So the wedding came and went. Quite uneventfully, if I may add. Up until recently, I couldn't recall most of it but with the help of our video and the photos, my memory is coming back.

The night before the wedding, Jake's parents had a barbecue in their backyard. I guess it was our rehearsal dinner. The guest list was our families, close friends who came from out of town and the two of us. The food was delicious and I was thrilled to see some of my good friends: Michelle and Audrey from New Jersey and Pittsburgh, Cagla and Egemen from London, Pat and Tara from Ireland, Ashlie and Travis from Missouri. I must say that I don't remember most of the bbq and unfortunately we don't have any video from it, either. I do remember munching on the cakes with Michelle towards the end of the evening, tho. Jake's parents bought a Turkish fire pit which I must say I had never seen in Turkey but we were entertained by the large amounts of smoke the small pit was able to give off. There were short speeches and some French champagne. Perfect weather till midnight and then a slight trickle.

Saturday morning, we woke up to perfect weather. Jake drove my mom, my sister, Tara and I to the hair salon and waited until we all got ready. He then drove me to the makeup place and we picked up my mom and returned to Jake's house. Soon after the photographer, caterer, videographer and the rabbi showed up. By this point, my mom, my sister, the twins and I were in Jake's room, getting ready. My sister thought that if she dressed up the twins in their morning coats too soon and let them loose in the garden, there would be no suit to speak of by the ceremony. So locked up in the room, we chatted and my mom and sister got ready slowly and they put my hair up so that I could wear my veil.

Several minutes of stress later, we decided it would be best if my mom took the twins and went downstairs while Jake's family had their pictures taken. Yona, my sister, helped me with my dress and veil and quickly put her clothing on so we could walk downstairs. The photographer, in the meantime, was finished with Jake's family and since Jake had not seen my dress, his mom started kicking everyone out of the house so the photographer could take my family pictures. I walked down the stairs, we took a whole lot of shots and then started queuing up in the ballroom for the ceremony. I took this time to meet with the band and the videographer. Someone handed me my bouquet, which I decided was too long, so Alison rushed to cut some of the stem off and handed it back to me. Another person, in the meantime, got a hold of the boutonnieres and started pinning them on the men. Jake was slightly outside the door, not allowed to look back.

The line order was: The chuppah holders and the chuppah, the rabbi, Jake and his mom, my mom and Jake's dad, my sister with her two boys, and me and my dad. My sister was supposed to wait at the top of the hill with the boys so that one of them could throw the petals before my dad and I walked in. At first, all went according to plan. My dad and I got to the top of the hill, everyone rose, and then my sister prompted Aksel, the flower boy, to spread the petals. Aksel dumped all the petals right in front of me and stood there, to my sisters "No, no like that," he reacted by bending down to pick them up. My dad and I were waiting right behind the poor little boy and whispered to him not to worry and to move on. Everyone was laughing and it was delightful. My dad and I reached the chuppah, he let go of me and the ceremony began. The rabbi was great, Jake was really emotional and sort of cried on and off. His brother, Danny, held the chuppah to my left, and he was sniffling and crying audibly. All the chuppah holders had a few lines to say so when Clark's turn came, he started really well but then forgot some of the lines, and as he struggled to remember them, the rabbi whispered, "Wing it!" but then he remembered them and finished his part with full vigor. When the time for the rings came, Jake gave me his right hand so I put it on his right hand. All through Ave Maria, which is what played after we kissed, he struggled to get it off and put it on his left hand. A few struggles and the ring came off and was swiftly placed on the left hand. We broke the glass and were off to the bench to get a few minutes of alone time.

Some kissing, some shots and alone time was over. We then ignored everyone and went to the front of the house for some more posed shots. Millions of shots! Our families resisted but the photographer was relentless and finally all the shots were taken and we went back to the garden and formed the receiving line. Man, getting married is work. We finally got some chitchat time once everyone was kissed and thanked. I tasted some of the lemonade and found it too watery but didn't taste any of the food. Before we knew it, it was toast time. My dad delivered his funny toast in English Jake's dad spoke Turkish and French and English. Jake's brothers made us laugh and my sister almost made me cry. I then said a few words, thanking our families and our friends and so did Jake. I finally thanked him for marrying me. We kissed and sang happy birthday to all of our family members who'd recently had birthdays: my mom, the twins, both Clark and Danny, Jake's dad and Jake's grandfather.

Right after the toasts, they brought out our wedding cake and Jake and I almost broke the entire top trying to cut out a slice. We spilled it all over trying to feed each other but I must say it was quite delicious. We did some more chitchatting after the cake and then went into the ballroom for our dance. We danced to "Fly Me to the Moon" and then everyone joined us. Some more dancing with our parents and it was almost time to say goodbye. After most of the guests left, we changed and packed our bags. We opened up the gifts, packed them upstairs in Jake's room, and got ready to leave.

Jake's dad's partner and a dear friend, Lloyd, was waiting with one of his antique cars to drive us to our hotel, the Harbor Hotel. Even though it was quite a cold night, we drove with the top down and enjoyed the last minutes of our wedding day.

We checked in and ... well the rest is not necessary to detail out. :)

All in all, a wonderful day!