Eating Crow in Hindsight

The good news is that the wedding worked, and we are now married. The bad news is, I could have handled a few things better than I did. Granted, I was really stressed, as every bride is. And I think my expectations for my wedding dress were a little too high. Thankfully I had read about other brides' regrets on their wedding day, so I am happy to say that I have none.

I slowed down the important moments by taking a deep breath and looking to my right and to my left while I was at the alter. I saw the tiny water droplets on my bouquet like a living still life clutched in my hands. I saw the slight shimmer of my maid of honor's tanning lotion glistening on her forearms. I saw the wrinkle in my groom's forehead when he looked up at the pastor. I heard myself say every vow and I even remember looking down at the tile in the church foyer as my father walked me up to the aisle. "You see this tile every Sunday," I told myself. "Don't be nervous."

Now, don't get me wrong. The day was not without surprises. When we were at the hair salon that morning, the entire building lost power after my bridesmaids had finished their hair appointments and I was just sitting down for mine. Nobody in the salon could tell which one of us was the bride because we were all so calm and enjoying ourselves. The mimosas helped. :) Then the bridesmaid's boyfriend who was supposed to drive us all to the church got his car stuck in the garage. Those automatic arms that raise and lower to let your car into/out of garages? Yes, well, his would not raise to let him drive his car out. What would Jason Statham do? He literally got a wrench and dismantled the arm!! Talk about not letting anything stand in his way!

I even got to eat once I got to the reception. The cheeses, the crab cakes, the mushroom beggar's purse -- so yummy. While I didn't get to chat with people as much as I would have liked to, I got to dance! Which was so important to me. The picture of my groom linked shoulder to shoulder with his buddies singing to Bon Jovi, well, that's worth a thousand words. To my surprise my mother even stayed until we closed the place down.

Now all that's left to do is send thank you notes (I'm sending them to my vendors as well), deposit checks, and donate my dress to cancer research. Not only am I still beeming from this wonderful life event, but one of his groomsmen and one of my bridesmaids have become engaged since our wedding a few weeks ago. Hopefully we will continue to be an inspiration to others as long as we live!