After their spiritual wedding, for legal and traditional purposes, they would have their beautiful wedding in the church. Lynne sighed with happiness, when she thought about the spiritual union of their love. He was so damn sensual and deep, and she supposed that when their bodies came together later in the evening, that too would be like a physical manifestation of their marriage vows. She couldn't wait to be in the limo with him, to tell him that.
She was going to have her hair and makeup professionally arranged for the church ceremony but she was doing her own makeup for the pre-ceremony on the beach. Leif had wanted her to look natural, like she normally was. She'd gotten a pretty, cotton like sundress to wear, and she'd set her hair on rollers the night before after Leif put her to bed, and she painstakingly combed out the pin curls. Later on, for the second part of the ceremony she couldn't wait to see what the hairdresser would do with these abundant curls. They came out lovely.
The house was quiet, and no one was yet stirring so Lynne knew she was the first up, and their pre-ceremony vows would occur soon after the sunlight. Lynne put on some concealer, some nude pink lipstick, very light pale sky blue eye shadow and just a smidgeon of blush.
She wanted to look beautiful, yet earthy and natural for Leif. The plan was for the two of them to meet each other on the beach, and bring the respective members of the bridal party, and members of the family to witness their private spiritual "wedding" before the wedding in church.
Lynne loved Leif so much, and she felt like the luckiest woman in the world. She thought her heart would burst before she even made it to the first altar. She was glad when she heard stirring in the house, and realized that Leif's family and Janelle were finally up and getting ready. The noise and their stirring occupied her mind and quite literally kept her from bouncing off the walls with glee. She didn't feel any cold feet either, just an anxiousness to get the ceremony started, so she could enjoy the day with the man who would be her husband, and finally get to experience the fierce, greedy loving that her soul craved.
First thing Janelle did was swallow her in a hug.
"I can't wait to see how this hippie dippie wedding shit turns out. When I saw you two, six months ago, at the coffee shop, and how you were vibing and shit, I knew then that you belonged together. But I didn't imagine you two would be tying the knot so soon. Just the fact that you all have this whole wedding planned out the way that you do...it's beautiful as hell, and it suits the two of you," said Janelle.
"I think it suits me too. I can't wait to see him," said Lynne.
Janelle arranged Lynne's hair a little bit around her shoulders.
The hairdresser had already styled Janelle's hair, pulling her huge afro back into beautiful, elaborate cornrows which finished with an afro puff. Janelle dressed in a casual sundress in the same color as the formal bridal gown she would be wearing later in the day. Lynne had decided on a multihued wedding.
She wanted the different colors to symbolize the many facets of their love, and the beautiful blending of colors and cultures that she felt would represent their union. So Janelle was dressed in Lynne's favorite color as her Maid of Honor, wearing a beautiful dress in a midtone blue, which showcased Janelle's chocolate skin beautifully. The second color for her Caucasian High school girlfriend was a beautiful emerald, which shimmered against her ivory skin in a gorgeous way. Next, she had a vivacious red color for her Caucasian girlfriend form middle school. Lastly, her nightclub associate wore a beautiful dark pink dress. Since she had a caramel colored complexion, the dark pink dress was a nice accent to her complexion as well.
Leif loved the color pallets. He said they were like all the pretty colors in a Crayola crayon box. It reminded him of their love, and it made the wedding decorations and the theme a festive one, that popped with bright colors, but yet, everything blended, and he felt that was reflective of their love. She was touched that he'd loved the color pallets she'd selected so much, and understood the care that she'd put into finding the right color scheme. Planning the colors and each facet of the ceremony meant everything to Lynne, since that type of planning was forbidden in her formal lifestyle. Weddings in her former cult like church were supervised down to the final detail, including the music choices (had to be hymns from the church), length of dresses (nothing above the knee, no backs or cleavage to show, woman must wear a head covering or veil), and the vows (no custom vows, wedding must be performed by pastor of church).
As a creative soul, the freedom to plan her own wedding ceremonies, their colors and actions something she thought she'd be deprived of almost since birth, was so beautiful that she got teary eyed when Janelle helped Lynne get her first dress for the day, out of the closet. Lynne had chosen a beautiful, white, cotton tank style dressed with elaborate pleats and piping that sort of resembled the stiches of a quilt. The dress was shorter, stopped about mid thigh, and while in no way immodest, made good use of showing off the pear shaped body that she had, hugging her curves, all while leaving a little to the imagination. It was a beautiful, pure white summer dress, a little bit fancier than a dress that a woman would wear to a nice evening dinner at a restaurant near the beach.
She also had beautiful white wedged sandals, only to ride in the limo which would drop them off at the beach. She and Leif had opened to go barefoot for this first, spiritual ceremony. They'd wanted to be in touch with mother nature, and felt that the appropriate way to do that would be to feel the earth under their feet as they performed their very own spiritual marriage.
Janelle had proceeded to lift Lynne's dress out of the dry cleaning bag and set her shoes out, because Lynne was crying.
"Oh Now, honey don't be nervous. This is normal. Just think about how much fun you'll be having tonight. We don't even know where you are going Leif got that shit so secret, but it probably doesn't matter anyway, that boy has his head so far up your ass you'll be lucky if he lets you out of the room. He's probably gonna stuff you full of room service, liquor, and pot, and keep you up all night long, slamming you against the bedframe. You'll probably need a week of Epson salt baths to soak your sore little self after your honeymoon," chided Janelle.
Lynne laughed through her tears.
"I'm not nervous. Is that part normal? I feel full and I just can't wait. I hope we don't beat him out there to the beach, because I guess that would look weird, but I already can't wait to marry him. I feel so full. I got to pick my own colors, my own dresses, our own vows. I've been supported and loved by each of you, in your own way, each and every day leading up to this shit. Leif, hell, he's spoiling me rotten already and already promising me more. My mother in law has taken me under her wing, treating me like a daughter and helping me pull pranks. My only fight with my father in law is that my husband doesn't want to accept so much generosity because he wants the space to become his own man financially. My brother in law keeps teasing me because he wants us to be the first in the family to have a baby so he can have a test run as the uncle, before he has his own kid. Janelle I'm so full in my heart right now. I never imagined it could be so beautiful if I just trusted Leif. It's just the opposite of all the hate, hurt and fear I've ever been taught, and I'm so lucky I just can't stop crying. I haven't even really started in on how I feel for Leif, but look at this experience he has created for me. You have created for me, and his mother, and the day has not even started yet," said Lynne.
"Well guess what, you deserve it. You're a beautiful person Lynne. I loved you like a little sister from the moment we met in college, you were just so damn shy in the beginning, but once we got over that, I couldn't imagine having a better friend. Now, I knew this shit was going to happen. You've ruined your makeup. Start again and I'll make sure nothing needs to be ironed on your first dress!" said Janelle.
Lynne looked at herself sheepishly in the mirror. She did streak her whole face with tears.
She went in the bathroom, washed her face with cold water, and started again. She couldn't think one thought about how much she loved Leif, or she was done, and water works were on again.
She patted her face dry and miraculously the puffiness disappeared from under her eyes as she powdered her face with light concealer and started again on her nude makeup. She saw Janelle watching her out of the corner of her eye and smiling.
