The month we were all waiting for - September! I couldn't believe how quickly the month came. It seemed like it was just recently that Mattie was calling from Paris informing us that she was engaged. Although there was the huge issue with the church, everything went smoothly. Well, except the makeup, but we were able to fix that. More on that later. First was the rehearsal. Thank goodness it wasn't the wedding day because it was pouring rain like crazy! When I got to the church it was starting to sprinkle, but lots of members of the bridal party came in soaking wet. No problems during the rehearsal, just had to remember when to walk into the church, who to stand next to, when to walk up to the alter during the vows, remembering to hang on to the ring. All that fun stuff. Once that was done it was off to Buca de Bepo for some dinner.

Mattie spent the night at our house. Poor thing was so nervous. But at least the house was calm and quiet, and there was no else but me and Jason. Unlike the night before my wedding. I'll always remember going out into the street with her, wearing our wedding day shoes and scuffing them up. Even though it rained earlier, the sky was absolutely clear that night, and the stars were twinkling. The next morning we were up and ready to go to the salon to get our hair done. Mattie, our mom and four of the five other bridesmaids were at the salon for some pastries, mimosas, hair and makeup. It's amazing how much they have to curl, tease and smooth out to make such a simple and elegant hair style. Once we had our hair done, some girls went to the mall to get their makeup done, while Mattie, our mom and I went to go pick up the flowers to take to the church. One of Mattie's good friends is a florist, and while she was busy working on the flowers at the reception hall, we took the flowers and all six bridesmaids worked on setting them up.

Once we were done with the flowers, we had to finish getting ready because it was almost show time. I was waiting in the lobby when I heard that Mattie's makeup smeared due to some crying. And the makeup lady was gone already. Yikes! We grabed whatever makeup we did have and touched it up as best we could. When you look at the wedding photos, you can't tell, thank goodness! And then it was show time. As I stood there, waiting for my turn to walk down the aisle, I couldn't believe it. My baby sister was about to get married. It was too weird. She cried walking down the aisle, Paul looked a bit pale during the vows, and before you knew it, they were Mr. and Mrs. After some pics, we hopped into the hummerzine and were off to the castle for the reception (with a quick stop at the Circle K for some booze).

As Matron of Honor, I had to give a speech. I started writing it last October, almost an entire year before the wedding. I practiced it several times before the wedding, each time crying at a certain point near the end. When I got up to read it at the reception, I to started crying after the first line! The party was a good time. Good food, good drinks, good music. They did all the traditional stuff, first dance, father/daughter dance, mother/son dance, cake cutting, bouquet toss, garter toss, dollar dance. And then it was over. It was a beautiful day and night, lots of love in the air, lots of family and friends. The newlyweds spent the night at The Pointe and then left for Aruba the next day.