Before the Ceremony: He Said

It was a really nice gesture from our Hotel's Manager "Kiriakos" to offer me an additonal room for the hours leading up to the wedding. He had in fact already saved the day when he let me borrow a pair of black socks (which I conveniently left in Egypt). Usually the bride needs something "borrowed", but Lindsay and I have always been unconventional in how we handle things.

I grabbed what I thought I would need (shirt, tie, pants, shoes, etc) and headed down the hall to get ready. Once there I realized what a terrible mistake I had made. Not only had I forgotten my computer (which I had planned to use checking sports to calm the nerves), I had entered a room that had already been cleaned and prepared for the couple arriving later that day. I was in prison! I couldn't sit anywhere in fear of messing things up, I couldn't use the bathroom as there was a "this toilet has been disinfected" sign on the seat, and as I looked outside all I could see was rain!

I stepped out to the balcony for a minute and noticed an elderly couple sipping tea in the flat beside me. The man came out and as we began talking, he told me that in his 12 years of being in Cyprus (always June), he had never had a day of rain. Just our luck, the first day of rain was the day we were to be married! Shaking my head, I headed back into my makeshift apartment to pace back and forth nervously awaiting our wedding.

About an hour before the ceremony, I headed to the reception area to leave for the Paphos Town Hall. I had directions, but driving on the left side of the road, and unsure if I truly did understand the hand written map that was drawn for me, I wanted to make sure to arrive on time. However, I was stopped in my tracks by our Wedding Planner, as she told me it was much too early to go anywhere. In the reception area, I paced back and forth for another 30 mins until finally losing my patience and heading out without her approval.

I arrived and took some pictures with the photographer and then was guided into the room where we were to be married. 20 mins to the wedding, 15 mins to the wedding, 10 mins to the wedding, 5 mins to the wedding, still no sign of Lindsay. My worst nightmare was being realized! Had Lindsay changed her mind? With about 30 secs to spare a man (aware of my nervousness) came into the room and asked "Is she a beautiful blonde?" She had arrived!