I woke up before my alarm, not feeling any different from any other day. I'd gotten a surprising amount of sleep the night before, which was good at this point.

We both got up around 9 this morning, so that we could join others staying in the area for an easy 3 mile hike. But before we hopped in the car and drove to the trail, I gave Bruce the gift that I'd bought for him. I'd managed to keep the entire thing a surprise, by having it shipped to my mom's house, and she slipped it to me the day before. Bruce was thrilled to get a new Swiss army knife!

The gift came in particularly good use when my pearl necklace chain came apart. We were able to reassemble it with parts of the gift! ;)

We hopped in the car and headed for the Tennessee Valley trail, a favorite running route of mine when I lived in San Francisco. At the trailhead, we met my mom, Diane (MOH) and her husband Ken, and Joe (usher). We set out on the trail on the brisk morning.. foggier and cooler than we'd expected. Invigorating, refreshing, good.

As we went along, of course, I was becoming increasingly concerned about time... it was passing quickly. The trail terminates at a little gully to the ocean, and people wanted to stay at the ocean a bit longer than I'd planned. But who was I to say "let's leave"? I was also nervous on the way back, as the group stopped to look at flowers along the route. Sigh. I wanted to get back, get ready, finish everything!

When we got back to the cars, my mom had told me that she would buy some food for me (novel concept!) as well as some clear nail polish to repair my already-flagging manicure. (Things I never thought to bring to the hotel!) The rest of the group went back to their respective hotel rooms to prepare, and I made plans to see them at the wedding site between 2-3.

I showered, I put on a button-down shirt (Bruce's -- I forgot to bring one) and shorts, I started putting on makeup. I hate mascara. It was sticking everywhere. Made my makeup take much longer than I'd planned. Before I knew it, I had 5 minutes to wolf down a sandwich, pack up my stuff, and drive into San Anselmo for my hair appointment. Ack!

So, I instructed Bruce and my mom on things to bring (seating chart, my dress, a few other items), I packed up favor material into the SUV, and I took that car into town for my hair appointment. One of the best parts of the afternoon. Wendy at Illusions is the most fabulous person. She did everything in her power to make me feel calm, relaxed, and special. She even brought me coffee and cookies as I waited for the rollers in my hair to cool. What a great experience, and my hair looked fabulous piled on my head!

Wendy then offered to follow me to the wedding site, where we'd meet the florist who'd have flowers for Wendy to put in my hair. (Wanted to put some gel in Bruce's hair, as well.) I got to the site at 2:30, and... where was everybody? The site was entirely empty, even the florist who said he'd get there by 1:30. ARGH! I ran around the site a few times to see who I could find, and no one in my party was to be found. But... instead of just getting frustrated, I started to work. I lugged favors out of the car and began their assembly. I checked the large fridges to be sure our drink order had been delivered. (Beverages and More had lost our order the night before.) And I stood at the outdoor bar area building favors, dumping mini m&m's into purple and blue origami boxes.

Shortly thereafter, Wendy showed up. I freaked out about no one being around. She reassured me that it would be OK, that she would wait, and she began to help me with the favors. (See, she was great!) Michael's (florist) van pulled up a few seconds later, which we intercepted. He brushed off his late arrival as "car problems." On the day of my wedding?!?! But what could I do at that point -- we helped him carry loads of arrangements, but other than that, I had to trust him to do his job, and do it properly.

Wendy pinned some flowers into my hair -- orchids and something else thistle-like. It looked great. Others began showing up: Diane and Ken, Nano (photographer) and assistant, and some of the catering staff. Here I was, still assembling favors and working on the seating chart, not yet in my dress. And people were asking me when photos would start. Sigh.

When my mom and Bruce showed up, I pretty much took off immediately to put on my dress. I know it's traditional to have someone help me put it on, but I had given everyone a job, and I wasn't about to interrupt them -- so I stepped behind a folding divider and pulled it on, zipped it up. Worked great, fit great. Whew, that was out of the way. The train was also long enough that I could just throw the end of it over my shoulder, and it stayed, so that I could literally run between ceremony and reception sites. And I was glad I'd tossed the dress on pretty quickly, as the guys started coming through the dressing area soon thereafter...

