PRE-CEREMONY:

The night before the wedding I stayed at the hotel. Ed's plan was to stay at his parents' house - but he ended up staying with his friends at the hotel too. My best friend, Susanna, stayed in the suite with me. It was absolutely wonderful to have her there to get me through the last minute preparations and jitters, and to tell her my (mild) wedding nightmares in the morning (It's kind of funny how one nightmare was about my bridesmaids desperately trying to put the cake together (it also had a porch on the top layer somehow - don't ask), and then the *real* cake ended up having tipping issues). I woke up briefly just about every hour through the night - but I still felt energetic when I woke up.

Here was how the day went:

Sunday April 29th was a beautiful, sunny, 70 degrees in NJ. Gentle occasional breezes.

7am: Woke up, showered, went with one bridesmaid, Laura, to the salon. I got my hair & make-up done (I had a trial run earlier that week, and the make-up had been too heavy - even though I had asked for it to be very light. I was nervous it would look overdone again, but when I told her I wanted even lighter than the 'light' she had done before, she, somewhat grudgingly, did it nice & light. When she was done, I looked in the mirror, and recognized myself, so I was very comfortable with the make-up). It took a bit longer than expected, so I had to leave while Laura got her hair done. (Thanks Laura for being a great sport, and thanks Dad for picking her up!)

9:30: Ate breakfast at the hotel. Many people were there, and I ate with my family. My friend Rachel, who was going to be videotaping our wedding, had me do a short interview with her before I left. Ed saw us (I was hoping to escape breakfast without seeing each other, but it was actually nice to see him), he waved & smiled & watched for a moment before getting his breakfast. It was very calming.

10:30: Went upstairs to get ready. The photographer & flowers were there, and my sister(s), Daphne & Susanna were mostly ready. Daphne ended up running around doing all the last minute assisting (thanks Daph!), and Susanna and one other bridesmaid, Alex, helped me get dressed.

Daphne returned just in time to help me put on my veil. The photographer, and her assistant, took getting ready photos, and then did a series of formals once I was dressed. The photographer was really friendly, and the formal photos kept me occupied enough to stay relaxed while other things were being taken care of. Then we gathered everything together, the bridesmaids finished getting ready, and my parents & grandparents came in, gave me hugs & kisses, and were very happy and full of love.

We all went downstairs where the photographer was completing Ed's formal photos. The photographer had Ed & I come in from opposite sides and meet in front of the fountain. I don't even remember much at this point, but I think we just looked at each other as we got closer, smiled, and kissed hello. I remember at some point I leaned over to smell his herb boutonnier, which did have a wonderful scent. I think we paid each other a very nice compliment or two, :) and then he took my hand and we walked to the limo-coach where we got in with our wedding party, and went to the Gardens to continue with our photos.

We took most of the photos before the ceremony. Many of our guests were arriving for the ceremony, and when we weren't in the photos, we had time to meet with a few of our guests. It was a lovely day, and the flowers were blooming all around the gardens.

The significant-others of our wedding party, Butch, Jen, Jay, and Tom were helping behind the scenes, from making sure the chairs were set up properly by the rental company, to assembling the chuppah, directing parking, and making bottled water available to our guests. They were also handing out the programs and directing guests to their seats. Their help was really the key in everything running smoothly!!!