Getting Ready
That morning, Jeff went over to John's parent's house, since they are like a second set of parents to him, to get ready for the big day!
We left the salon and headed for the house and found that so many people were already there (Jeff's immediate family alone consists of about 25 people!!) One of the bedrooms became the Bridal Room and we used that room to get ready. While we were doing that, Jeff's sister-in-law was putting the finishing touches on our bouquets. Jeff arrived at the house at 11:30 or so. It had stopped raining and once the Pastor arrived, Jeff's sister-in-law told Jeff that we only had about 15 minutes to make a decision on where we would have the ceremony. Our back up plan was to hold the ceremony in the sunroom and it would take a few mintues to prepare that room if needed.
Now, while all this was going on, I was still getting dressed and wondering what was going on as not a lot of information was coming into the Bridal Room, Jeff and his best man watched The Weather Channel and the storm had passed...clear skies ahead!! I am not joking when I say that at that very moment, the clouds went away and the sun came out!! We firmly believe that someone was looking out for us that day! The best man, John, knocked on our door and let us know the wedding would be outside and I was thrilled to hear that!!! He handed my maid of honor Jeff's ring and a card from Jeff to me... I had tears in my eyes while reading this card and all I wanted to do was run and hug Jeff! My sister, Helen and Gram, at the same time mind you, yelled at me for crying as it would ruin my makeup. I was given specific instructions from everyone, NOT to cry until after the pictures were taken!! Jeff was now outside and it was safe for me to come out of the Bridal Room and our photographer began to take some pictures.
It took about 20 minutes to get organized as eveyone kept coming in to see me as I was trying to make my way out of the house. This gave some additional time for the grass to dry up a little bit. Since it had rained earlier that morning and the ceremony was being held in the backyard, Helen carried my train all the way up to the altar to avoid any dirt or mud!