I ran back and forth, all over the place, putting details into place. Apparently the chairs for the ceremony had to be rearranged a bit, which our friends took care of. Bruce went down to talk with the "secret" horse-and-carriage people, giving them directives while keeping their presence secret from guests. I just wanted to get corsages and boutonnieres to the right people, which was an impossible task! Everyone always ended up in the wrong place when I had the flowers...

The cake was being set up on the table. Bright, blue sugar sash, lots of flowers. Unique. I really liked it. Meanwhile, I was stressing about the fact that it was long after 4, our ceremony was at 5, and we hadn't even *started* pictures. But then... as a bunch of us (Mike, Joe, etc) walked with me up to the big mulberry tree, the family picture site, they informed me that it wasn't even 4 yet... WHEW!!!! What a relief.

It was sometime after 4 (I'd ditched my watch, probably a good thing) that we got gathered under the mulberry tree, for the appropriate pictures. Of course, I was in almost all of them. I longed for a break, but I knew that all would be over soon... As we finished shooting group pictures, guests slowly started showing up. So much for keeping myself "in hiding" from guests before the ceremony. Oh well. All in all, a pretty minor disappointment.

We took groups and groups of pictures. I just wanted to get on with it all. Finally, group shots were done, and I was asked to head for the ceremony area, to some wooden benches near the central fountain, for some more pictures. Again, I wanted to be "in hiding," but the lighting was good, the setting was good, and I wasn't about to argue.

As soon as I could, I ran down the hill to the side parking lot, where the horse and carriage were hiding. We didn't have a center aisle for our ceremony; instead, we used pathways from either side. Stage left, there was a dirt staircase peeking out from under the trees, which we used for Bruce's entrance. Stage right led out to the driveway and the parking lot, and I was to be carted up in horse and carriage. (This apparently kept people in much suspense, trying to figure out where I'd be coming from. Just what I wanted... surprise the guests!)

I sat in the horse and carriage... my stomach doing a few cartwheels here and there. The only worry I had about the whole thing was that I'd become a totally emotional mess up there... an urge I suppress at other people's weddings often, but you know, the only emotion I felt during the rehearsal was happy. So I wasn't too worried about that... or was I...

Apparently sent down by Bruce, the ushers Joe and Mike showed up to rehearse my getting in and out of the carriage, since they were to help me and straighten my train. All went well.

Now, all I had to do was sit and wait. When to go up to the ceremony area? This was the whole trick... I wanted it perfectly orchestrated, of course. But the fact that they were up there and we were in the lower parking lot complicated things. So, we set up a whole system...

And the system went as such: Our processional was Trumpet Voluntary, by Clarke. I wanted the processional to start, of course, when all of the guests had already arrived, since that would be the start of the ceremony. So I asked Diane to take a peek around the cornerat the audience, do a quick count, see if all 35 were in place. Ends up thet Elizabeth (the events manager at the site) offered to do the same. So, when the audience was all in place, Mike (officiant) and Diane were to step through the white gates in the center of the ceremony area. Once they started stepping through, the band was to switch to the Trumpet Voluntary from whatever they'd been playing. When the music started, Bruce was to walk down his steps on the side, and I was to start the horse and carriage going (since it would take me a bit longer) up the hill. I had a two-person relay down the hill to notify me when the appropriate music started, but I could hear it well enough that I just told the horse and carriage to go seconds before the signal arrived.

Confused yet? Me too.

Anyway, we made our progression up the hill. Butterflies circulated madly. Actually, the feelings I experienced were similar to those before a music gig -- excited and nervous at the same time. Not knowing exactly how things were going to turn out, but just wanting to go out there and have fun.

Moments later, I arrived. I walked toward the ceremony area, large grin pasted on my face, bright bouquet clasped in both of my hands. I was on stage, and this was a bit of a performance, but I didn't care about that aspect so much.

