Steve called me the night before our wedding, "Do you think you could bring me some board games?" He was living in our soon-to-be new apartment and had an old mission companion and my cousin keeping him company. I recall rolling my eyes and saying that I was going to bed, and he should do the same.
I slept fitfully that night. When I woke up, I hurried to get myself ready. My mom went with me to my friend to get my hair and make-up done. I had wanted freeze curls, and she was able to make me beautiful. She also asked me if she could wax my eyebrows. I declined, not thinking that I wanted bright pink eyelids for all the pictures that were to be taken that day.
My mom and I went home. Things were basically in place for the luncheon and the reception. When we walked in the door, my dad was in the entry, HANGING doors. "DAD!! I have to be at the temple in 20 minutes!" His face went from calm to shock.
"Oh, I'll go get ready then."
He took a SHOWER!! UGH!! I was sitting in the living room waiting for my dad to be ready so we could go. I watched the time get closer and closer to the time I HAD to be there. I knew that Steve would be freaking out. (It turns out he was...)
We finally left, and got to the temple RIGHT before I was supposed to be there. My mom kept assuring me on the way there that they wouldn't start without me. (Duh, mom! Thanks, but I WOULD like to be there on time...)
When we were filling out our papers, I got to meet my future father-in-law for the first time. (Yes, THE first time....we kept trying to meet up, but never could.) He was so much the opposite of Steve that I was taken back. He was very sweet, and said, "Nice to meet you..." then shook my hand.
Eventually I was taken back to the bridal room to get dressed. There were a few other brides, and I was nervous. My mom helped me into my dress and then I was ready to go. The matrons working in the temple told me to sit down and wait. They told me that on my wedding day I needed to make HIM wait.
When it was time to meet up with Steve, he looked so nervous, but SO handsome! The men who worked in the temple had told him that the next bride to come out would be the one he had to marry, so he kept chanting, "Let it be her....let it be her...."
We were able to sit together in the Celestial room for a while before going to our sealing room. Those few minutes were possibly the closest to heaven on earth that I've ever experienced.
As we walked into the sealing room, I looked at my grandpa. There was an empty seat next to him, and I felt in my heart that my grandma was sitting next to him. I could just FEEL her, it was a very tender and sweet experience.
The sealing was wonderful, the sealer gave us lots of great advice and talked about the many children that we would have. He actually told us, "You will have MANY children." I still take comfort in those words. For a few minutes before the actual sealing, the sealer told us, "Go ahead and look into one another's eyes for a minute, because once I start the sealing, I want you both looking at me." That minute was an out of body experience. I felt like I saw into Steve's soul. It was fabulous.
The kiss across the alter was pure and sweet, just like our first had been.
Then came the time to be congratulated by friends and family. My aunt gave me a big hug and said, "There ARE holes in the floor of Heaven, Grandma was here." The tears started all over again. (Did I forget to mention that I was leaking all through the ceremony?)
We quickly went to change for our wedding pictures. The day was a beautiful CLEAR autumn day, but it was VERY windy. My veil was flying everywhere. Steve had to hold it down, a LOT that day.
After the pictures, we went back to my parents' house for the luncheon. To our surprise, Steve's grandparents, aunts, uncles and many of his cousins from his dad's side of the family came. There were lots of hugs all around and I felt instantly attached to these wonderful people.
After the luncheon, Steve and I went with a few other people to go and get the last minute things for the reception (goldfish for the centerpieces). After getting back, we put things together, and then it was time to get dressed again for the reception. I asked my mom to come help me zip up my dress, and she said, "You're married now, have your husband help you."
Oh, yeah! We could do that now, couldn't we?
The reception was wonderful. I was completely comfortable, because I insisted that instead of fancy shoes, I wanted to wear my piggy slippers. The same slippers that I had worn the night Steve proposed to me. My bridesmaids also wore their slippers, it was one of the coolest parts of my reception.
When the reception was over, we stayed at my parents' house and opened up our gifts. It was lots of fun, and I made plenty of jokes about how the new pie pans would be handy, Steve would be able to make me a nice pie... My poor grandma didn't know whether I was joking or being serious. She'd look at my mom and say, "She's not going to make him pies?"
The only downside of the night was my gall bladder started acting up because I hadn't eaten in so long. My mom was wonderful and made me some Ramen Noodles.
When all was done, my mom and dad let us borrow the car to go home. Neither of us had a car, and my parents CERTAINLY didn't want to drive us home that night. We didn't want them to either....
Overall that day was wonderful, and a great beginning to one of the biggest learning experiences of my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment