So it begins

So, it is finally time to tell the tale of our wedding day. The day began at the butt-crack of dawn for Andrea, and a little past the butt-crack for me. Andrea's sister-in-law, Shirlee, came over at 6:00 am to help Andrea do her hair. I arrived, dressed in my new suit and pink tie (ok--I kept the pink tie off until we got into the temple) and picked Andrea up. She looked so beautiful and happy. We drove to Manti, Utah, which is about 2 hours south of Salt Lake City. The whole time I was thinking, "When I drive back, I will be married. Oh, Crap!!! What am I getting myself into." Just kidding.

When we got to Manti, Andrea said, "Can I have some donuts?" I mentioned that we can eat breakfast inside the temple, but she declined and graciously asserted that she wanted donuts from the convenience store down the road. As we passed the temple to get the donuts, Andrea saw her parents driving up the hill, towing their trailer, and called them to let them know that we had arrived but that we were getting some food. Soon my order for donuts and milk tripled.

We arrived and the temple workers were happy and friendly. We filled out the paper to legalize our union (unlike those recent marriages in California) and record it on the records of the church. We were to be the 11th marriage for the day, which was great because that is my favorite number. (Why, because I am not #1 once, I am #1 twice.)

Skipping many sacred (not scared as I previously posted) details, we were eventually sealed together for time and all eternity as husband and wife. It was great to have so many friends and family in the sealing room with us. It was a day that we both had waited and waited and waited for many, many, many years.

As Andrea was pampered in the bride's room with the assistance of several women and her mother, I was left to the men's restroom to change. I had to plug in my razor inches from the floor, next to the trash bin, and shave amongst the aroma of yesterday's dinner.

We finally met up again and proceeded to promenade out of the doors to our awaiting crowds. However, our photographer was not there. We had confirmed with them the day before, but had not seen them since February when we booked their services. After a few minutes of controlled stress, they arrived. That was good, as you will find out as you continue to read.

It was a beautiful day, just with a nice cool breeze. We took some family pictures, some serious, others silly and then proceed to take pictures of just Andrea and myself. Here are some to peruse.


All the pictures can be seen here.

After pictures were taken, we noticed McKayla, Andrea's little 14-year old sister, walking into a waiting room. (For furture reference, if you are going to a wedding at the Manti Temple, there is a separate building for little children to wait and watch movies.) As we walked in, we saw a groom and a bride. The bride was very upset and trying to clean blood off of her dress. The groom, was holding wet paper towels to his left temple. From what we got by eavesdropping, their photographer didn't show up, the groom's brother blamed it on the groom and punched him, which lead to the blood on his wife's dress. They didn't look happy and I thought about offering them my business card.

Well, that was the wedding blog. We have so much love and gratitude to those that shared with us this great day. The reception blogs are to follow.