The ceremony was meaningful but quick. I've sat through too many long weddings. Mine was going to be short, and the ceremony was... maybe 15 minutes long? Was it even that long? A quote here and there, no music, no official readings, it was just right for us. It was over quickly, and once the ceremony ended, I felt I could relax a bit more... hooray!

We ended the ceremony walking toward the carriage, being taken back down to the bottom of the hill, as if we were being whisked away. The photographers chased us down, and we had several carriage shots taken as a new couple.

Moments later... one set of friends arrived, saying it took them 2 1/2 hours to drive from San Mateo. Hmmmm. I'm still suspicious, as it took others only 1 hour to drive from the more-distant Redwood City. Oh well, not my problem that they missed the ceremony...

Our minimum contract for the carriage was two hours, though we only needed it for 45 minutes. So, for the rest of the time, we let guests ride the carriage around the property as they wished. This was a big treat for several of our guests!

Meanwhile, we mingled with guests and ate and drank. I got sick of shoes and took them off, going barefoot for the rest of the night. (Was hard to do in the immediate ceremony area, since it was gravel; so I wore Keds with blue organza ribbons.) The photographers pulled us away occasionally for more shots -- I'm guessing she noticed every single time I started micromanaging, and pulled us away at those points. ;) Someday I'll even post the menu, so you can know about the wonderful appetizers and other food we ate.

Hors d'oeuvres were also around the fountain area, where the ceremony was held. Dinner was down the hill a bit, on an outdoor patio with a neighboring kitchen (formerly a restaurant). We stayed up top for a while. I had allowed 1 hour and 15 minutes for mingling, which I'd been told by several people would be too long -- guests would get antsy. The "house manager" (Elizabeth's husband Marty) told me that if I sensed this at any time, to tell him, and we would progress ahead of schedule. I love flexibility. But... so much sooner than I'd thought, 6:45 rolled around -- we'd used all of the mingling time! I was so pleased with the mix of people... everyone was talking to each other, even though we'd invited small, diverse groups. I didn't even have to introduce, or anything -- the mix of people just worked. Amazing!

We migrated down to the restaurant area, another beautifully-set-up location. The colors were fabulous... white tablecloths, royal blue on the napkins, my purple and blue favors, bright purple/blue/red flowers. I must say I'm proud of how the colors turned out! It looked absolutely fantastic, if I do say so myself...

Dinner was postponed a bit while official paperwork was filled out. I was just happy and completely oblivious to that responsibility until it was pointed out to me... so I took care of some of that inside the neighboring building. Bruce and I were indoors, and realized too late that we should have had Mike announce us for an official introduction. So as we walked out, I just introduced us myself. Things were definitely different at our wedding.

We indulged in fabulous breads and corn chowder. At the end of the soup course, I had the head waiter notify Sandy (friend of family) that it was time to start a short round of toasting. COuldn't let the main dish get cold, but I also wanted toasts at a nontraditional time. It worked well... Sandy started out, getting his digs at Bruce. Then Diane added her piece, including the relationship we had when we met (I was friends with her then-boyfriend's sister's best friend's ex-boyfriend from college?) and that both of us just happened to need a roommate at the time... and now, we're both married and have more permanent roommates. Families toasted briefly giving approval, and I gave a big "thank you" to the group. Mike Williams, the lawyer, didn't even say a word. I'm proud of his restraint. ;)

The main dish was served, again an absolutely wonderful selection. It ended up that we were finished with our food before any of the other tables, as we had been served first, of course. In fact, I was just so excited to talk to everyone else that I can't remember a whole lot of the meal! Mid-meal, however, was a minor snag in the plans: I'd planned for dinner to be over at 8, and the band was only contracted through 8. Dinner went a bit longer than that, so I gave the band the "okay" to stop, and I gave the DJ the "okay" to start pumping out music from indoors. No big deal, I'd just wanted to have live music with all of dinner. It ends up that the first song played on the CD player was "Steppin' Out," the jazz standard, which is one of the first songs attempted by Smorgaschord, my a cappella sextet. This gave me the perfect opportunity to mingle with the table containing two fellow members...

