This is it! The wedding is set for 2 pm! My mother and I went over to the club to see how the set up was coming. They already had it all decorated, and the cake was set up on a table. It was very pretty, and very big! hehe  We went to the beauty shop, and I had my hair done. Then came the waiting for the ceremony to begin. This is when the nerves hit me! I can remember being quite fidgety, and worrying just a little if everything would go off as planned. All I could do is wait and see!

I arrived with my family at the church around 1pm. We placed the flower arrangements, got the ushers (my two other brothers) ready to seat people once they arrived. Then I just fidgeted until it was time to get dressed! I will have to confess right here, when it comes to waiting, I am NOT a very patient person. I will pace the floor, tear paper into little shreds, and anything else I can get my hands on!

The time came to get dressed and ready, and I am not one to procrastinate when it is time to go somewhere, so I can say I was dressed and ready to go about 30 minutes ahead of time! I tell you, 30 minutes can often seem like 30 hours, that is until it is all over and you look back and you wonder how it went so fast.

This is it! The pianist is playing the Bridal March. I have my father's arm, my veil covering my face and we are walking down the aisle. All nerves left me as I began seeing all the familiar and not so familiar faces in the crowd! The count was right about 150 people! I was so surprised! Between Mark's co-workers and mine, and the people my parents knew, I don't think there was one person that did not come! I remember looking straight up to where Mark was standing, and smiled to myself and thought, "Boy does he look nervous!" hehe He wasn't smiling really, and he looked stiff as a board! When my father released my hand to give to Mark, he really was stiff! I was hoping I wouldn't laugh! hehe his poor hands were ice cold! I sure hoped he wasn't having second thoughts at this point! I wonder now if he had run, would they have made the movie about the runaway groom! hehe just kidding.

One of my church friend's sang the song, "There is Love" sung by Captain and Tennile. I am not sure if they wrote the song, or just made it popular! It is one of my very favorite wedding songs. She did a beautiful job! We did not light a unity candle, as I never knew there was such a thing until later in my married life and had seen it done! Our vows were traditional, exchanged in front of the preacher, our guests and most importantly, God. Both Mark and I were the type of people that had been raised that a promise is made to be kept, and if you think you might not be able to keep it, do not make it! We promised each other that we would only love and cherish one another until we parted in death. We promised to uplift each other and bear each other's burdens each and every day. It is kind of scary in the world in which we live in where abuse and divorce and all is so rampant. But, we had God and with His help we would work together to keep those promises.

Ahhhhh FINALLY!!! It was time for Mark to place the ring on my finger! I had such a hard time waiting for this moment. Many times I tried to convince Mark to let me look at it, and he would not! Now, it is time! He said the words to me, "With this ring, I thee wed....." I don't even remember anything but looking down at it right at that moment when he moved his hand away. I don't remember even what else he said in that vow, except I was completely delighted with my ring! It was my desire before I ever got engaged, to have a matching set of rings for him and me. I wanted my engagement ring to nestle in my wedding band, and his wedding band to look like mine. But, the moment I saw the ring, all disappointment fled! The band was a gold circular band, with my name etched in black enamel. I had never seen anything like it before! I placed his ring on his finger, a pretty gold band with a star burst in the center of the ring, and inside the star burst, a tiny diamond chip.

Now came the time for Mark to kiss the bride! I had FIRMLY warned him about what kind of kiss NOT to give me! hehe As he raised the veil, I gave him one of those "Womanly" reminder looks, and he gave me an evil grin, and kissed me gently and discreetly! Phew! I am a very private person, and especially back then, did not like public display much. (Needless to say, he has broken me of most of that! hehe) We did it! Only 7 weeks and pulled off a lovely wedding! As we stood in the receiving line, everyone kept saying, "This is the most simple wedding I have ever been to but, I believe it is the most beautiful!" Many people said they just realized a wedding did not have to be ornate and fancy to be beautiful. They said the love was so apparent. Many of those who gave us a rough time before the wedding said, "Maybe I was wrong, maybe this will work." Nothing could have pleased me more than to have the respect of my co-workers! And remember the guy who said he would NOT come to the wedding? I don't know if the senior officer strongly suggested that he come, or he came out of curiosity but, he was there!

This background was created exclusively by my best friend, Christina