When it comes to weddings, I've found out that experienced brides & grooms have the following:

• things that they loved about it
• at least one thing that went totally wrong
• advice for first time brides and grooms
  

At my bachelorette party, we had a great time going over parts of weddings that were great, like families mingling and dancing, and parts that really sucked, like yellow jackets surrounding the margaritas, caterers not feeding the guests, and last minute vow writing. 

After hearing about everything that could go wrong I knew something wouldn't go as expected.  I didn't really care though and I had just one goal, which was to do my best to live in the 'present moment'.  By doing so, whatever went wrong woudn't be significant enough to ruin anything.   I wanted to remember as much as I could about this event.  For anyone that knows me, however, remembering things, expecially people and events, is not my strong suit.  The ceremony certainly should be a memorable experience...right?  So what could go wrong?  Well, of all the things I thought of, the hot temperatures was something I was concerned about on top of a mountain peak with little to no shade.  I had my bases covered though and my crystal clear invitation asked everyone to bring cool, casual clothes and sunhats or umbrellas.  No problem.  We had ice cold water and refreshments at the top; extra umbrellas and tons of ice.  People would be able to cool off to their hearts' content. 

We met several people at the trailhead for our run up the mountian and since most of them tried to get ahead of us, they took the only wrong turn on the entire trail (within the first 100 yards).  Miguel and I ended up running alone as Matty and Sam went to retrieve the adventurous wrong-wayers.  We were chit chatting about our vows and such and having a great time getting the jitters out of our systems.  Then, at the last moment, when I least expected him, Mr. Unexpected showed up: clouds, fog, wind.  No. No. No.  This is why I had the wedding date in August!  We convinced all these people to come to the TOP of Marys Peak so they could see the lay of the land, the beautiful clear-cuts amidst the farmland, the ocean and the Cascade Mountains.  But here I was running, almost to the top, with no view of blue above, misty fog hovering in the treetops, and a raindrop here and there.  Not only was the view going to be non-existent, but everyone was wearing sundresses and sunhats!  This isn't right.  Cold Weather was NOT ON THE LIST.

I love it when things "in retrospect" are rather funny.  Here's one of those cases.  We get to the parking lot at the top and can hardly see anyone through the fog.  Nobody is really there to greet us, as they are all huddled around the motorhome asking for blankets, down jackets, sleeping bags, anything to add a little warmth and protection from the wind.  All the refreshing, ice cold water is sitting in the cooler laughing at everyone in their sandals and skirts as the wind whips by.  People are rushing back to their cars to see if they mistakenly packed any wool sweaters or moon boots.  The temperature is a mere 47 degrees with a windchill bringing that down to about 40 degrees.

Are we really going to do this?  As I slipped into my wedding dress in the wind-free motorhome, all I could think about were the people outside.  They were supposed to be up on the hill milling about and basking in the sun.  Yes, we're going to do this.  We start in 15 minutes.  I can make it through a 20 minute ceremony in this silk dress.  Why is Marys Peak doing this to us today?  Yesterday it was hot.  Today it was hot.  Please sun, PLEASE push this fog away.  I kept looking out the blinds to see if any blue sky was visible.  What I saw was hair blowing, people pulling their jackets tight around their waists, and plastic bags floating across the parking lot.

Things started moving and people reluctantly made their way to "the spot" about 300 yards uphill.  Miguel took the dogs and Dad waited for me to step outside.  I heard a few people still weren't there, like Julia who was in the procession, so I decided to wait until 7:30.  We started walking up in the wind and the fog and I did decide to wear a jacket until the last moment.  People were still arriving and trying to hike up the hill behind us as fast as they could.  We stood just out of sight as I watched the sun and pleaded with it to be strong, to fight, fight fight through the fog.  The sun toyed with me by coming just into view so I could see it's circular shape, and then cowering back beneath the fog over and over again.  I gave up my plead and settled with the thought that I had no control over this, so I might as well just forget about the sun.  The walkie talkie spoke up that it was time for us to go.  Just then, the sun made its choice and it pushed and pushed and pushed through that damn fog.  With every step, the light grew stronger, and when we finally came into view, everyone in the crowd was lit up with golden light.  Finally, the worry in my gut faded away and I smiled.  People could see the blue sky above and the heavy clouds dropped into the valley.  We were "on top of the world".  Phwew; yes, yes, yes, we could see that we were in a special place; up high and looking out over a gorgeous valley below.  

Marys Peak gave us what we call an "intense ceremony".  I remember the uncontrollable shiverring, but most of all, I remember the light.  As many people have said, we couldn't have predicted or planned out a ceremony with that type of weather.  Mr. Unexpected showed up at our wedding ceremony, just as he has shown up at most weddings.  Looking back on that day, I'm glad he came and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Luckily he didn't make it to the reception.