JON KIPPIN'S WEDDING.

+ WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.
..
i went up to toledo on thursday evening to help out and make sure everything which got overlooked was taken care of. the wedding was on saturday. so friday was spent for the most part getting all the last minute stuff taken care of before the rehearsal. it consisted mostly of driving jon around in his father's rented out pt cruiser while jon co-ordinated everything via his mobile phone. he would be on the phone talking to kiera's mom or his mom and by the time he finished with the call, he would have two messages on his phone. he'd start to call one of the people back and by the time he had finished that phone call, he would have two more messages. never failed. and then to make things more stressful he would get a phone call from a stressed out and crying kiera. for all the things that could have gone wrong, everything was a breeze. rehearsal went smoothly. lots of clowning around and laughing (and crying) and 4 or 5 run-throughs and we all by the end could fake it enough to make everything look like we knew what we were doing. rehearsal dinner afterwards went well. good food. good good food. more laughing. (and more crying). thank yous. presents. and then back to jon's apartment (which was 30 minutes away) where as soon as we were dropped off, jon realized he didn't have his house keys. so we drove all the way back to the wyndham hotel to get his keys and then all the way back to his apartment. only midnight, but it felt like 4 in the morning. little zzzz's. saturday. wedding day. wedding starts in 6 hours. jon's up. not nervous. not fidgety. just another morning. goes for a run. i take a shower. wedding starts at 2. we need to be at the church by noon. jon decided he wanted to get a present for kiera to give to her before the wedding. panera bagel. mall. present. little ceaser's to pick up food for the rest of the groomsmen. church. groomsmen. wait. television. kiera's ring is delivered to me. getting ready. 20 minutes til game time. last minute photos. my button pops off. so does someone elses'. buttons fixed. we're walking. we're walking. music. lights. camera. action. people. all in row. one step forward to rake the place of the guy in front of you. my partner is coming down the aisle. she's at the 6th row. walk. say hello. present my arm. step over the aisle runner. focus point is the black piece of tape. one step. stop. one step. stop. one step. stop. one step. stop. one step. stop. one step. 'you're welcome. see you in a few.' go to the right. stand in line. here comes jon and pastor banks. pull out camera. take a few photos. jon. bridesmaids. wow, they look stunning. music. spotlight. kiera. walking down from the balcony. more photos. they're walking. they're walking. they're still walking. slow. they're stopped at the end of the aisle. why? someone is giving kiera her boquet. they're walking. photos of jon. he's crying. pastor banks just whacked his arm. oh. no he's giving him a hankerchief. ha. music stops. jon and kiera are walking up the steps behind pastor banks. they stop. i can see jon and kiera's face. they're glowing. absolutely beautiful. prayers. vows. candles. kisses. 'i do.' 'i do.' kisses. smiles. walking away. smiles. tears. hugs. oh my turn. we're walking. greeting. oh hi mom and dad and jeff and sara and cindy. 'yeah, i'll see you at the reception.' limo. photos. more photos. more photos. limo. champaigne. probably shouldn't drink too much. i still have to do some speech. more photos. toledo art museum. more photos. wyndham hotel. more photos. 'thanks for dropping my car off for me.' 'ok, i'll see you inside.' oh thank goodness, they brought out food for the bridal party. 'ok people, please line-up with your partner.' 'and the matron of honor, natasha bayes, and the bestman, jay blackburn.' do a little dance. oh right, walking. sitting. listen to toast. eat salad. another toast. tylenol for headache. eat dinner. another toast. cut cake. another toast. eat cake. bride's dance. another toast. groom's dance. another toast. jon and kiera's dance. oh right, my turn to toast. read from paper. don't want to mess this up. read. clapping. bridal party dance. whew. beautiful. go sit. (beacuse i'm not a dancing fiend.) good byes. congratulations. absolutely beautiful wonderful wedding. Congratulations Jon and Kiera. much love. ++