Bonnie and the Girls, and Me: A Day Like No Other

The day started like any other, the chickens were running around the arbor vitae, the threat of rain was lifting, and I was getting married HUH? WHOA SCREEEEAAATCH, back that UP! My boyfriend, now fiancee, soon-to-be-husband and I had bought a fixer-way-upper about two years ago and were living happily ever after until the niggle, that little pesky itch, that voice in my head and finally my heart that determinedly proclaimed, ENOUGH! Or rather not ENOUGH! I wanted to be married to the man I loved. I was done with living this quasi-euro life of "we don't need to be married, we're better than that", I mean look at Johnny Depp, or Angelina Jolie, wait Brangelina tied the knot, didn't they? So it was our turn to show the world we really meant it. The date would be October first, where this story begins...

The tent people raised the white canvas and hung the paper lanterns earlier in the week, the flowers were picked up first thing in the morning, (oh btw check out our flowers website here > Hana's Flowers, to die for!) and the roasted pig and goat guy would arrive later that day. Chef Jim and his wife were on the way. Friends we arriving from far and wide. My fiancee was setting up the old porcelain bath tub outside to cool the white wine, beer and bubbly water. We would later place that super hefty thirst quencher into our renovated bathroom, but for now the only water that it would hold would be that of melted ice.

The hour arrived with barely controllable anticipation. We walked through the throng of seated guests and roaming chickens. Opera John (a burly mountain biking friend of ours) sang a beautiful rendition of "It Had to be You". A love poem was read by another burly mountain biker, Lew (okay, most mountain bikers are burly, AND too stupid to stop, that's where our rides take a tragic turn...but that's another story). My sister and her husband sang "You Are My Sunshine", then our friend, a minister, said the magical words and we were wed. We danced under the tents until the wee hours and then plopped onto the sofas inside the house with a few remaining revelers. Well let's just say it, those that were too wasted, too tired, or lived too far away to make it home. It was the best party we ever threw!

Over the next few days we would hear all the little vignettes that we missed while cutting our cupcakes, or eating goat, or taking turns to dance with Dianne in her new leg cast that she decorated with pink bows. We heard that our usually skittish hens had decided to roost on the only empty chair during the ceremony, right next to a guest who has a long time fear of those-winged-creatures-who-shall-not-be-named, um, birds. So most anyone who meant anything to us, in a good way, celebrated our most special day ever, even our Maisie. I can tell you that it really happened, the tiny diamond band on my left hand ring finger professes it to be true.