Nov. 11 (Wedding STORIES)

Okay, I have permission from LL to share our wedding stories. She's right...they are totally intertwined.

We were first year teachers. I'd been dating H for a while. She and S had been dating for a shorter while. We knew we were going to marry these boys, but when? We had a holiday from school, so we were cleaning our apartment when we came across a calendar. We sat on her bed and picked our wedding dates. I claimed October 2001, she claimed September. Then we called H and invited him to lunch. We dropped the bombshell that The Benson's would marry on October 6, 2001.

The conversation went like this:
LL: H, we decided something today.
H: Oh, yeah. What?
Me: That we're going to get married.
H: Of course we are.
Me: No, we decided WHEN we're going to get married.
H: Oh, really. When?
LL: October 6.
H: Sounds good to me.

Please notice that it took both me and LL to engage me to H. Also note that he had no objection to this plan. That's so him...he just goes with the flow.

I left the engagement of LL and S to them. He refused to get married in September, so they decided to marry in November.

My wedding plans went off without a hitch--although we did change the date from the 6th to the 13th because everything we wanted to booked for the 6th. Something about bad luck if your anniversary falls on Friday the 13th left that date open. We got EVERYTHING we wanted--photographer, florist, location, etc. Our wedding was completely perfect.

Because S is from a tiny town, their wedding got bigger and bigger and bigger. They decided to do a destination wedding. All was going well. Dates were determined. Tickets were bought. The families and close friends made their travel arrangements.

Then our nation was rocked on 9/11. Our entire lives were altered in the matter of an hour.

LL and S decided it would be best to not travel out of the country with their families and closest friends just two months after that due to the extreme levels of security related to flying. What if another situation happened while they were away? What if they continued with their plans only to have all flights leaving the country shut down prior to the wedding?

So, the plans changed. LL is my wedding hero. She planned a wedding in under 5 weeks. Bought a wedding dress. Lined up caterers, photographers, locations (although the church did have to change their fall festival to accommodate the wedding plans--thank goodness S is from a tiny town), wedding parties (including their attire), etc, etc, etc. And she still pulled off being my maid of honor!!!

LL's wedding was completely perfect. Everything was beautiful. And I got to be there--even more perfect for both of us!

Remember all the tickets the families bought? They went on a huge vacation together another time.

So, LL, I'm so glad you went on a special date with a PAID babysitter. I almost fell out of my chair when I read that! I can't wait to hear all about it.