Get me to the church on time...

Jeff and I went to the wedding of one of my dearest friends today. It was a small wedding (50 people or so), but it was still beautiful.

Coming home, Jeff and I remembered our wedding, and how special it was to us, so I thought I would share it with you...Jeff and I eloped. We were married at a place called the Peaks of Otter Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Bedford, Virginia http://www.peaksofotter.com/

Behind the lodge there is a lake and it has this stone ledge on one side. Jeff and I was married on that ledge overlooking the lake at sunset. A gentleman by the name of Mr Wells married us...but I'm getting ahead of myself...I have to start this story from that morning. Jeff and I decided the morning of our wedding to drive around and look at the scenery...and that's when it happened, right after lunch I went kinda girlie on him...I'm a tomboy at heart, so I didn't think these things mattered to me. Now Jeff had never been married before and knew very little about weddings...except that you were suppose to really "do up" the car that the bride and groom drove off in...so here we are, just him and I (far away from family or friends to help us out), and I tell him I needed the something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue...and the penny in my shoe...and bless his heart, Jeff (who had no idea what I was talking about)made everyone of those things happen for me...(maybe not the traditional way, but in his own sweet way) My something old was a pair of earrings that Jeff had given me early on in our relationship and I knew they would look great with my dress, so that part was easy...But for the rest of the items, I thought I would have to do without...When we got back to the lodge and into our room, I told Jeff he couldn't see me before the wedding (now we had spent the whole day together, so I don't know what I was thinking, but Jeff went along with it, so after I had showered, this poor man had to stand in a corner so he couldn't see me go from the bathroom to the bedroom, then while he took his shower and got dressed in the bathroom, I finished getting ready in the bedroom. When he was done, he waited outside for Mr Wells) I had put my dress across the bottom of the bed and when I picked it up to put it on, I found these items...The something new was a beautiful pearl necklace that Jeff purchased at one of the little shops we had gone into that afternoon (I didn't know he had purchased it until that moment)...The something blue was a sweet little love note, written on light blue stationery with blue ink, I folded it up and carried it in my hand (just as if it were flowers)...there was even a shiny new penny with the year 1999 (which is the year we were married) for me to put in my shoe...He told me later that he had called the front desk and told them what he needed and they searched the restaurant and the gift shop cash registers and couldn't find one. Someone staying at the lodge overheard what they were trying to do and offered his penny for the happy couple. Someone from the lodge brought the penny down to Jeff while I was in the shower...so I had my old, new, blue and the penny...I was thrilled, but then I remembered that I didn't have anything borrowed...so with Jeff & Mr Wells on one side of the door (outside) and me on the other side of the door (inside)...I told Jeff that I didn't have anything borrowed...he asked Mr Wells where Mrs Wells was and she just happened to be in the lodge's restaurant waiting for him...Jeff ran up to the lodge and asked her if he could "borrow" her time for the wedding and she agreed. He came back down and told me he had it taken care of and I walked outside to see them all standing there...we walked to the lake and were married...It was the happiest day of my life...and when we got back to the room, Jeff had another surprise for me...a small wedding cake was on the table and rose petals were scattered across the bed...candles were lit and it looked like something out of the movies...I found out later that he had arranged all of this with the staff a head of time, so why were getting married, they were getting the room ready...who says ol' country boys aren't romantic...I think I'm gonna go give my wonderful husband a kiss...hugs...