PRACTICE MAKES NEAR-PERFECT

Now it was time to bring everyone together to see how this was all going to work. This practice was scheduled for roughly an hour. All we needed was an hour to put this magical ceremony together and work out any kinks that might not have been accounted for. After nine months of planning, one hour seemed short. Imagine studying months for medical school entrance exams; you take them and barely survive. You spend an hour in school and head off to the operating room. It seems unlikely that your first procedure will go smoothly.

Everyone gathered at the correct church within fifteen minutes of the scheduled start time. It didn’t resemble a real ceremony at all; it simply covered marching orders.

“You will stand here and wait for this cue. Then you move here and stand again. Things will be said. You two will do this. Parents will proceed to candles; candles burn; return to original place. Things will be said; you will repeat them. Bless it, kiss it, hallelujah! Are there any questions? The wedding coordinator will be at the back, giving everyone the go signal, and Jimmy will run the show, when everyone is in place. Let’s walk through it from the top.”

It seemed easy enough to move when cued and speak when spoken to. About halfway through the walk-through—enter musician. He came two-thirds of the way down the aisle. He stopped and tapped his foot, waiting for the spotlight to be turned his way. He caught Jimmy’s attention with the sun reflecting off his Aqua Net–reinforced acrylic beast of a plucking thumbnail.

(Please use the accent of your choice for this statement.) “I was with students. I need to plug in. I need to hear the room, the acoustics, the romance. I suppose you want someone of my magnificence up front for the ladies to enjoy and the men to envy. Were you in the middle of something? I will only be tuning for ten minutes or so.”

The walk-though made it seem so simple. And you really want it to be simple, because you are so done with the checklist from The Knot, verifying details, preparing guest-friendly favors, and checking comfort bags for allergens. You want the rubber stamp of approval and a ride to the airport.

We held each other’s hands and looked at one another as final placements were covered.

“About this time tomorrow, we’ll be married,” she said.

“I know. I can’t wait.”

A ton of stress was lifted, as I looked at her and thought about being married to her. It’s great to have the moment when you know, but I enjoy the moments where you know you knew, that very first time, but still didn’t know how good you had it. That is the magic of love.

The humor of love comes when you enjoy finding the hair she’s pulled from her hairbrush floating in the toilet in the morning. If you’re curious, I’m not allowed to leave anything in the toilet, not even a Post-it note that’s says, “I love you. Please flush your hair.”
- Drew Lloyd
From "Will You?" to "I Do.": A Groom's Tale of Survival