So, I got married...

Let's start with the events of the wedding day itself and move on from there.

I woke up at 7:30, hit snooze once and then headed for a shower and shave. I wasn't feeling up to breakfast, as my stomach was a bit uneasy.

Headed to my friend's house to pick up the getaway car. Curtis has a 1964 Corvair Spyder convertible, with the turbocharged V-6 and 4 speed manual. After a quick lesson in how to handle the top, I was off to the church. I hit a spot of rain and had to pull over quick to put the top up.

I get to the church, park the car under the overhang and head inside to get changed. A couple of my guys are already there and the rest join us soon. Being guys, of course we goofed around and made fun of each other while changing. My groomsman Eric hands me the flask I had given him and told me it was mine for the day. He had filled it with MacGillicuddy's, which left me with minty freshy breath and took the edge off of my nerves.

The guy's pictures were set for 10am, and we were in for a treat. Holly and I hired Valo Photography to do our pictures based on the work Valo had done on our friend Emily's wedding last fall. The guys pictures were taken in the gym at church and we got a chance to have some fun. Simon has a shot of me trying to "run away" with my guys holding me back.

Once the guys were done with pictures, we had lunch. Holly's dad had run to get a couple of Counsin's party subs and believe me, subs have never tasted so good. I managed to have a couple of pieces of sub and some soda to calm my churning stomach.

After lunch, the guys headed upstairs for some air and to keep me away from Holly. Basically, we were killing time until the ceremony.

At 12:30, my best man John, Pastor Kent and myself went behind the sanctuary to wait for the ceremony to begin. I took a sip of my flask and felt my nerves calm down a bit. John prayed with me and Kent joined us. I took a couple of peeks outside to see who was already seated then kept getting pulled back out of sight by John or Kent.

We hear our cue to walk out and take our places at the front of the stage. I felt the desire to wave to everyone, so I did, then said "hi guys." Everyone that knows me said "Hi Chad", and laughed some stress out.

The doors open and the couples start walking in. I started to feel the tears come, but held them back. After all the couples were in, the music faded out, then Holly's walk in music was on. At the right moment, the doors open and there was my bride! As her father led her down the aisle, I started to cry. I wiped my eyes because I wanted to see everything. Coming toward me was my bride and she looked amazing!! Adorned in a gorgeous dress, with her hair just right...just wow.

Pastor Kent starts the ceremony and asks Holly's father who gives this woman. Steve answers, "Her mother and I" through teary eyes. He then brought Holly and my hands together and went to sit next to Holly's mom.

I look at Holly and feel at peace. She was smiling at me as we stood there before the Pastor, our friends and the assembly.

As the ceremony progressed, I kept looking at Holly and she at me. We asked Pastor Kent to teach out of the Song of Solomon, which is a great book from the Old Testament of the Bible, giving him a chance to do something he hadn't taught on before.

We asked our friend Nick to play the song for the lighting of the unity candle. At my request, he played "When you Say Nothing at All" which Holly and I found sweetly ironic, given my pechant for talking.

We added the element of communion to our wedding as our faith in Christ is very important, and Pastor Kent was more than willing to lead us in that element. As we stood together after the candle lighting and communion, we sang the last verse of "When You Say Nothing At All" to each other.

I kissed my bride, lovingly and with intent. We turned to face our guests, grinning like fools. The pastor pronounced us Husband and Wife, and we walked out to "It's the End of the World as We Know It" by R.E.M. and danced our way up the aisle. I couldn't contain myself and let out a whoop as we neared the doors to the foyer.

One by one, our couples came out and then we went back in to dismiss our guests. We started on Holly's side with her parents, then to my side to greet my parents. We wanted to dismiss our guests so we could thank each one of them for coming, so we had the bridal party guiding guests downstairs for cake.

It was simply awesome to see so many of our friends come to see us be married. Old friends from growing up, work friends, and current friends. Both Holly and I enjoyed seeing everyone and having a chance to see them all at least once, since we knew it would be difficult to see everyone once we were downstairs for cake and punch.

