1. What time did you wake up and what did you do?
Jamie: I woke up at 6:15. Surprisingly I was able to get a pretty good night sleep (I think having bronchitis and a few glasses of champagne at the rehearsal dinner helped that!) When I woke up I could hear the rain outside my window which immediately depressed me – I knew that if I could hear the rain that meant it was raining pretty hard. I went outside to check out the damage and the yard and tents were a mess. In a couple areas of the tent, water had started gathering forming big dips in the tent structure which made them look like they were going to give way and fall down and it was causing little mini waterfalls in multiple areas which in turn made mud puddles all around the tent. The ground was soaked –which was an issue since I had chosen chivari chairs which have 4 small posts as legs – they have a tendency to sink into the ground when the ground is wet. It was pure misery outside, I started trying to push the water off of the top of the tent and I immediately got soaked by all the water on the top. I decided to go back inside and get back in bed and I immediately started sobbing – I just couldn’t think about how unfair it was – how I knew so many people who got beautiful days and had seen so many pictures of beautiful weather and I remember just thinking “this sucks” there was pretty much no other way to describe it because I knew I couldn’t control it. I thought the beautiful tented wedding on my parent’s lakefront was going to be ruined by muddy grounds and waterfalls running off the tops of the tents. I thought for sure we were going to have to pull the ugly plastic walls of the tent and the scenery surrounding the tents (the biggest reason I wanted to have the wedding at my parents house) was going to be blocked and the only thing guests would be able to see around them would be plastic. And yes, I kept trying to tell myself “the day is not about the wedding, it’s about getting married” but when you spend 15 months of your life planning 1 day, it’s really hard to see the big picture.
When my alarm went off at 7:50 I went into my mom’s room and fell into her bed sobbing “there is water on the top of the tents and they are falling down”. I could tell that panicked her but she was trying so hard to be strong for me – she comforted me and told me to get in the shower and not to come outside until they told me to and she and my dad, my two brothers, a bridesmaids brother and quite a few helping hands from great friends across the lake went to work. I am pretty sure the mess was much bigger than I originally thought because at one point I looked out and my dad had recruited not only our contractor friend, but his dad as well who had been in the construction business for years – I knew there was some complicated issues that needed a professional opinion. (Turns out it was electrical issues – we were blowing fuses with all the lights in the tent!!!).
When all my bridesmaids arrived (right on schedule at 8:50) I was still not ready – but I could hear them outside and they were SO excited. Thank god, because hearing all their excitement started putting me in a better mood. We went on to have the morning that I had planned –with breakfast, hair, makeup and chair massages.
Jon: I woke up around 9:45. I tried to fall back asleep but I was pretty awake so I just decided to not fight it. At this point I figured no one would be up but Justin was in fact awake (probably for awhile) In the next hour slowly more people started emerging from their rooms into the living room. College Gameday is on TV and we are just small talking while I keep looking outside at the rain. (Oh Jamie didn’t mention that part?) At this point I’m a little worried, more about what she is thinking because whether rain or shine I knew today would be perfect regardless. As we get towards 11AM, us being guys, the first thing we try to organize is when we plan on eating. I tell everyone that breakfast will be provided at some point and Justin reassures this statement simply by checking The Itinerary.
It is around 11:30 and we are pretty hungry at this point. A few people decide to head to Sheetz so naturally, I tell them to get me food thinking that if the food doesn’t arrive that I’m covered, but if it does then it’s a bonus. Turns out the food never arrived. If Jamie was going to forget about anything all weekend, this was the least big of deal. The moral of the story: Sheetz solves all problems.
*** side note – I did intend on having breakfast delivered to the groomsmen cottage….but when I got bronchitis the week of the wedding and I had to spend 3 hours at med-express the day before the wedding it took the time away from me going to the grocery store.
2. When did you start to get nervous?
Jamie: I wasn’t nervous until I sat down to get my hair done. I was the last person to have my hair done and I was totally relaxed (or just bummed out about the weather and was trying not to show it which in turned appeared as relaxed) before that – just watching everyone else have their hair and make-up done. I remember sitting down and I felt a pit in my stomach – it was the butterflies going to jump out of your throat nervous. The nervousness didn’t really end until I got to the end of the alter when Jon and I were holding hands in front of the priest and the priest looked at both of us and said “I want you to smile because if you smile you are going to remember this. Everything is going to be fine, the weather is clearing up and you are going to have a beautiful day.” This was the most perfect thing that the priest could have said to me at this point - the radar was not showing that the weather was going to clear up – but for some reason I believed it would since the priest said it would - he has an in with the big man, right?!
Jon: I was pretty calm, cool, collected up until I started putting on my tux. At this point the thought of: “yes, this day has finally come” popped into my head. Wasn’t really nervous but it just started setting in. Once I was dressed I was fine for the pictures, the ride over and arriving at the church. As soon as I was in the back room with Chris, Father Steve and the alter boy, the music started playing. THAT is when the nervousness kicked into high gear. Luckily I did not start sweating like crazy like I thought I would. It did not subside until we sat down for the first time leaving the altar. Everything past that was just happiness.
