hyperventilation in the friendship room (just 5 more minutes!)

final countdown For days, all anyone could comment on was my unusual calm. No one could believe that I could keep cool with the wedding looming ever-nearer. Even the masseuse said something when Jean & I visited the day before the ceremony. "You're so relaxed," she said. "Most brides have their shoulders up around their ears by this time." I had no secret to tell, no zen-like certainty to confess to and no new-agey breathing technique that was helping me remain normal. I was just calm. Even on the day itself, when we were late getting to the photo site, when I couldn't find my earrings in time, when I realized midway through the day that our kissing game wasn't ready for the reception and when we were hustled into a receiving line far too early, even then I was calm. That is, except for the five minutes immediately before the beginning of the ceremnoy. All of a sudden my guts were churning, my head was swimming and my lungs were doing their best imitation of a hummingbird. I was stressed. My maids fed me glasses of water and hoped for the best.

sydney transcends I know, all flower girls look like angels. Well, mine looked more like one than usual. Here she sits, captured by Jason in a moment when I was far too freaked out to pay attention to my littlest maid. Her gravity becomes her.

the approach (rocketbride is cleared for takeoff)

it begins So I was standing at the bottom of the aisle, listening to Sarah sing "Ave Maria" and watching my maids glide up the runway. My stomach was still churning, and I was trying to figure out some way to stop the whole thing for a minute or two, at least until my butterfly tummy calmed down. The next thing I knew, my dad & I had taken the first step. Coincedentally, the butterflies all died of natural causes. And from that point on, all I had to do was float and beam.

	beam As we made our way down the aisle I swept the church with my smile, knowing that I was incandescent and feeling for all the world like a kleig light. I looked at as many people as possible, trying to savour as many reactions as I could. It was my wedding day, and I didn't want to miss a thing.

launch!