She's a married woman!
Ms. Blankenship is now officially Mrs. Kelly! Congrats to her and Jeremy! I know they will lead a long, happy life together.
The day before the wedding was filled with driving around from place to place preparing for the wedding...getting Moe her massage, getting a hotel room, picking up her dress, getting decorations and favors for the wedding from her mother-in-law-to-be's house, getting her veil steamed, getting to the rehearsal, getting through the rehearsal, getting to the rehearsal dinner, getting through dinner, and, finally, getting back to the hotel to get a little shut eye. We only got a few hours, though, partially due to a thunder & rain storm that hit about 3:30 or 3:45 am...not good the day of an outdoor wedding! "It's going to be ok," I said as Moe groaned. "It'll clear up just for the wedding...it will dry up, and the sun will come out just for you!" I sincerely hoped my prediction would be correct. The rain stopped sometime after 4, as did most of the lightning, though a bolt hit around 4:30 am so close that it set off car alarms.
The alarm on Moe's phone sounded at 5 am. The rain had stopped, and the ground had mostly dried, though it was increddibly muggy outside our hotel door. We wearily drug ourselves out of bed to begin our preparations for the wedding. I ran to Starbucks while Moe had her makeup done. At 6:15, I ran her over to get her hair done and then ran back to the hotel to get my makeup done. When her hair was done, I ran over to the salon to get my hair done. Once that was finished, we went back to the hotel, packed up, and headed to the wedding site to finish getting ready. We were only 20 or 25 minutes late.
Moe looked gorgeous. She had on a white, strapless dress with no train that was very simple; the only detailing was that the material gathered slightly on her left side. Her hair was parted on the side and wrapped smoothly around her head, culminating in a cluster of curls at the back of her head. A small tiara (that was way overpriced, I might add) sat upon her head in front of her main veil, which fell to mid back and was decked with a few tiny pearls. Her blusher veiled her perfectly made up face. She had on a simple yet elegant necklace with matching earings along with small sparkly earings in all her other ear holes. Her red rose boquet contrasted beautifully. She looked exquisite...I'd swear she was glowing. It was just amazing. She stood a little straighter than I'd ever seen her stand.
As I walked down the isle, I noticed that it was still overcast, though the clouds were becoming patchier. It was a pleasant temperature outside with just enough of a slight breeze. As Moe stepped out to walk down the isle, the sun came out for the first time that day. Jeremy tried hard to blink back tears. As she reached us, I could tell she was doing everything she could to keep from breaking down crying, especially when the officiant asked, "Who gives this woman to be married?"
The rest of the ceremony went beautifully, interspersed with tears from Moe, Jeremy, and I. As Jeremy and Moe walked off, finally husband and wife, the sun came out again and remained out the rest of the day.
The reception went wonderfully. The food was amazing, and everyone seemed to have a fantastic time. It was so nice to see Marla and Tom again...Marla looks exactly the same, and Tom looks even better since he lost some weight. Blake was kind of weird, as we'd expected, and Art had his wife and baby boy in tow (veeery trippy!). It was nice to meet more of Moe's family and Jeremy's family as well. Wendy caught the boquet, and Stephen caught the garter but immediately passed it off to Wendy's boyfriend, Horia.
All in all, it was an amazing experience. The other weddings I was in were wonderful as well, but this was extra special since I'm so close to Moe. I know she and Jeremy will be so fantastically happy. I was exhausted, but it was an amazing experience that I will never forget.