15 years ago today, I went to the bookstore and bought a tape of the wedding march, then met Matt for lunch at O'Charley's and we came here and got dressed and he drove me over to the church in the pouring rain. Daddy performed the ceremony even though he had called that afternoon to ask if we would get married some other time because of the rain.
We huddled under the porch overhang at the church and Matt felt around for the key, which was above the ornate door frame. As everyone was coming in to sit, he showed me around the church basement where he attended vacation Bible school. We gave tape player responsibility to Alex, who was single. He had to let it play until I got to the altar, then rewind and flip for the exit march on the other side. We also gave him a flashlight in case the power went out.
I went to the vestibule and Matt stood at the end of the runway next to Daddy. Jake toddled me down the aisle until he defected for a bunch of balloons Matt's mom had picked up. The ceremony was not the traditional 'Dearly Beloved', Daddy said he knew better than to use the word 'obey' in eliciting a vow from me.
That night we slept on different couches in the living room, the weather was too rough to think of heading off anywhere, plus we did not get in from dinner at Cracker Barrel (I had okra and mac and cheese, which is exactly what Ben orders every time we go) until nearly midnight because we had to wait for crews to clear downed trees. We were tired.
The next day, we went outside to the perfect clear day and released the balloons and headed off on our honeymoon. We're not back yet.
