Saturday, September 1st, 2001.   7:00am
Hotel Room

            My wedding day.  It is now 7am, and I have been up for the last hour…. Not from nervousness or anything, but from pure excitement.  I cannot wait for today to begin.  I will be going to breakfast with my parents in an hour, and then the day’s festivities shall begin.  Yesterday’s rehearsal went fairly smooth.  At first it was a bit chaotic – and several people were late.  However, things did come together well… and I think it will be a beautiful wedding.  My friends are great.  We went out for pizza last night until 11pm – and I had an absolutely great time.  Rick started to get everyone talking by asking people to go around the table and talk about their favorite “Erik” stories… MAN did we hear some stories… After hearing them, I am surprised that I made it through childhood alive!!!  I am sure that Alesha has a different view of me now!  J   It was great to sit back and remember the great times that each one of my friends shared… it was kind of neat having three friends (Actually 5 when you count Alesha and Angela) from three distinct times in my life.  Jason and Mike did not know me when Rick did, so his stories were all new for them, and he didn’t really know me when I knew them.  BJ is growing up quite rapidly now – I have seen a lot of change in him even from the last time that I saw him a month or two ago.

            Today, I am not sure what I’ll be doing until 1-2pm when I pick up the flowers.  I have been silently preparing what I am going to say tonight during the dinner, and am worried that I will be too emotional to speak calmly.  I have a problem with that… especially if I see my mom crying.  (Which, undoubtedly, she will be.)  Oh, well.  I am sure that Tami is going to look absolutely beautiful today, and I look forward to seeing her walk down the isle.

            Rick is now sitting over my shoulder, so I’ll end this for now.  I plan on trying to keep this journal going throughout our upcoming (TOMORROW!!!) honeymoon in Tahiti.  I am sure that we will have some serious adventures, and I want to remember them all.

Sunday, September 2^nd, 2001.  4:45pm
Air Tahiti Nui, 25,000 Feet above the Earth, Heading to Tahiti at 520 miles an hour.

Wow.  What a perfect day.  I am now married – and it was without a doubt the best day of my life.  Everyone was perfect… my parents, her parents, and most especially the bride.  SHE WAS GORGEOUS!!!  She literally took my breath away as she walked down the path to the front of the garden.  I am not sure what I have done right in life, but I have been graced with the woman of my dreams.  We did not see each other for almost 24 hours before the wedding… treading carefully not to accidentally see one another.  I missed her.  I started the day by going to breakfast with my parents.  I wanted to share a little private time with them before the wedding, and I had a wonderful time.  We ended up at Denny’s… my appetite was fine.  No nervousness.  I was just tired from lack of sleep.  My parents surprised me with a very nice card that housed an extra two hundred dollars for SCUBA adventures while we are in Tahiti.  My groomsmen ended up at the same Denny’s a little before we left.  My parents and I headed back to the hotel – and explored an isle of the craft fair that was clogging up all of the streets around our building.  Really neat stuff, but I was tired, and excused myself for an hour and a half nap.  I woke up around noon I think.  Perhaps it was more like 11.  Anyway, I get a call from Tami… she lets me know that the Florist called, and was anxious because they were not open this holiday weekend.  (TODAY!!!)  I pulled out the receipt, and it DID list that we were to pick up the flowers between 1 and 2 on Saturday the first!  The florist said that they would do a “courtesy” delivery to our hotel.  Uh, thanks.  Their mistake, but they do US a courtesy.  The flowers come in, and I had forgotten to add B.J.’s Boutonnière after asking him, so we are one short.  Wanda pulls a miracle from her bag of tricks by actually bringing flower tape!!!  Who would ever think to bring that to a wedding but her?  The day is saved again.  Time moves forward.  I actually have no idea what else happened between then and us driving up the driveway to Hakone gardens.  Seriously.  I have just tried remembering for the past few minutes, and I can’t.  Strange.  Perhaps I was a little more stressed than I thought because it was a blur.

            We pull up to the gardens.  Of course, Wanda and Glenn are already there.  As soon as we pull in, I am forced to lay in the seat and the groomsmen swarm around the car so that I can’t see Tami as she makes her entrance.  I don’t try to peek because I actually WANT it to be a surprise.  Alesha let out a gasp and whispered to me that Tam looked beautiful.  I had no doubt.  She goes by, and the guys make a beeline for the Cultural center that will become our changing room. 

