The Wedding Weekend

The wedding was amazing. Although the time was far, far too short - every minute of it was worth it. Even the catastrophic way in which the weekend ended...

Everything went perfectly with my flights to Des Moines. I made it safely onto the hotel shuttle and Prince Charming (with his infinitely useful hotel experience) ensured my early check-in to our room so that I could get myself family/friends/wedding ready. I took my time getting ready, since I had over 2 hours to do it. While I was still in the process, PC was able to sneak away for a few minutes to come see me, which was wonderful. He then had to run back over to where the wedding party was for photos and I kept getting ready. The plan was for him to come back over to the hotel after pictures to meet up with me and his family, make the introductions and walk us over to the church.

Just before noon (the ceremony started at 1), PC called to tell me that his dad, stepmom, and sisters (one step, one half) were outside the hotel and wondering if they could come up to our room to brush teeth and freshen up after their drive over from Dubuque. Not wanting to be rude, but horrifyingly nervous of meeting the fam by myself and with little warning, I asked him to have them give me 10 minutes to finish getting ready and then they were welcome to come use the room. Despite my reservations and nervousness, Prince Charming's family was really great. His stepmom was extremely friendly and welcoming and it made the whole thing much more comfortable than it could have been. We all ended up walking over to the church together and I sat between his dad and stepmom during the ceremony. It was, just like everything else between PC and I, surprisingly easy.

The ceremony was gorgeous, though it was a Catholic ceremony, so it was a little too formal and structured for me. The bride was absolutely gorgeous and Prince Charming was breath-taking in his tux. There was a long gap in between the ceremony and the reception, during which I tried to take a nap and then PC and I got to spend a bit of alone-time together. I hadn't really considered how hard it would be to be the date of the Best Man, but there was a pretty large demand on his time - which of course I was cool with - it was his best friend's wedding after all. But once the reception got swinging, we had the greatest time. I sat with his family at a table, because PC was seated at the wedding party table for the beginning of the festivities. I actually had a lot of fun with them. I won over his stepsister (who is 20 or 21) by complimenting her shoes and we got along really well. I made good conversation with his dad and stepmom and just really enjoyed myself. Once PC's formal duties were over, we were finally able to really spend some time together.

We had a blast. I loved being in his world: meeting his family, his friends, seeing him in his element. And here's the kicker: I caught the bouquet. Yep, that's right. I totally caught the bouquet. Prince Charming and I had actually talked about it a little - he was hoping that I would catch it, but I told him that I was not going to embarrass myself and fight for it. I dragged PC's stepsister up with me and we stood demurely in the back. The bride through the freaking thing right to me. She launched it backward toward the crowd of single girls (it was a huge reception, so there had to have been at least 30 or 40 girls up there) and it just flew right toward me. I reached up and grabbed it and just stared at it - I was so shocked! But I was totally pleased too. As completely dorky as it sounds - I really think that things (actually, we both think this) with Prince Charming were meant to be, and it's things like this that just back-up that belief.

For the rest of the night we socialized and had a little wine and danced (I am a notoriously bad dancer, but somehow magically, I can dance with Prince Charming. It's inexplicable.). We had an amazing time. The night went too fast, as did the following morning, when we slept in and then ordered room service and ate it in bed. We had lunch with his family and then we went to the airport together. My plane was supposed to leave about half an hour before his, and we both cried when we said goodbye. Every time we see each other, it gets more amazing. And every time we have to say goodbye it gets harder. Every day that we're apart gets harder. I never knew that I could love anyone so much.

It was after I boarded my plane that everything went to hell. At the time that we were supposed to take off, we got word from the pilot that there was too much traffic in Chicago, my connection city, and that we were delayed. We ended up sitting on the runway in Des Moines for an hour and a half - long enough for me to miss my connection to Baltimore. They couldn't get me out until 2pm the next day, so I spent the night in a cheesy airport hotel and had to miss work on Monday. I was exhausted and stressed and there was just nothing I could do about it.

I finally got back to Baltimore after 6pm on Monday night. My journey home had put a bit of a tarnish on the sparkle of the wonderful time that I had with Prince Charming, but at least I had made it back in one piece. And I knew that no matter how hard the next two weeks (my final two weeks in Baltimore) were going to be, they would pass and then on August 2 I would be with PC again - in Montana, for 10 whole days.

Lyrics of the Day

"Way down below there's a half a million people, somewhere there's a church with a big tall steeple. Inside the church, there's an altar filled with flowers, wedding bells are ringin' and they should've been ours." Johnny Rivers Mountain of Love