It's been almost a year since my last entry. My bad. It's not that I haven't been writing, I write all the time. But I have embarked on new efforts which have been more demanding of my time, such as launching a new business as a professional wedding officiant and also getting married myself.
It was interesting being a bride with an officiant's perspective. It allowed me to understand how stuff works, much better than I understood before. For one, I realized that I could have any kind of wedding ceremony I wanted since it's something I'm now an expert in.
My sweetheart and I decided that we'd like an intimate wedding in a location that was special to us. During our courtship, John and I have made repeated visits to Niagara Falls, NY because it is one of the most incredibly beautiful locations relatively near to home (only 400 miles away) and just so much fun! So we figured a wedding as close to the Falls as humanly and legally possible was the perfect idea for us.
We notified family members months in advance on the day we were engaged, so that everyone could get their passports in order. (Who goes to Niagara Falls without going to the Canadian side?) Oh, and for the record, John proposed to me behind the Falls on the Canadian side on New Years Eve. It was awesome.
As the months progressed, some of our family members made the commitment to be there with us and it meant the world to us to be able to share our happy event with people who love us so much. John's best friend, besides me, married us. I instructed him on how to become legally ordained and I wrote our wedding ceremony. Considering Wes, our officiant, didn't have any prior experience in marrying people, he did a great job for us. Thank you Wes!
Our ceremony included a Love Letter component and a Handfasting component, so we actually tied the knot! Our location was Terrapin Point on the American side since we weren't sure if everyone would be able to get their passports in time and we had to reserve it months in advance. But it was the perfect location and I wouldn't have chosen any other location at the Falls even if I could do it over. We got married between 8:00 and 9:00am in front of an insanely perfect rainbow on a gloriously sunny morning.
My sons gave me away and my daughter read Shakespeare's Sonnet #18, which is something she used to read as a child and has very special significance between us. She did a perfect job. She also tied the cords around our wrists and tied the knot during our ceremony. Thank you Evan, Eric, and Ellen!
My six-year-old nephew, Alex, was our "Ring Bear" as he called himself. In attendance besides my children, Alex, and Wes was everyone in my family. My brothers, sister, nephews, one of my son's girlfriends, and my mom. It meant the world to us that they were there. So much love. xoxox Thank you folks.
After the ceremony we spent the day doing fun stuff: Maid of the Mist, Wind of the Caves, and we all gathered back together in the evening for an informal dinner at a fun place on the Canadian side called Johnny Rocco's. We spent two nights together at the AFB in Niagara Falls and then on the third morning, we began the long treck home.
John and I rented a comfortable and large Town and Country Van which allowed us and my children to ride in comfort and safety and spend a lot of time together.
At the AF accommodations, we had fun too. My sister-in-law fixed my hair, my daughter's hair, and mom's too, to help us look pretty. Thank you Donna. After our wedding day came to a close, everyone came together in our room for a champagne toast as John and I danced to Etta James' wonderful song, our theme, At Last.
It was a wonderful event that was tough to beat, but for our honeymoon we managed to top it all off with an amazing two week visit to Hawaii! Does life get any better?
The highlight for each of us was the kissing love scene between Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in the exact same location where the film was shot. (That we re-created at least a dozen times.) And we have the photos to prove it! Anyone who knows me knows what a thrill that was for me. To make it even grander, not only did we do this incredibly romantic gesture on our honeymoon, we did it on my 54th birthday. Oh yeah, it was an awesome day. We visited many locations on Oahu as well as a day trip to Maui, and we have many wonderful photographs of paradise.
We don't know how anyone who ever visits Hawaii leaves, and we are plotting our permanent return. We want to live the rest of our lives there and are working towards making that happen.
With Aloha. Mahalo.
