Despite my prayers, and after all of our hard work on my fiancee's back yard, the weather report two days before the wedding was for possible rain, 58 degree highs and 15-25 mph winds. I swallowed deeply and suggested we move to my walkout basement. My family was staying in the three bedrooms and I was staying at the other house, so it was not the way I planned but I could not see taking the chance of being miserable.
So Friday morning, Jerry and I loaded up the china, the glasses, the decorations, the chairs, my dining room table which we were using for serving, and the 3 rented tables and took them to my garage. My son and his girlfriend helped me carry and roll everything down the hill and into the basement room.
The downstairs furniture all had to move, but we found space for all of it. The three dining tables with chairs and the small patio set for Jerry and I barely fit into the main room with room to walk through.The serving tables fit in what used to be my office. If it rained and we had to have the ceremony inside, it would be upstairs by the fireplace. But we were still hoping to be able to have it just outside on the patio.
Saturday morning, of course, the sun burst out and things looked great, but we were committed to the change. I came over and set the tables and prepared things for the caterers while Jerry baked the bread for our dinner. One benefit was that I did not have bring all the serving pieces for our family service to the other house. The caterers could just take out what they needed as they went.
The wedding was scheduled at 4, so by 3:15 or so, I was dressed and ready to greet the caterers and a friend's daughter who was helping to serve. Jerry arrived with the bread and the truck loaded with all of the pots of flowers we had prepared in his backyard. We spread them around the patio and arranged the hanging plants to frame us during the ceremony.
The caterers and my extra helper arrived and started filling the kitchen with all of the food. Jerry managed to change into his wedding clothes and set up the sound system for the grandsons who were providing music for the ceremony.
Jerry's son was the minister for the wedding, and he arrived with lots of questions about the ceremony we had written. I gave him the answers, and handed the rings to my daughter and Jerry's other son who were going to be the Maid of Honor and Best Man.
Everything was going beautifully. Guests were arriving, Everyone was chatting comfortably. We had decided just to mingle until time to start so I enjoyed greeting everyone.
Time seemed to be passing so I went to check on things. Glad I was not a nervous bride, because at four o'clock - the scheduled wedding hour - one granddaughter was running a little late, as were the two musicians who had not been told about the change of location. And the wife of the minister and her three kids went to the next town by mistake, twenty minutes away.
I took it in stride. We kept visiting and when everyone was there, and the musicians were tuned up, the wedding began.
About the time all the dust settled from the divorce and retirement, an old friend got in touch. "Let's go see a play some Sunday afternoon," he said. Little did I know that one play would lead to being almost inseparable for over 2 years, buying a sailboat together and to ME proposing to him. But, after all, I was the one who said she would never get married, so I had to ask him - he was not going to ask me.
Well, anyway, he said yes, so now we are going crazy getting ready for our small, intimate family wedding in the backyard. Funny, no matter how small a wedding is, you still have to make many of the same choices and plans. What to wear, what kind of ceremony, what music, what food to serve, etc.
We were only going to have 14 guests originally. Piece of cake, right? I had enough tables, chairs, dishes, glasses, silverware - you name it. But how could we not invite his 10 grandkids who all live in town? So now we need 24 or 25 of everything. A little more challenging. But it is coming together.
My son and daughter have been very supportive. They never expected both of their parents to be getting married while they are in the 20s - it is supposed to be them, not us. But they have jumped in to help.
My son offered to design and produce hand-crafted invitations and they turned out great. My daughter is my Maid of Honor. I sent her a list I found of duties for the MOH. She loved the one about counseling the nervous bride. My favorite was the idea of her handling all crises on the wedding day.
We have a few more details to handle - picking cupcakes, getting a license, creating a program. Now if I can just get lucky and have a mild sunny day...
My fiancee suggested that I should start a blog. He thinks I have interesting stories to tell. Of course, that could just be because he loves me, and he has to listen, but I thought I would give it a try.
Life has been pretty exciting in the last few years.
First, I got divorced. Living on my own after being married for 29 years was challenging - and fun! I was working part time but I still got to play tennis on the travel team. I worked on plays at the local community theatre, one after another, and I went out every chance I got and hung out with friends.
I bought a condo and picked everything all by myself. The cats and I got along fine. I tried dating. My experiences with match.com could fill lots of posts - maybe later.
Along the way, I was "involuntarily retired" - after 32 years with a Fortune 500 company. So much for reducing stress in my life - I was off the charts on those stress calculations. But I worked my way through it. And life is very good. More than just very good - it is amazing!
More soon!