3. What did you think when you were walking down the aisle/saw Jamie walking down the aisle?
Jamie: I remember thinking about how I couldn’t believe that we filled the church up. There were people in every single row of the church. I saw a lot of familiar faces on the walk down that all were smiling at me and when I got about ¾ of the way down my dad turned to me and chuckled in his nervous chuckle “that’s a lot of people” and I remember thinking “I am thinking the SAME thing!”. I don’t remember seeing Jon until I was about 4 pews away from him and when I looked at him he was crying. I had been tearing up on the way down, but for some reason seeing Jon cry just made me smile – I sorta figured if he was crying that must mean he liked the way I looked.
Jon: I was very nervous and emotional the whole time. Every time one of her bridesmaids passed me they smiled at me, some with tears in their eyes knowing how great this was. I finally saw her emerge in the back before she walked and it couldn’t have been a better sight. I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire time she walked down. The whole time I was up there I kept noticing how crowded the church was, yet I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I think she saw my crying and smiled.
4. What was your favorite part of the day?
Jamie: It’s so hard to pick a favorite moment of the day because I can honestly say it was the best day of my life - but I think that when I got down to the end of the aisle was when I started to relax, I knew at that point the wedding was going to go on no matter what.
I think my favorite part of the day was when Jon and I were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Roby at the church – we got outside to start the receiving line my wedding day-of- coordinator came over to me with her iPhone and said “this is what the radar is doing – do you want to go with plan A or plan B? while showing me a weather map(Plan A was to have the bridal party take a boat ride and arrive to the reception via boat). I looked at the moving radar and the green clouds were moving in the exact OPPOSITE direction of Conneaut Lake
Jon: It is EXTREMELY hard to just pick one moment, but I might have to say my favorite moment was after the First Dance when I finally was able to begin mingling and talking with all of the people that were gracious enough to make the trip to celebrate our day. It was great seeing everyone in the church and in the receiving line, but that got to be a little overwhelming at times. It was nice to visit with everyone at my own pace. Some of these people I had not seen in a long time and ALL of them came all this way just for us. It was pretty surreal when you thought about it. That and just enjoying the entire night was everything I could have asked for and it was honestly the best night of my life.
5. What was your least favorite part of the day?
Jamie: Well, if we don’t count waking up to a falling in tent, and pouring down rain, my least favorite part was our first dance. I sorta knew that I was going to feel awkward – just because Jon and I aren’t big on having intimate moments in public –especially with so many people watching – which is why I wanted to take dance lessons and have our first dance choreographed (I figured having dance moves to focus on would help take my mind off so many people looking at us) – but that had to be given up when I moved to Baltimore because it would have meant 4 other weekends we would have had to drive to Pittsburgh in addition to all the other traveling we were doing. I remember looking around and just seeing SO many cameras and even a camcorder. Jon and I were whispering to each other “how much longer do you think?”, “do you think its almost over?” haha – when the end of the song came and Jon twirled and dipped me I remember thinking “PHEW! Time to get the real party started”.
Jon: I would probably say being pulled aside numerous times during the reception for pictures. When we had gotten there, all I wanted to do was eat, drink and interact with everyone but we were being beckoned for more and more pictures. I feel that I will appreciate them when I see them because I’m sure that they turned out great, however at the time I was pretty pictured out.
6. Would you have changed anything?
Jamie: I wish it could have been longer – or that there were 5 of me that day – I wish I could have been on the dance floor and talking to all our guests at the same time.
Jon: I would have made the party go longer. I did not want any parts of leaving however if we did not leave, the party I don’t think would have ended. Everyone was having the time of their life.
7. Was it worth it?
Jamie: Yes, absolutely. There are different opinions and view points – some people say “just take the money and do something small”, others say they “wouldn’t trade it for the world”– and yes, it was stupidly expensive because add the word “wedding” to anything and you can expect the price to jump about 200%, but I am on the side of would not have traded it for the world. I can honestly say that is was the best day of my life and probably will be until Jon and I decide to start a family. It’s a pretty rare occasion when you get to look around and see everyone you love in one place, to have friends and family together all for a happy occasion. I can say that mine and Jon’s families will probably never socialize like that ever again since our families are from different cities and we are all scattered across the states. It was so cool to see my family talking to my friends, my family talking to Jon’s family, Jon’s friends talking to my family, etc. everyone dancing together and acting like they had known each other for years. I don’t think that will ever happen again and it was priceless to look around and see so many important people in mine and Jon’s lives in one place and having a great time. It was worth every tear, every bridezilla outburst, every sleepless night I spent dreaming about half empty jars of candy and all sorts of crazy wedding mishaps and you will have to ask my dad to be sure– but I believe it was worth every pennyJ.
Jon: No doubt in my mind it was. There were plenty of stressful and annoying parts to organizing and planning (of which I did very little compared to Jamie) but in the end it was worth it. It really was the best day possible with the best people possible and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Anyone who stresses out during the process can be rest assured that it really is the best day ever. All those people are all there to see you and your spouse on your special day and it really does feel like YOUR day. Enjoy it while it lasts because the next morning you will wake up and want to do it all over again.
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