One of the Biggest Days of My Life…

It was Saturday, August 1st, 2009, one of the biggest days of my life, and I was very anxious, nervous, and excited at the same time. My stomach was in knots, and all I could do was pace the room and keep watching the clock and the big hand go tick, tick, tick. While waiting in the hotel room at the Oscar Hotel to get our hair and makeup done, the bridesmaids Jen, Megan, Kimberly, and I sipped on a refreshing champagne, orange juice mimosa and talked about the past few years and how much our lives have changed. When the white stretch limo arrived, the bridesmaids and I relocated to the lobby to check out before heading to the Neighborhood Chapel. As we headed outside to the limo and loaded everything in the trunk, we popped the top on that fresh bottle of champagne and raised our glasses to a toast.

It was a twenty minute drive to the Neighborhood Chapel, the bridesmaids and I polished off one bottle of champagne and had a few laughs. When we finally pulled into the parking lot of the Neighborhood Chapel, the groomsmen, Tony, Brandon, Dennis, Kyle, Richard, the ring bearer Jaylen, and the balance of the bridesmaids, Holly and Rebecca, were standing outside. As the bridesmaids and I stepped out of the white stretch limo into the scorching 90 degree weather, I could barely stand the heat and a drip of sweat put a run in my makeup. I was dreading being inside the church without air-conditioning and only having fans. It was so hot and humid inside the church, and the fans didn’t really do anything. The bridesmaids were running around from room to room, trying to get all of their accessories, jewelry and high heels put on, or to have, touchups done on their hair and makeup before it was time for my wedding to begin. It was finally time for me to put my dress and high heels on. I knew it was getting closer to when I would have to walk down the aisle. As I watched the bridesmaids walk out into the hall, I was even more anxious, and my heart was beating faster and faster. When my dad, Rick, came in the room, he looked very handsome dressed in his black tuxedo, his red and white rose boutonniere rest upon his jacket, finely pressed shirt and black slacks, with silver cufflinks and black shined shoes. I noticed his eyes fill up with tears, he looked more nervous than I did as he fidgeted in his pockets. There was a five minute silence, until in walked the ring bearer. He was crying and didn’t want to walk down the aisle because he was too tired.

Pastor Dennis Soyer was waiting for the ring bearer to proceed, so the Pastor sent one of the groomsmen to get the ring bearer and he didn’t want to walk out to the altar, it was so cute. Five minutes later, the Pastor decided to proceed without him and it was finally my turn and boy was I ready to finally tie the knot after five years. When my father and I were walking down the aisle, I was praying to god I wouldn’t trip in front of all our guests. We finally reached the altar after what seemed like forever, and we proceeded with our vows and expressing our undying love for one another. We stared into one another’s eyes, as they filled with tears of forever happiness and our hands gently resting in one another’s. We were both very happy and we grinned from ear to ear as we exchanged our sterling silver diamond rings. The butterflies and nervousness seamed to fade away that were surrounding my stomach and tingling throughout my body. The Pastor then pronounced Aarin and I Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. Before we left to the reception, we stood outside the door and greeted each one of our guests, who were anxiously waiting to get out of the heat, as they fanned themselves. We proceeded to the reception and took some pictures with our guests and the wedding party. We then, lined up for dinner and listened to the toasts from our guests. The best man Tony said, “You complement each other very well and I wish you guys the best of luck.”

When we had gotten through the toasts and moved onto the cutting of the cake, we tasted the light fluffy cake covered in light frosting that melted in your mouth. All the girls lined up for the bouquet toss and they didn’t push and shove, due to little kids. We proceeded with the pantyhose orange game, which were five bridesmaids against five groomsmen. You put an orange in pantyhose and tied the pantyhose around your waist and put an orange on the ground and tried to hit the orange across to your partner as fast as you can and then untie and give it to your partner. The girls kicked the guy’s buts. It was so fun and everybody was laughing. We then got to the dances and for not practicing how to dance, we did just fine and nobody tripped on anybody’s feet. As the evening was winding down and our guests started leaving, we figured we should hit the road too. We had a long drive ahead of us to Leavenworth, before we could begin to relax and enjoy our honeymoon.