. Though, I guess I was anxious to just see how the day would unfold.
I found myself wide awake at 6:20 am the next morning. I decided to sit down and write a thank you speech that I wasn’t sure if I was even going to recite to our guests before they were to head home. None the less, I wrote it just in case I found myself having the guts to say it out loud.
Karine, one of my bridesmaids, fulfilled her promise and arrived around 7:30am. Around the same time, I got Shalom out of bed and I was about done writing my speech. A couple minutes later, my mom and Michelle arrived with comfort food from McDonalds. MmmmMmmm… Nothing like a sausage mcmuffin on the morning of your wedding!
I didn’t have much to do that morning other than pass a list around that had things that needed to be done the day of the wedding. I made it the night before, and I must say, it worked out nicely. Michelle passed a copy of that list onto the groomsmen who went through the list item by item to make sure that everything was in order.
Around 9am, Natalie the make-up and hair artist came and began working immediately on Karine’s hair, followed by mine, then Natalie (the flower girl) then Michelle and Joy. Whew! Natalie (the hair and make-up babe) was just a hair and make-up doing machine! She did everyone’s hair and make-up in such a timely manner. It was amazing!
By the time Natalie finished with everyone’s hair it was time to start the show. The bridal party headed down the elevator to the ceremony room where my groom awaits me.
The ceremony room had a nice intimate feel. The hotel staff transformed this banquet room into a cute little chapel. There was a decorated arch on top of a stage that John stood on along with the minister. The aisle had a white runner lined with beautiful white and purple rose petals. As I walked down the aisle, scanning the room, I didn’t see one chair empty. I was speechless. All eyes were on me, while the only person I could keep my eyes on was the handsome groom waiting for me to be given away to him. I couldn’t wait until the Pastor said “you may kiss the bride”. I just wanted to give him a big ole hug and kiss and tell him how handsome he was.
After the ceremony, we walked out of the room through a beautiful sword drawn arch. The Navy ROTC of University of Southern California came to do this wonderful ceremony for us. It was so perfect. It did nothing but add a magical touch to our wedding.
Promptly after the ceremony, we took pictures with the bridal party and family then it was off to the larger banquet room next door. It was, as a friend said, “Simple but elegant.” The table and chairs were covered in white. Each chair had a lilac organza bow while the center of each table top had a simple arrangement of tulips. Rose petals were tossed around each table arrangement and lined the head table. It was so beautiful and everything was so perfect.
The reception was over before we knew it. The first dance with my love was with the song “Destiny” by Jim Brickman. John danced with my mom and I danced with his dad to the song “I hope you dance” by Lee Ann Womack.
The rest is history.
I think the best part of the day was seeing all of my close family and friends in one room celebrating John and my love for each other. It was awesome.
That’s what John wrote on his calendar when we set our wedding date. I must say, it is pretty accurate.
The last week and a half has been unbelievable. In fact, this morning when I woke up in my Virginia home, it was as if all of it was just this long drawn-out dream.
John and I flew into Los Angeles California on Saturday, August 13. We spent the whole week making last-minute preparations for our big day and meeting with people who have kindly provided their great services to us. Monday we met with the florist, Tuesday we met with the DJ, Wednesday I went to my final dress fitting and Thursday I had a consultation with my make-up and hair stylist. Friday was Uncle Frank’s Surprise 50th Birthday Party and Saturday was the wedding rehearsal.
I must say that “the fun” with regards to the wedding began on Saturday, the day of the rehearsal. John and I were suppose to meet with the Pastor, who was going to minister our wedding, a half an hour before the actual rehearsal so that we could give him a revised version of our vows and other things that are to be said during the ceremony. Well, last minute plans plus Los Angeles traffic kicked into gear and we were late. A bit irate, I kindly sat quiet and just let the day take its course. 15 minutes before the rehearsal I began getting phone calls from what felt like a bunch of people. First it was my sister, Joy, asking where we were. Then it was the Pastor asking what room the rehearsal was to be held at the hotel.