            It is HOT.  Several of her relatives are lugging chairs and tables to the reception and ceremony section.  Once inside, I let everyone know that we should go out and help.  We head out for a while – things slowly come together.  Everyone is sweating… and the flies begin.  Time is still running… I am ushered quickly away as the bridesmaids descend upon the gardens for photos.  All the guys change into their tuxedo heaters, and the clock continues ticking steadily away.  Our photos are after the girls.  It goes fairly well… not sure about the photographer, but only the end results will tell.  It didn’t appear that she had everything together.  Oh, well.  Tick-tick-tick.  Guests are arriving, and I am asked to go inside the building.  Not a whole lot is going through my head other than looking forward to seeing Tami, kissing her, and trying not to cry.  Music starts playing outside.  The chairs start to fill up.  I peek outside… the tables look great!   I say “hi” to several of the guests.  I feel really good… excited that the day has finally come.  I have known for quite some time that Tami was the one for me, and I had lived this day time and time again.  A dream that has now become reality.  I am pushed back into the building because Tami is about to head up to her spot on the hill.  After she is gone, I head over to where all of the parents and grandparents are going to be lining up.  Everything has gone perfectly.  The timing is perfect.  We are set.  The DJ, David, comes up to go over a few things with me… and is astonished that we are ready EXACTLY on time.  He said it was the first time that he has ever done a wedding that actually started on time.  The glass is now half full for me… my pessimism is slowly vanishing.  The music starts!!!  The grandparents head down the isle.  Then the flower girls.  My parents are next.  They looked better than I have ever seen them.  My mother was wearing a gorgeous dress… and my father was in a very classy tux.  They looked absolutely great.  I knew that this was going to be the last time that I was going to be able to look at mom… during the ceremony, I wouldn’t dare.  I knew that she was going to be crying, and that would only start me off as well.  Our turn.  I take Wanda’s arm in mine and we head down the isle.  It was wonderful.  All sorts of emotions raced through me in an almost chaotic dance.  I wanted to Smile, laugh, cry, and yell out at the same time.  Everyone was watching me, and I smiled as levelly as I could.  I choked a few times, but held back from tearing.  Everyone was there to see us… I was proud, happy, a bit nervous, anxious, and excited.  I have not felt so alive for as long as I can remember.  I don’t remember walking.  I don’t remember the steps.  I just remember being there.  At the front, I turned around to face everyone.  I remember the pressure of everyone’s eyes.  I took a chance glance at my mother – no crying yet.  But I saw happiness in both of their eyes.  The bridal music begins, and I turn towards were the bridal party are going to descend.  Seeing them with Enya’s “Only Time” playing in the background was almost too much.  It was perfect… they looked great.  Then came Tami. 

            I was SO glad that I was facing away from the audience when I saw her because my eyes instantly welled up.  I am SO serious when I say that I almost broke there.  She was stunning.  Her eyes glowed… her smile was perfection.  She looked at me… I have never felt better in my life.  Words cannot describe how I felt at that moment… I could try for years to describe it without success.  There was nobody else there at that moment besides she and I.  I heard nothing.  I was not at a wedding – I felt like I was in a dream.  She came down the isle towards me… and our smiles met each other perfectly.  Glenn stopped a few feet in front of me, and when the Reverend asked who offered this bride for marriage this day, he replied that it was her mother an he… turned and gave her a kiss, shook my sweaty hand, then handed her over to me.  I don’t think that either of us remember many of the words that were said.  We looked at each other like two school kids kissing for the first time.  Giggling a bit.  Saying a few things under our breath, and understanding that 260 eyes were on us.  I told her that she was beautiful.  I loved her dress.  Her hair looked great.  Her grandmother stood up to read a poem – and it was nice to see her affected by the words and situation.  She handled herself very well… did a great job.  Tami then handed her bouquet to Jo and we held hands.  We squeezed each other’s hands at several places during the reverend’s reading, smiling at each other to emphasize certain things that he read.  For the next ten minutes I watched as Jo began melting.  Sweat was pouring down her face.  Both of her hands were holding bouquets, so she couldn’t wipe her face.  I felt awful – I knew that I had a brand new handkerchief in my pocket, but I didn’t know how to get it to her.  At the right moment, I did a quick hand-off, and she took it happily.  A brief moment of terror as I realized the ring exchange was upon us.  I hadn’t double-checked with Mike to make sure that he had the rings.  He came through, and the ring exchange went fine.  Finally: the kiss.  I was so happy to finally touch her face.  A brief mistake as the reverend mispronounced our name, “CANDIARI”.  I quickly corrected him.  Clapping.  We made our way down the isle… and into the lower house.  WE WERE MARRIED!!!  It felt SO good… I hugged everyone, thanked them, and waited until we could go out for pictures. 

            The pictures went fine.  As I said, only time will tell how good they are.  After pictures, the wedding party introductions went very smoothly… everyone had fun with them, and it livened things up a bit.  Mike’s speech was quite the surprise.  I knew that he had it in him, but didn’t know if he’d come through.  He did.  One of the best speeches I’ve heard at a wedding, and it was an honor to have it said about me.  It was wonderful.  Mine, on the other hand, wasn’t really a speech.  I basically just thanked everyone.  I don’t like speaking in front of groups that I know – strangers are OK, but not this.  I wanted to get rid of the mic as soon as I could.  Dinner was great.  Truly.  I am still amazed that everything has gone so well.  We walked around to say hi to people… the bridesmaids passed out the favors, and everyone chatted away. 