We circulated among tables, trying to figure out how to orchestrate the whole grand entrance for the first dance. The patio opened out from an indoor-restaurant building, which we'd be entering for the dancing. We wanted to somehow get the whole crowd indoors before us, so that we could make a "grand entrance" through the doors. This meant we'd have to hide somewhere... so we told the DJ to give us a bit of lead time as we walked into the building, through the kitchen, out the back door, and around the bck. As we did this, the DJ announced for everyone to come into the building, to start the rest of the show. Unfortunately, people took a bit longer than hoped on this. People were stopping by the coffee station set up outside the building, long lines were generated, I was frustrated since we were running out of time. Finally I got the attention of Marty (the house manager) who kindly asked people to go inside. Many didn't budge. He was then a bit more firm... and then, he finally had to practically peel people away, telling them they'd be able to get their precious coffee in five minutes. Finally, that worked.

We walked up to the closed glass doors, which ushers Mike and Joe opened upon our request, just before the beginning of our song, "As Time Goes By" by Jimmy Durante. (He likes Casablanca a lot, and I wanted a classy song from that era, anyway.) The song began, and we entered the dance floor to perform our choreographed dance... which caused Bruce's mom to drop her camera, she was so shocked that he was dancing. It was fun to show off the results of a few dance lessons. ;) Mid-song, our routine paused a bit, as I was waiting for the DJ to invite the rest of the guests onto the dance floor for the last 8 bars of the song, but I don't think anyone noticed other than the two of us.

We danced two more songs. I should have made note to not have In the Mood as the first group dance song, since it's totally stereotypical... (much as I like Glen Miller...) but -- oh well, had forgotten about that.

A few dance songs where I dragged out my mom and Bruce onto the floor. Bruce's sister Lisa was having a great time, which was one of my goals in the planning.

Brief pause in the program as we had a small ceremony: I had bought a toss bouquet, but rather than tossing, I gave it Lisa, Bruce's multiply-handicapped sister. I had hoped to come up with something eloquent to sign to her (she's deaf as well) but had failed to do so... was a sweet ceremony, anyway. Then, the cake cutting followed. We were good and kept each other clean.

The rest of the night... I had no other worries. I just let go and danced my heart out. All of the planning had fallen perfectly into place, people were having a great time, and all of the planned parts were over. I even sneaked in some a cappella songs on a self-provided disc... that put my signature in the music, for sure. For Bruce we had to add songs like "Pop Goes the World" (Men Without Hats) and "Everybody Needs Somebody" (Blues Brothers). It was a great night, though people were ending up outside a bit too often for my preference -- it was a bit warm inside (though not hot like the previous day).

The music eventually had to end. The final song was played: nothing mushy, I asked for "It's the End of the World" by REM. High energy, a good note to end on.

Almost immediately after all was over, I sneaked back to change back into normal clothes. Despite the lack of lace and fluff, that dress was hot! It felt weird to have my hair up and be heavily made up while in shorts, but I felt so much better. I sat down (finally!) while chatting with friends who stuck around, making brunch plans with those staying in the area. Everyone involved was asking what they could do to help, and I said nothing, telling them to go home/to their hotel.

What a big mistake! There was so much to pack and clean up! All the flower arrangements, extra cake (which didn't fit in the boxes), gifts, extra beverages, etc. Luckily between us, we had the two cars, so we could actually fit all the STUFF in! But we were tired! And we didn't want to pack a single thing. The still-remaining vendors did such a great job helping us as much as they could, putting all of the vases in boxes and such. But I was wishing I'd asked others to stay behind...

I'd also wished I had help at the other end, at the hotel, since our parking spot was on the other side from our room, and we had to carry certain things up (flowers, cake) to put them in the fridge. Argh!!!

Finally, we ended the whole night by sharing another piece of wedding cake, taking the 56 bobby pins out of my hair (along with the flowers). It all went as planned. What a great party. Can we do it again?