I attempted to call the catering manager who was supposed to have that figured out for us. There was no answer. Finally we were in the parking garage and there weren’t any empty parking spaces. John dropped me off in front of the elevator. I frantically pushed the up button, but for some reason the elevator that came first was going down. Since it was empty, I decided to take it, hoping that I could somehow get it to go up one level before it began its journey down to the lower parking level. No luck. It proceeded to go down. Funny though, the people waiting for the elevator were my sister, Michelle, and my mom. As the elevator began its way up, I told them what was going on. There wasn’t much time to tell them everything because mid-sentence the elevator came to a stop at the lobby and two of the groomsmen were there to greet me hello. I just smiled hello and ran to look for the Pastor. I profusely apologized to the Pastor for being late. Suddenly I found myself being surrounded by all the wedding party and family and friends. “What a mess!” I thought to myself, but I kept focused and tried to do things one thing at a time. I went to the concierge at the front desk and asked where our rehearsal is to take place. They had no clue. I had them call the catering manager who was nowhere to be found. As I waited to hear a word about where the rehearsal should take place, I went over to the Pastor, introduced him to my soon-to-be husband and we began going over the details of the ceremony. Once we got the banquet room to rehearse in, we went through the program two times. The first time was a complete mess. The second time was a lot better except for the fact that one of the groomsmen was holding the ring bearer at his ankles upside down!
John and I parted after the rehearsal lunch. Yeah, so what if it wasn’t 24 hours, it was enough to get us anxious to see each other!
The rest of the day was for last-minute preparations. Michelle, my mom and I went to check into my room at Embassy Suites, and then we ran a few errands which included picking up my dress from being cleaned and steamed. After Michelle and my mom left the hotel I took some time to relax while I waited for one of my bridesmaids to arrive.
I couldn’t sleep well that night. I got a total of 3 hours of sleep if that. I didn’t really understand why. I wasn’t nervous or anything. Though, I guess I was anxious to just see how the day would unfold.
I found myself wide awake at 6:20 am the next morning. I decided to sit down and write a thank you speech that I wasn’t sure if I was even going to recite to our guests before they were to head home. None the less, I wrote it just in case I found myself having the guts to say it out loud.
Karine, one of my bridesmaids, fulfilled her promise and arrived around 7:30am. Around the same time, I got Shalom out of bed and I was about done writing my speech. A couple minutes later, my mom and Michelle arrived with comfort food from McDonalds. MmmmMmmm… Nothing like a sausage mcmuffin on the morning of your wedding!
I didn’t have much to do that morning other than pass a list around that had things that needed to be done the day of the wedding. I made it the night before, and I must say, it worked out nicely. Michelle passed a copy of that list onto the groomsmen who went through the list item by item to make sure that everything was in order.
Around 9am, Natalie the make-up and hair artist came and began working immediately on Karine’s hair, followed by mine, then Natalie (the flower girl) then Michelle and Joy. Whew! Natalie (the hair and make-up babe) was just a hair and make-up doing machine! She did everyone’s hair and make-up in such a timely manner. It was amazing!
By the time Natalie finished with everyone’s hair it was time to start the show. The bridal party headed down the elevator to the ceremony room where my groom awaits me.
The ceremony room had a nice intimate feel. The hotel staff transformed this banquet room into a cute little chapel. There was a decorated arch on top of a stage that John stood on along with the minister. The aisle had a white runner lined with beautiful white and purple rose petals. As I walked down the aisle, scanning the room, I didn’t see one chair empty. I was speechless. All eyes were on me, while the only person I could keep my eyes on was the handsome groom waiting for me to be given away to him. I couldn’t wait until the Pastor said “you may kiss the bride”. I just wanted to give him a big ole hug and kiss and tell him how handsome he was.
After the ceremony, we walked out of the room through a beautiful sword drawn arch. The Navy ROTC of University of Southern California came to do this wonderful ceremony for us. It was so perfect. It did nothing but add a magical touch to our wedding.
Promptly after the ceremony, we took pictures with the bridal party and family then it was off to the larger banquet room next door. It was, as a friend said, “Simple but elegant.” The table and chairs were covered in white. Each chair had a lilac organza bow while the center of each table top had a simple arrangement of tulips. Rose petals were tossed around each table arrangement and lined the head table. It was so beautiful and everything was so perfect.
The reception was over before we knew it. The first dance with my love was with the song “Destiny” by Jim Brickman. John danced with my mom and I danced with his dad to the song “I hope you dance” by Lee Ann Womack.
The rest is history.
I think the best part of the day was seeing all of my close family and friends in one room celebrating John and my love for each other. It was awesome.