January 18, 2010
Wedding Day (W-day) +1: Our first day of marriage
Our first day as a married couple started as such: “Good morning Mr. Kirschbaum.” “Good morning Mrs. Kirschbaum!” There was a magical moment, while lying there looking into each others eyes where we had to giggle. We were married! Light filtered through the blinds of our suite as we padded around, basking in the glow of the event we had just shared with so many of you, and of course, each other. Today was going to be a busy day, so we cleaned up, and got on the move. It was sad that we couldn’t really spend much time enjoying or suite, but duty called. Well, breakfast called as did packing for our trip.
We bopped on down to Dort and Stew’s room to find Tom and Max Teatro hanging out as well. The amount of stuff we needed to pack was rather impressive between wedding event materials, gifts, and clothes. We grabbed the gown bag, stuffed the dress in, and headed to the car with an armful. At the front desk we grabbed a bellman and headed upstairs to load the rest. While Jen headed to the car with the gent I went to the front desk to retrieve our marriage licences that Ray had left the previous night. This when things started to go awry. The current front desk man had no clue where the envelope was. He looked, and was stumped, as was I. I waited till Jen came back to explain, and we headed down to frantically search the boxes and bags she had just stowed. No luck.
Back in the lobby we ran into Jen’s parents again and explained the situation as Jen’s panic increased. Reassurance did little to soothe my poor bride, so I headed back to the front desk and asked the guy to search a bit harder. Harder didn’t mean success. By this time we had also contacted the catering coordinator, Joi, who started calling everyone. Ray was texted, as was Tiffany our day of coordinator. Everyone was working in concert but to no avail. Joi promised that as soon as the night desk person came in at three she would get with him. She assured us it would be found. By this time it was almost noon and we headed out to find some breakfast. Just eggs and pancakes… well no place we went to was open. Back at the hotel we had missed breakfast at Jackson 20, the hotel’s restaurant, but they were ready for lunch. The stress got to Jen and few tears flowed, scaring the wait staff, who offered to buy her coffee, if nothing else. A mimosa helped as did some food, and from there it was home to Arlington.
At home we got the car unpacked and started the process of packing for the trip. Not hard, but we were still on edge from the morning and Jen was running through all sorts of options to make sure we were married before we left for the airport in the morning. Even if we had to get married again in Miami! Ray, bless his heart, also did some research and made yet another friend in the Alexandria City Court House who assured him he could sign another copy and all would be good… the following Monday. Ray and Anne were leaving on a trip of their own to celebrate Ray’s 40th.
Time ticked by until the phone rang about 4:30pm. Joi had the good news, the license had been found. It had been sent to our room, 637. Except we were staying in room 537. Whomever had taken and delivered the package had goofed and shoved it under the door of an empty suite the floor above us. They canvassed each room of the hotel until they found it. Luckily for them they did. Now, they would happily send it to us… NO! We told them to hold it at the front desk and we’d be down within the hour. There was no need… Tiffany, when informed that they had, said she would not happy until she had placed them in our hands. So, she headed straight over, and the fought rush hour traffic all the way to our house in Arlington. Now, that is a great day of coordinator… and a great person.
Dort and Stew, sight seeing during the day swung by the house and worked out the details to go the next morning to the courthouse to file the papers for us. Heather and John swung in also to collect their things and drop off more stuff from the wedding. After hugs and goodbyes, husband and wife were alone in their home. It wasn’t the kind of first day of marriage you’d hope for, with a lot more stress than necessary, but frankly I think it was OK. Why? Because on our first day as a married couple we started the hard work of supporting each other in a moment of pressure, and we came through smiling anyway. That is a triumph of love, and a great way to get ready for the rest of our lives together.
