Gish Hoag Wedding (Part II)

Not to be confused with Gish-Hoag-Zaga. Heh. Inside joke...

I woke up bright and early on October 17th to get the biggest day of my life started on a good note. I had lots of little things to do...but it all paled in comparison to tying the knot at 4pm! And before I knew it, the "festivities" were underway! It all started with breakfast at Perkins with some of the fellas (groomsmen and friends) in town for the big event. I really wanted to go to Wiese's Place, which was one of my favorite bars/breakfast joints while I was in college...but I thought better of it. You see, we taught the Wiese's bartenders how to make a "Special Coffee" (which includes brandy, bailey's and amaretto...you're always one away from a special day), and well...it just seemed a bit dangerous to start the biggest day of my life off in the presence of such a dangerous concoction. Turns out, Perkins had mimosas afterall (surprise to all of us), so most of the guys were able to ease their nerves a bit before standing at the altar. I, of course, didn't need to...I was incredibly excited, and yet still as cool as a cucumber.

After brunch, it was off to change into our monkey suits (err, tuxes) for pictures, which got rolling a bit before 1pm. We got our photo shooting rolling with "getting ready" pictures. Wisely, Nikki (our photographer) spent most of her time with the girls. She did get a few shots of us guys and we were proud to show off our ingenuity as we had college football playing on the classroom screen in our room in Gonzaga's College Hall in our pics. After the "getting ready" photos, it was time for the "First Look". After not seeing my beautiful bride (to be) for more than 12 hours, I was excited to see her on our big day! And let me tell you...Cara looked stunningly beautiful. And the best part? I was going to be marrying her! During the "First Look" photo session, Cara and I exchanged gifts (more on that later) and exchanged more than our fair share of kisses (NICE!). And from that point forward, the rest of the photos flew by in a blur. Bridesmaids photos, groomsmen photos, wedding party photos, family photos...and then it was 4pm. Before I could even blink, I was back in the sacristy with the priests and (gasp!) about to get married!

When Cara walked down the aisle, I was walloped with such a wave of emotion I can hardly describe. I almost forgot to breathe. My eyes misted. I probably couldn't tell you what city I was in. All I could think about was that incredible woman that was walking towards me. She hugged her dad. Then, I took her hand and we did what we were put on this earth to do. Our marriage ceremony was an incredible event. Fr. Bruno (who headed the Florence program that Cara attended during her junior year of college) brought such an amazing energy/vibe to the ceremony and blessed us sll with incredible messages/reflections throughout. We particularly enjoyed his call to take time every Thursday night away from the hustle and bustle of life to sit down with one another and just lose ourselves in conversation. After calling for our parents to give us a special blessing (which was incredibly special), he said the words that Cara and I were both so excited to hear..."well, what are you waiting for? Kiss the bride!" So, we did.

MARRIED!

And you know what that means? It was time to PAR-TAY (Gish-Hoag Wedding style)!

(But, of course that's another story for another day...)