Once downstairs, we cut the cake. Holly and I each took a forkful to feed each other with, only Holly took a bite of her own cake, leaving me hanging. She smirked at me, then took another forkful and fed me as I her. The cake was then wheeled away to be cut, and the sheet cakes were wheeled in to be eaten. Holly and I set the guests on the cake and then sat for a bit, since we had been standing for a while.

Everyone was getting cake and punch and chatting, people were stopping by to congratulated us. We got some cake and punch and started to take it all in. Here we were, surrounded by loved ones, married, MARRIED!

Around 3, we headed back upstairs for the rest of the pictures. We took pictures with my grandparents first, as they were a bit tired. Once those were taken, we did the usual pictures with the family and bridal party and whatnot.

Once pictures at the church were done, Holly and I planned to take some pictures at the lakefront by the art museum, since that's where we met. We hopped in the car, left the church with the top down on the car, just for the fun of it, then stopped to put the top up so as not to muss Holly's hair.

We arrived at the lakefront to find six other weddings already there for pictures. We changed locations to the small park where Wisconsin Ave turns north, right in front of the art museum. Simon and Jake, the photographers, were having a blast setting up shots and directing us and taking the perfect pictures. We crossed the street and took a shot where Holly and I are on the street with the downtown skyline and the sun behind us.

We moved over in front of the art museum for some more shots, then down to Discovery World for some more fun. Jake made the comment that Holly and I were alot of fun to work with and that they were having fun.

After Discovery World, we headed out to the dinner reception for some final pictures, then food. Once again, surrounded by family, we got to enjoy some excellent food and conversation. We spent a couple hours chatting with friends and thanking them for being part of our special day.

After dinner, we had to take our getaway car back to Curtis. We picked up our car and headed to the Pfister for our first night together. We valet'd the car and a bellman took our bags up to our room. We felt so rich!!! Once in the room, I helped Holly out of her dress so she could shower and change. I needed a bit of normalcy, so I found the Brewer game on TV while I was waiting. Once Holly emerged from the bathroom we retired for the evening...hint hint ;)

We awoke in the morning ready for breakfast. Part of the package we had was a credit to the cafe for breakfast, so we took advantage of it. Holly had a ham and cheese omelet, and I had the biscuits and gravy. We left the cafe feeling quite full.

After packing our things and checking out, we headed to Holly's parent's house to pick up clothes for her for the week, and to say goodbye to Jon and Katie, and Moira. After they left we did some check endorsing and got the car loaded with Holly's things.

We headed to the bank to night drop the checks, only to find there's no night drop slot. We basically had to start over and put the check into ATM envelopes for the deposit....what a pain in the butt!!

We stopped by OUR apartment to grab a couple of small things, like the wine flutes we were given, so we could enjoy the wine someone else gave us. From there, we departed for our destination. The drive was nice: I had the Brewer game on the radio while Holly napped. We stopped for gas and Holly picked up some cheese to snack on for the final leg of the journey.

Once in Minocqua, we found the Walmart and picked up some breakfast and lunch stuff, as well as snacks. We ended up in line behind a lady who seemed to be stockpiling supplies for a kindergarten room. $375 later, she was done, but it was now after 9pm, so we couldn't buy they alcohol we had in the cart, despite being in line 20 minutes...Oh Well.

We got to the cabin about 9:30 and found the key and let ourselves in to find two more cards on the kitchen island, as well as a bottle of champagne and a tourists guide of restaurants in the area. Thanks to Volker and GiGi, and Ziggy and Sandy for that!!!

We unloaded the car, put away the groceries and then sat down in seats that didn't move. Put in a movie and vegged out. About 11:30, I woke Holly up and suggested we move to a bed so we could sleep properly that night.

The most awesome thing for me so far is that I get to sleep next to the woman I love at night, with her next to me, and wake up seeing each other in the morning.