Saturday morning I woke up first at 7:00 AM. The entire bridal party had hair and make up appointments scheduled for 9:00 AM so we had to leave by 8:30 AM. We were out the door by 8:40 PM and almost made it to the highway when Maria asked me where my headpiece was. Of course, it was back in the room so we made the U-turn and I sped upstairs to grab it. Maria set a land-speed record and we got to the salon at 9:05 AM. We had 3 girls working on doing hair for 7 of us (me, my 3 bridesmaids, 2 Moms, and Gabe's cousin) and one girl doing make up for us all. Maria, Kim and I all had our hair done first while Tracey went for make up. Now, my hair trial took 30 minutes, but she worked on my hair for almost an hour that morning and it looked even better than my trial run. Once she added the tulle veil I almost lost it. Meanwhile, everyone was getting curled and primped. A woman and her daughter were walking by the salon after my hair was finished and they came in just to wish me luck. It turned out June 24 was her wedding anniversary as well as her daughter's birthday. Maria and Gabe's mom left around 10:30 AM to head to the house where the boys were getting ready, leaving me, Kim, Tracey and my mom to finish up and get back to the hotel. Everyone looked beautiful.

Then, as we were leaving the salon, I realized I didn't have a bag to put gift cards in at the reception. So we stopped at a Hallmark Store and made a quick (and expensive) purchase for a bag I really didn't like.

(Sidebar note: while in the Hallmark, I was already done up in my make-up, headpiece and veil, and some snotty lady on line says something like "I'm glad I don't have to go through that again - once was enough." Well, I shot her a look and said a very sarcastic "Thanks." Everyone else was so happy and sweet to me that day and this lady had such a stick up her ass!).

After making the purchase, we stopped at the jewelry store where Gabe and I had purchased our rings and had all engagement rings cleaned professionally. Everyone was so sparkly! We were on our way back to the hotel by 11:45 AM.

Once we returned to the hotel, we hurried upstairs to the suite. The photographer was due at 1:00 PM and my Dad and Kim's boyfriend Lee were due around 12:45 PM. Everyone was running around trying to get dressed without messing up hair and makeup. I actually ended up putting on my dress all by myself, in the bedroom with no one else around. It was strange - my dress was so light and easy, but I always thought my Mom or someone would help me out it on on my wedding day.

My Dad and Lee showed up, the flowers were delivered (they were perfect!) and then the photographer and his assistant arrived. I really surprised them by opening the door myself! I was ready on time which meant a $50 gift certificate on my pictures. We got started with photos and then the photographer told us he was fighting the flu. He was going to do all the posed shots, the entire ceremony, and the bridal party photos and portraits between the ceremony and reception, but he wasn't sure if he'd make it to the end of the night. Not to worry, he had called a back-up photographer for just this type of occasion and she would meet us at the USGA Museum (where we were having the portraits done) and then be at the reception. I was a little disappointed but just let it roll right off because there was nothing I could do about it.

The phone rang and Maria answered it. It was Gabe, from his limo, on a cell phone. Apparently, they were unsure, but they may or may not have forgotten the unity candle. The unity candle was a shower gift given to me by my grandmother, and we needed to have it. So we called Maria's friend Mandee (who turned out to be a total life saver!) and she and her husband agreed to drive up to our house and see if the unity candle had been left there before they headed to the church. At 1:45 PM the phone rang again, and this time it was the limo was waiting for us. We headed downstairs, piled in, and we were off to the chapel...

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