            The first dance.  Kenny Loggins “Meet Me Half Way”.  Tami and I basically just turned in slow circles giggling at each other.  It must have been boring for everyone to watch.  We were embarrassed, but it was nice.  Father daughter dance – they looked great.  I know that they were both nervous about it, but I think that everyone really enjoyed it.  Mother Son dance.  I had a great time dancing with my mother – she was very happy, and I could feel her shake a bit.  I know she was nervous, but she did beautifully.  It all went really well.  Then a glitch.  The lights outside no longer worked.  Hakone couldn’t turn them on.  It was really dark outside, and it was getting late for everyone.  Some people began saying good-bye.  We decided to rush things… flew through the other dances, cut the cake, and did the garter and bouquet toss.  Then came the good-bye dance.  We were like Cinderella making her way to the pumpkin carriage… the limo was waiting in front for us.  We said hurried ‘thank you’s’ and good-bye’s… headed for the limo door, and made our escape.  We were both ready for it. 

            We were exhausted.  Inside, Tami presented me with a wonderful gift – and this show of thoughtfulness is one of the reasons why I fell in love with her in the first place.  It was a basket filled with specifically selected items representing the things that she hoped our marriage would contain.  Each item (Like 20!) had a note explaining to me what the item represented.  All I can say is if even half of these come true, we will be filled with a life of love, prosperity, and happiness.  It was a very loving and thoughtful gift.

The PT Cruiser limo driver, James, did a fine job.  We went up to the top of Twin Peaks.  This is the same place were we went on our first date, and where I asked her to marry me.  It was too foggy to see anything, so we just drove through.  Pier 39 was next.  We got out and walked down the backside of the pier.  The two of us dressed in tuxedo and wedding gown.  Near the end of the pier was a place that I had not seen before.  HUNDREDS of seals were sleeping, barking, and crawling all over each other.  It was really neat.  We made our way back down the center of the pier.  I was taken aback by the friendliness of the various people… strangers usually pass each other silently in the city.  However, SEVERAL people wished us the best, congratulated us, and said very nice things.  It felt really nice to see people react that way to complete strangers.  There is hope for humanity after all.  One couple of note.  An older couple asked us if we were married that night, and when we said yes, they said that September 1^st is a great wedding day… it was theirs 11 years ago.  11:30pm at night on the pier – two couples cross that have the same wedding day.  It was neat, and felt nice that they would even share this with us.  We headed back to the limo.

Tired, we decided to go to the hotel.  We say our goodbyes to James with a $20 tip… and then check in.  Mind you, this is after midnight now.  The guy checking us in has no personality… says nothing nice about us standing there in our wedding attire, and hardly even looks up at us.  In the background, the heavy thumping of techno music blares though out the hotel.  Some kind of dance that the hotel is hosting.  As we make our way to our third floor room, I nervously ask how long the party is going to go on.  He says 1 or 2.  Great… Tami and I are both hoping that the room is soundproof.  No such luck.  The music is LOUD.  It is a great room, but as we look out our window we can see that WE ARE THE ROOM DIRECTLY ABOVE THE PARTY.  The lights flash in the skylight below our window.  I immediately head downstairs to the man without a personality and tell him that we will NOT be staying in that room.  Rudely, he gives me another key to a room on the eighth floor.  We move our OWN luggage this time, and are much happier with this second one.  Tami collapses on the richly red couch adorning the front room.  She looks gorgeous there in her wedding gown.  Knowing that she will never wear it again – or have her hair up that perfect… I HAVE to pull out the camera and tripod.  I really hope those photos come out.  She was perfect. 

 I am going to end this day’s journal here. That is all that you need to know.

 As I stated at the front of this entry, we are now on the plane to Tahiti.  It is now 6:31pm.  Today -- the morning after -- has gone perfectly smooth.  The airport transport got us to the airport on time and the flight from SFO was scheduled to leave on time.  (After they had changed our flight and time without telling us)  Wanda and Glenn showed up about 15 minutes before boarding.  They looked great.  They had already gone by the hotel to pick up our wedding gear, and made their way over to see us with cameras in hand.  It was nice having them there to see us off… I wish that my parents had made it too, but I am sure they had plenty to do that morning already.  We made it to LAX in perfect time and had lunch at the airport.  (Some really bad Chinese food)  The plane was nice.  At first we were stuck in a center isle, but we were able to get to the last remaining window seat after take off.  I think I annoyed Tami a bit with my persistence, but I wanted to make sure that we could see the island when we land.  (In 2 ½ hours from now!!!)  We are both very excited right now, and neither one of us can wait to land.