Before I knew it I was in the room with my girls, and hair and make up was being done. On them. I was last. So I paced, and no one made fun. I was nervous, and my body only knows how to process my thoughts if I’m moving. I attribute that to my parents making me play tennis.

There were phone calls and laughing and me pacing. Mine and Pete’s family members popping in and out. The hair was done, the make up was done, and it was time to go. So I did what always calmed me down before any big match. I called a hands in. I called a hands in, we yelled “Go Knights” and off we went to the chapel.

My dad kept a lookout to make sure there were no stray guests that could see me before we go there. The bridesmaids met me in the back. We were all a little nervous. And then it was just me and my dad. Waiting. And then the doors opened, and I saw Pete, and so many of our friends and family, and thought of my poem I wanted in the program:

This is It
and I am It
and You are It
and so is That
and He is It
and She is It
and It is It
and That is That.
O It is This
and It is Thus
and It is Them
and It is Us
and It is Now
and here It is
and here We are
so This is It.

-James Broughton

Everything after that is a blur. The walk down the aisle, the ceremony where I couldn’t stop smiling at Pete, the pictures with our family where I yelled, “Okay, [insert family last name here], to the cocktail hour!”

I was so happy. Happy to be with Pete, to have our family and friends together. Even the absence of the fifteenth table at the reception didn’t stress me out. I sang to him on the dance floor during our first song. We ate. We made it to 13/15 tables to say hi to our guests. We took pictures. We danced. We cut cake. We had no idea what the cake even looked like until after the honeymoon.

I just can’t believe how everything melded together, and how little I remember of the actual details. What I do remember is dancing with my girls to Baby Got Back, hugging Jen after the ceremony, doing another hands in with the tennis crew, dancing with my little cousin, visiting with all the guests. I wish that all the people in our lives would get together like that more often. Family and friends in one place. And our bridal party was amazing.

And here we are. We are home from the honeymoon and married. And it was and is and will always be amazing.