A Wedding to Remember

I've always been embarrassed by people looking at me.  I don't mind doing things in group settings, cheerleading, dancing, being on a parade float, you know, the usual.  As long as everyone else is doing the same thing at the same time I'm all right.  But, if you make me stand up and talk to a group or if somehow everyone is looking only at me?  Well, I will be red and blotchy before you know it.  Therefore, I have never had a single desire to walk down an aisle in a church filled with people that are only looking at me.  Could you imagine?  I would have to have a turtleneck wedding dress, and I just don't think I would be able to find one I like.

But once I met Paul, we knew within days that we would be getting married. There was really no question, no doubt, no awkward dating phase.  We both just jumped to the happily ever after part.  I was afraid that I was going to have to walk down that aisle in a turtleneck dress after all.  I had always pictured a teeny tiny wedding (my parents are the only ones I needed to be there) with a big party afterwards.  I wanted people to come, celebrate my wedding and have fun, but for the love of God, please don't look at me!  So I was thinking city hall, but when Paul suggested Vegas, even though I could only picture tacky Elvis weddings, I started packing my bags!

We decided to stay and get married at the Mandalay Bay.  Mom and Dad made plans to fly in and be our witnesses, guests, best man, and matron of honor.  The hotel was incredible to work with.  Basically they sent me a million multiple choice questions that I answered with no involvement from anyone.  I did not have to have meetings with a wedding planner, I did not sample cakes or make menu selections.  My responsibilities included checking marking boxes on the form and buying a wedding dress.  Paul's responsibilities included buying a suit and finding his divorce papers.  Ah, yes, the divorce papers.  Hmmm.  Has anyone seen those pesky things?  Oh, wait, maybe they never actually arrived.  Let's see, 3 years ago, where would I have put those?  PERHAPS I AM NOT ACTUALLY AND OFFICIALLY DIVORCED!!!!!!!  We had already purchased plane tickets and were well on our way to being polygamists.

So, we had to add one more little responsibility to Paul's list of things to do.  Once that task was completed and I could breathe again, we moved on to picking out our wedding rings.  Being sensible people, we decided to reuse the one from his previous marriage.  He liked it fine, it fit perfectly, and there was no reason to go buy one exactly like the one he already had, right?  Even though this was completely fine with me, inside my head I did a little ceremony to get any bad marriage mojo off the ring, then took it to the jeweler's to have them scrub it and shine it and engrave it with our anniversary date.

We spent the days before and after the wedding touring the hotels and seeing shows. The day of the wedding we  got up early and had breakfast, then we got all dolled up for our 10:30 event.  It was in a small, beautiful chapel with a very kind pastor who spoke of peace, harmony, respect and love.  My Mom and Dad both walked me down the aisle, so the only person that was looking at me was my future husband, and I was o.k. with that.

After the ceremony, my parents surprised us with a "reception" in their hotel room.  They had a top tier of a wedding cake, mixed nuts and champagne for the four of us.  It was perfect, and the most thoughtful gift I have ever received because it was so totally unexpected and traditional in my non-traditional wedding.

To celebrate we went on the Stratosphere to ride the scariest roller coaster of all time.  How many people can say they did this on their wedding day?

Then we came home and had a really fun, relaxed party where no one looked at me!!