Wedding Blog: The Big Day (Part 2)

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Yesterday had been gorgeous. Today's forecast was for possible rain late in the day. 12:30 isn't late in the day! It wasn't coming down hard, so maybe it would go away by the time of the ceremony. Between raindrops, I stuffed things in the trunk, stuffed HS and GF in the car and took off. No problems getting there. It wasn't far and the heavy traffic wasn't heading off Cape Cod yet. It was a bit hard to drive, though, with one eye on the road and the other on the sky, gauging cloud formations.

We arrived, still in a light rain, and headed up the steps to the ceremony/reception area. A couple of guests had already arrived, an hour early, some of BD's friends from college whom I hadn't seen since graduation last year. We met up with the event coordinator, who guided us toward the upstairs area where FSIL and FotG, the other men in the procession, were preparing. This left GF a bit uncomfortable. She didn't know anyone other than the immediate family. Fortunately, the ASL interpreter also showed up about this time and introduced herself to HS and GF. We left GF with her and headed upstairs.

The women got this nice room with beautiful decor, some food and water, a nice view outside. The men got the upstairs office area with a limited view and two restrooms. There was a window that looked down on the reception area, though, which gave me my first look at the table settings. Those looked nice, at least from overhead. FSIL was already mostly into his dress blues, all but the jacket. He was nervous, but otherwise okay. Since we were all pretty much ready, there was little for us to do but sit and chat. And look out the window at the darkening clouds. And at the steadily increasing rain. About twenty past the hour, GW comes up to tell us that the ceremony is moving inside. So much for the rehearsal.

The photographer showed up to take some preparation photos. FotG helping FSIL on with the jacket. The group of us in various poses. I particularly liked the one with FSIL looking serious in the front, with the three others smiling in the background. This all helped more time pass without notice. Finally, the coordinator came up to bring us all downstairs. FSIL and FotG took a right into the new ceremony area, an atrium between the two main function halls with rather spectacular chandeliers. I waved at the people who have shown up while we were upstairs as HS and I passed through to the bridal suite.