Before we went on that roadtrip and after all the posts that led up to the wedding, but then suddenly dropped off, there was a major event tucked inside of that time that is now burgeoning with memories and begging to be told. It took some time off and a bit of reflection to let it all congeal into the meaning of what it all was - so much more than the hectic, amazing blur of activity and favorite people over the course of a week, and into the day that couldn't have been any more perfect - our wedding day.
It all started on Sunday, the week before the wedding - Jim and I are packing up our stuff out at my parents' house after working all weekend with them to ready for the wedding. We drove home, stayed up very late and picked up Jamie, Matt and Grandma Mary at the airport early Monday morning, meeting my folks there who took Grandma home with them. Jamie and Matt came home with us and in the hours before they arrived, I was pacing and needing my sister here NOW and wanting everything to be perfect, and then there she was looking so beautiful, so glowingly pregnant, so happy and we came home and chatted and realized it was soooo very early the next day and finally retired.
Monday saw Jamie and I running wedding errands that included visiting Forever 21 for hair flowers and where I, for reals, found my wedding dress. It was the 6th one I had bought, the first five white and long and very (did I mention?) white. So I found this long multicolored strapless number for $30 with the plan that it'd be my fun reception dress, changed into after the serious white dress from the bridal shoppe. But then we got home and I put it on and I was all, "Yo sis, what if I wore this for my for reals dress?" She goes, "Totally." And then I sent a frantic text to mom and grandma - "Don't cut up my other dress! I found yet another one!" Luckily, they had not yet removed the padding from the breastual area and so I could return it, and the $30 dress from the cheap-o store it became. Seems like these things always happen last minute and when the pressure is off. It's so much more me anyway.
Tuesday Radiah arrived and Jamie and I picked her up from the airport while Matt and Jim did a mountain biking excursion. Jamie, Matt, Radiah and I went to Costco with two cars and three carts and bought all the food for the wedding while Jim picked up his parents and got them settled into their condo. I can't even express how grateful I was to have shopping buddies for this trip, it was insane - not only was it MOUNDS of food, it was also doing math - "Wait...why do we need 15 pounds of butter again?" (everyone gets out iPhone calculators) and "So there's 5 ears of corn in each package, and we need 100 HALF-ears... Jamie! How many packages???" It was like word problem shopping. So, hours later, we loaded up Matt's rental HHR and bless his father-to-be heart, he took it all back to the house and put it away while Jamie, Radiah and I went shopping for lingerie - Jamie: "Do you think the sirens are going to go off when we three walk in to buy bras?" : ) About Face Boutique is really a wonderful store and I can't recommend it enough - Leeann, the owner, is fantastically able to know your size from sizing up and very adept at picking out the perfect brassiere. Radiah, of course, kept us all in stitches the entire time.
That night (still Tuesday) - everyone came over to our place for Moose's Tooth pizza and it was so fun to see Jim's family - parents, brothers - and to have our people start to meet one another in advance of the wedding. After Jamie and Matt went to bed, Jim, Radiah and I stayed up by the new fire pit out back that we'd built and chatted and drank too much wine. I'd missed Radiah so much, it was so so so much fun to have her here - not only does she have an incredibly spot-on sense of humor, she also makes me feel normal and tells me what's appropriate and what isn't, sort of my own personal litmus test. I trust her implicitly.
Wednesday arrived and saw Jim picking up Kent at the airport in the morning while I stay home and showered and then he's here with his matching luggage and his sweet grin and his eyes full of wonderment about being in Alaska again, eating some leftover pizza and quaffing some vino. I love that dear, sweet, thoughtful man! Dearests Jamie and Matt took all the tons of Costco food out to Wasilla with them that day, on their way to make the wedding cake (which was absolutely uniquely gorgeous and so delicious). Kent and Jim went biking, and Radiah and Nora and I went to get our nails did - sweet Nora surprised us by generously treating us to mani-pedi's (I chose purple to match my dress), and then we did a Fred Meyer's run for all the rest of the food. That evening it was Jim, me, Kent and Radiah all sitting around the firepit until late in the night, laughing our asses off and doing some much required catching up. Oh oh oh, how I love me my friends!
