Love Under the Moon: Distractions

I would love to tell you that I was completely aware and "in the moment" during my walk down the aisle, like Mrs. Doe recently described. But that would be a complete and utter lie. My brain was on such overload at this point that I really couldn't focus on much other than the insane thoughts flying through my head.

With the way Franklin Plaza's ceremony space is set up you don't quite walk straight down the aisle. You actually come in to the side of the room, behind the guests, walk to the middle of the aisle and then turn. Does that sound confusing? Here is a very not-to-scale image of what I'm talking about:

Yes, I put all of your Paint skillz to shame.

We entered the room as Vitamin String Quartet's "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" began to play.

We walked to the center of the aisle, turned and...

One our guests, just a few rows in front of us, dropped their camera. Not only did they drop their camera, but the bottom opened up and the batteries went spilling across the aisle. Our poor guest scurried across the floor to retrieve her camera and batteries and ran quickly back to her seat.

While I'm sure our guest was mortified, I was personally grateful for the interruption. Poppa Coyote and I were able to pause at the end of the aisle and it gave me a moment to giggle, breathe and collect my thoughts. As soon as everyone was back where they were suppose to be we continued to process.

The thoughts going through my head at this point were, "Don't trip." "Don't cry." "Smile." "Oh my gosh, there's so-and-so." "There's Mr. Coyote." "I'm getting married." "Oh my, I'm getting what?! I'm getting married!"

(Guest photo)

Right. Like I said, I wasn't entirely present during our walk.

(Guest photo)

When we approached the front of the room Poppa Coyote leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I always imagined whispering something sweet to my father at this moment, but once again my emotions overwhelmed me and I just cried instead. Smoooooth move, Coyote.

Ugly cry face image courtesy of Shaw Video Productions

Poppa Coyote gave Mr. Coyote a quick handshake while I continued to cry:

And then he took a seat next to Momma Coyote to witness his daughter become a wife.

*All photos are by the fabulous Upstate Photographers unless otherwise noted.*

Miss a recap?

• I babble about being married and share our wedding video.
• We finish up some last-minute wedding tasks and pre-wedding jitters set in the day before the wedding.
• We practice getting married and then head to our rehearsal dinner where I shed my first tears of the weekend. We later wind down with our families back at the hotel.
• My bridesmaids get pretty and I get a special message from Mr. Coyote.
• I try to cope when things don’t go quite as planned, but thankfully I quickly bounce back and then it was time to become a bride. Meanwhile, Mr. Coyote was calm as a cucumber as he got ready with the dads and groomsmen.
• I finish getting ready and see an unexpected guest on my way to our first look.
• It was finally time to cross the street and meet my groom!
• We spend some time with our wedding party and then some time alone. Ceremony time was rapidly approaching.
• Our ceremony begins with the family and bridesmaid processional.