the big day

July 9th started bright and early and almost felt like any other day - oh, expect for the fact that after 40 plus years, two people that are truly meant to be were finally married! Kendall and I headed for the club early afternoon. The sun was shining. Birds were probably chirping. We knew it was going to be quite a day. We arrived at Hayfield's where we met mom and were shown her bridal suite which was a great big room where we stored our stuff and after checking everything out, went down to the bar for a glass of wine. Kara and Makenna arrived soon after and then the afternoon just started flying by. Seeing mom's gorgeous, flowing dress and pretty shoes waiting to be worn made us all of the more excited. Lindsay started Val's make-up, Kendall perfected mine - the prep had officially started. We got to hear Lindsay practice singing "At Last" which was amazing. Makenna loved it as she does most musical things in life. Soon there were people coming into the room to see and hug mom and it was really almost time! We ushered people out to help mom into her dress. She looked breath-taking. Everything had come together perfectly. It was 5:20 before I knew it. I ran outside to make sure that the harpist was playing. Father Nick and Kevin were ready and that people were sitting. To say it was hot is an understatement - it was sweltering. Guys were in suits melting. I was a bit caught between daughter of the bride, photographer, coordinator and wedding guest but managed to get myself together and run inside to tell Val, Willie and mom - we are ready to get married! I know it seemed like a long walk for them. Everyone took a breath in when they saw how drop dead gorgeous mom looked. She was glowing and Kevin was beaming and every single person there could not help but feel their completeness and how ready they were to do this. They went around the long way through the crowd which really just gave everyone a better look at the bride. I totally got choked up during my reading. They said their vows and intentions with love and clarity and soon were declared husband and wife. Wow! The ceremony wrapped shortly and Dave, the Washington Post photographer and I took photos/video of the newlyweds et all. It was steamy and we were all pretty much ready to continue the celebration so we soon headed inside. Dante and Val were announced by the DJ and then Mom and Kevin looking spectacular. I think they literally took everyone's breath away. They started with their first dance and the rest of the next few hours flew by as speeches were made, songs were played, old friends were hugged and a new, long-overdue life together was started.

Everything was not necessarily perfect (the DJ totally ignored the playlist that we spent hours on, the event coordinator got a little snippy) but it was really the reason why we were all there and the love that you could just feel that made the day one for the record books.