Thursday was facial and computer day - all four of sitting around on laptops - Kent researching his new job offer, Radiah designing the photobooth prints, Jim helping with that, me printing out the menus, the fajita spice bag seat finder things, and in there somewhere Kent and I went to get facials which was quite relaxing. Later that afternoon it occurred to me that I still had not found wedding shoes, so R, K and I went off to the mall and totally struck out - shocking - there was nothing! Whilst at the mall I realized Sarah Kolden, Kari and Mark and Mateo got in in 15 minutes, so we drove straight to the airport, having Jim meet us there with the van. However, Kari and fam were delayed, so we picked up my beautiful Sarah Anne who was also glowingly pregnant, she looked so absolutely gorgeous just standing there with her baby bump, cheeks radiating, patiently waiting for her luggage with a smile- made my heart swell up to see her. We came home and Sarah, of course, immediately started cleaning the kitchen unbidden while we finished up computer things, and then picked up Kari, Mark and Mateo a bit later. OMG, how absolutely adorable is Mateo?! He is a little cherub - curly brown hair and giant blue eyes, chubby cheeks, just staring around, taking it all in, rarely crying, he is so precious. Kari was everything she always is to me - calm and beautiful and sweet - only this time she was wearing a beautiful baby. Mark is such a good father, totally and obviously in love with his boy, taking such good care of Kari, the ultimate strong family man. It was really wonderful to see them all together like this, doting on one another, so happy, adhering to their schedules (really, Mateo's schedule) and absolutely loving their baby boy. :)
That night Sarah and I shared a bed, while Jim slept downstairs in preparation to wake up early for flower picking. We woke up at the same time the next morning and laid in bed for awhile recalling our crazy dreams (we both have crazy colorful dreams), just lying there was like so very many times before for us when we were younger, maybe single or not, sleepy and waking up and snuggly under the covers up to our chins facing each other slurring morning talk to one another, exchanging dreams, yawning, not yet making sense probably but making sense to each other. Then brushing teeth, nodding silently that we're up for this day we're about to embark upon. God, I love my Sarah!
Friday was the day. It began with Jim and Kent picking wildflowers at 5am for the wedding, coming home to drop them off, and wrangling Mark to come out for round two. I packed the car with Radiah's help, and Sarah's although I was very reticent to let her carry anything because she was preggers (and she totally hated that because she is so capable). Sarah and I drove out the fully packed minivan, stopping to pick up rental champagne flutes, chafers, and plates and then to Costco on the way out to buy pink peonies and white roses and lilies for our bouquets where we saw Jim's parents shopping for the rehearsal dinner. It seemed like all of Anchorage was preparing for the wedding the next day! Sarah and I talked about everything except wedding on the drive out, and it was calming and lovely to have my oldest friend by my side. We arrived, unloaded the van and everything from that point until late that evening is a total blur - all I can say is that I've never heard my name called so many times in one day - Sarah, how do you want the flowers? Sarah, does this look okay? Sarah, try this. Sarah, where're the signs? Sarah, what should we do to help now?
Running up and down the stairs in the house a million times, up and down the beautiful stairs to and from the lake that my dad built, setting up, directing, preparing, and pausing from time to awesome time reveling in all the people who were there for us to help - rolling up their sleeves, doing anything that was required, seriously running themselves ragged to make our day so incredible. There was Matt Sheehy who just arrived! There was my Aunt Sue preparing food, there was Grandma Mary sewing straps on my dress, there was Mark, Matt Sheehy, Radiah carrying borrowed garden furniture over from the neighbors, there was Deborah cutting my hair after adorning a gorgeous arbor with willow branches under which we'd get hitched, there was mom so tired working her heart out, there was Nora and Kim putting flowers together, there was Lavada making flower chandeliers and guacamole, there was Jake filling salt and pepper shakers, there was dad finishing up the steps from the dock with neighbor Eric for our grand landing. It totally chokes me up as I write - to remember these wonderful friends and family cooking, decorating, setting up, cleaning - and to think it was all for the purpose of marrying Jim and me - such a loving and wholly unforgettable memory.
It started to pour rain that evening and underneath the tents we gathered with the wedding party, practicing the ceremony in rain jackets, running through the whole thing Jim and I had written months before in our kitchen only imagining then how it would all turn out with everyone we loved participating. Kent was our officiant, he read his stuff, Jim's dad read a poem, the 13 members of the wedding party read their "Love Always..." interpretations of ours from Corinthians, and we were already tearing up, especially Deborah so sweet covering her mouth to cry a little when we talked about the ring warming we'd planned - "everyone's going to hold your rings and say a blessing?!?!". We finished, did a big WOOT! and got down to eating the rehearsal dinner Rich and Nora had brought for us. After that, I left with my girls and Kent for a bit of a girly night at Deborah's house - we ate more, did some nails, drank some champagne and mostly sat around and told stories and laughed until we were bushed and went to sleep. But not before Radiah snuck into Jamie's and my room and gave me a very long and hilarious bedside talk about what to expect on my first wedding night! I fell asleep with ribs aching, Jamie snoring and my mind racing about everything still needing to be done the next day.
