Back in town.

Hello. I'm back! And now I'm married. I'm not sure it's completely sunk in yet....

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. I cried like a little baby. I don't know why - it just happened, and once it started, I tried like hell to stop and couldn't until it was all over, and I had to get my self together for pictures!

Here's what I remember - I am standing there beforehand, at this little chapel overlooking the sea (and it was a gorgeous day!). Jason and my dad (the groomsmen) were there with me, and we were just milling around as guests started arriving. There were only 30 guests total, so there wasn't a LOT of milling around...just enough. Then, all of the sudden, I hear a "2 minutes" announcement, and I'm standing next to the lady we hired to do the ceremony. She's a pagan witchdoctor we hired for the non-denominational wedding - KIDDING! She was a local notary, and in Maine, notaries can marry folk. It just seemed simpler to us, and that's what we wanted.

SO, I'm standing there, with my groomsmen and the notary and Lauren's sister Kimmie and our soon-to-be sister in law Cindy (Lauren's brother's fiance) came up the stairs and stood beside us. I recall thinking that they both looked just like Lauren wanted them to - and they had on flip-flops with little sparkling things on them! That was a nice touch!

Then, the pianist started playing the song we picked for Lauren to come up to - Pacabel's Canon - and she came up the chunky rock stairs with her father. As she got closer, I felt it become more and more real. My lower lip began to quiver, and I knew I was a goner!

I shook Roger's hand, and took Lauren's. I was now a total mess. Shaking, trying not to cry, trying to keep looking at Lauren, but that was so tough. So I looked out at the ocean, then to the bridesmaids, then to Lauren. Too tough....back to the ocean - bridesmaids - Lauren... I kept this up for the first half of the ceremony, when the notary was just speaking...then it was our turn.

We had to recite the longest vows ever written. It was seriously 2 double spaced pages of stuff. I remember - Lauren went first. I was a complete wreck by now, because I felt like I really should look at Lauren now, since this is the important part. So, trying to hold it together and look at her, I listened as she repeated the vows. About half way though I looked over at the notary's paperwork. She turned the page...and I saw the remaining vows. I kind of chuckled to myself...thinking "did we pick the longest vows ever or what!" Before I knew it, it was my turn. How was I going to do this?

I have heard stories of people who get married and they say that when they repeat the vows, it's like it comes from somewhere else, outside of their own body. I have to say this was the case for me. I couldn't feel any part of my body, but somehow I was repeating the vows. I didn't know if anyone could hear except for Lauren, because it sounded really quiet, and I recall not being able to open my jaw- for some reason it was locked! But I got through it.

With the vows came the exchange of rings, and then after that came a "rose ceremony", where the first gift is given to one another - a single stemmed rose. I'm working on getting that in written form to post up here. It was really quite lovely.

Then, we were done, and I wanted to gallop out of the chapel. Too bad it's a 5.10 climb out of it, and I had to walk Lauren down the big stones. She had to keep telling me to slow down, because after all, she was wearing heels!

We had photos taken with all kinds of family and friends, and then we went to the reception. It was all very nice. Small, from the heart, and in a beautiful place. I couldn't ask for more.