Saturday was the real day. I woke up, showered, and like every day for the past two weeks - checked the weather (rainy, shit) and said I'm going to the house to get ready - probably totally strict and frenzied and serious. Jamie had made scones and coffee for me, what a sweet sweet sister! And bless their hearts Radiah, Sarah and Jamie got ready super fast and came with me, stopping on the way to buy donuts for all the workers at the house. Again, blur of activity, name being called over and over, there's Jim (Hi baby!), back to work, pausing for seconds to love and record in my memory all the people working - Larissa making food with Aunt Sue, Jamie finishing up the cake, mom decorating, Mark hanging tissue paper flowers, Kari and Kurtis doing last minute food, Erica ironing Jim's clothes, Rebecca running to the market last minute, Rob putting out booze and tapping kegs, Matt Reed doing absolutely anything that needed to be done (he was such a rockstar!) like putting out all the hay bales for seating 30 minutes before the wedding started with me and Ray, Deborah doing all the women's hair so beautifully, Brandy and Jason peeling stickers off wine glasses and washing them, Sarah painting signs, Kent pounding signs into the ground, Kari and Radiah and Zoe and Gretchen helping me to set the tables, Brian making coffee in those giant mysterious rental urns, Shena setting up the tequila bar that was such a crowd pleaser. Again, so incredible to witness all of this activity - everything I'd imagined and planned and crafted in the months leading up was in effect - and it wasn't until those last hours before it began that I realized how much I needed all this help, how I could never have pulled this off without everyone just doing anything and everything that had to be done.
In the trailer where we got ready for the ceremony - imagine throngs of women, Kent doing my makeup while I sit on the corner of a bed, all of us changing into our clothes in a tight space, semi and totally naked, drinking champagne from martini glasses and paper cups, my beautiful bridesladies choosing jewelry from the things of mine they'd brought from the house, picking hair flowers, earrings, necklaces, all of them looking so totally beautiful in shawls, jewelry, flowers, swapping lip glosses. All the while my dad waits outside with our chariot which is a party barge - a dock with a motor on it - that will take us around the bend to the ceremony where Jim and his posse will be waiting for us, and all of our wedding guests.
We get on the barge while Mark takes our pictures, sail around the corner, see everyone and whoop and holler and then ride a little bit longer in quiet, all smiles, to the new dock dad has built upon which we disembark and the men escort all us up to the arbor. Everyone was there, sitting on the hay bales I planned! In their festive clothes! With their glasses of wine! Waiting for us! All of this is in the not-rain! It was all happening and even though I was so very exhausted and looking so very tired, all I could do was smile and feel too much to contain. I lasted through the ceremony pretty much intact until my vows which I'd written months before and forgotten to print out; I winged it and spoke about how Jim was my miracle and with the first sentence I was crying - I went on to say something (hopefully meaningful) about how miracles require acknowledgement and careful tending and I planned to do that for the rest of my life because he had my heart and I would take care of his. Jim's vows were beautiful - anywhere we are will always be home, and he promised to always take care and to make me laugh. Matt and Shana sang a beautiful song we'd chosen (Northern Sky, by Nick Drake), the wedding party read their bits about love, we planted a tree with our mothers, Sarah K read a poem I'd written, and then my dad came up to do the final blessing. He stood in the middle of Jim and I, took our hands, and said that he knew his daughter loved fiercely and that he could let go now knowing the kind of man that Jim was and there wasn't a dry eye in the house, seriously - everyone was crying, the wedding party, the guests, Jim and I, everyone. Then it ended on that note and poor Kent, also crying, pulled it together and said something about kissing and the party to follow and then it was on!
The afterward was so fun - so many wonderful people, such good food that we'd prepared and Wally cooked on the two big barbecues, the amazing cake that Jamie made from scratch, all the wine and beer and tequila, the photobooth with all the props that mom had bought, the pinata, the boats that people went out in (and capsized!), the dancing, the thoughtful toasts, the kids and dogs running around, the late night skinny dipping (!) in the lake, the singing around the campfire and all my best friends there hugging me, mugging for photos with me, my family loving on us, it was such an incredible day. And it never rained - it was as if the weather truly listened to my prayers and threats and stayed the hell away, letting us have a wet-free day to be outside in order to enjoy all of this. Magic.
And in the middle of all of this wonderment there was Jim, looking so handsome, finding me and me finding him from time to time, looking at each other, taking it all in together when we could grab a moment, and just amid the whirl of it all knowing that not only had we married the right person, we'd also thrown a kickass party (with mucho help), and we reveled in it like two people who'd found each other and who deserved a celebration exactly like this with everyone that we love and who love us.
Pictures of this lovely day can be viewed
here. And photobooth pics are found
here.
