Sunday 5th of March
The time has come.
The day I have been counting down for months now is finally here.
The day I am marrying the love of my life
James Worpel
I wake up to the sound of my alarm chiming through the whole room, and I groan, reaching over to my phone to put a stop to it.
I look at the time. It's 6am and I smile. It's today... I think.
A wave of excitement shoots through my veins and I jump up, running out of my room to wake Clara, Ariana, Marie and Em up who are all probably still sleeping.
"Guys! Get the fuck up." I yell, turning the light on in the room they're sleeping in. "I'm getting married today bitches." I add as I walk around the room and yank blankets off the girls.
"OH MY GOD TAHLS!" Em yells jumping up and running over to me wrapping me in a hug.
"It's today!"
"Yes." I say as the other girls slowly get up.
"What time is church again?" Clara asks.
"10." I say and she groans.
"The hairdressers and makeup artists should arrive any minute now." I say as I walk downstairs to see my parents already up, getting themselves ready.
"Morning." I say and they smile.
"Good morning." Mum says walking over to me and giving me a hug and a kiss.
"I can't believe you're getting married today." She says and I smile.
"I know." I say just as Bella walks down the stairs and wraps me in a hug.
"Good morning! You could've kept sleeping missy."
"I didn't want to anymore."
"That's okay. Are you ready to look gorgeous today?"
"Yes!"
"Good." I smile, just as the doorbell rings and I run to the door, opening it up to let Christina, Makayla, Sarah and Zara in.
"Hey girlies." I say. "Thanks for coming."
"No worries!" Makayla says walking through the house and upstairs, with the other girls following her.
Bella and I walk upstairs as well and help the girls set up.
"Alright, we'll do your makeup first Tahlia." Makayla says, grabbing her skin care stuff to do first. Whilst Makayla is doing me, the other girls are doing some of the other girls just to make sure we're out of here on time.
"Alright, so what makeup look were you after?"
"You should know me by now! Just a natural look, similar to what you did on me last time." I say and Makayla nods.
"I know the perfect look for you!" She says and I smile.
"I trust you with my life." I say and she smiles.
I close my eyes as Makayla sculpts my face and makes me look even prettier than before. She is done within an hour and moves me along to Zara, who is doing my hair, so that she can do Em.
"Alright, I'm guessing you're gonna go for the traditional messy low bun?"
"You bet I am." I say and Zara smiles.
"How about I add a plait on one side to make it unique?"
"That would look gorgeous." I say as I watch some of the other girls getting dressed into their bridesmaid dresses and I smile. It's feeling pretty real now.
"Wow." I say, overcome with emotion. "It's hitting me now."
"Just wait until you put the dress on Tahls, then it'll really hit home that you're getting married." Em says.
"Is it a pinch yourself kind of moment?"
"It sure is!" She says and I sigh.
"I've dreamt about this day for so long, and now that it's finally here, I just can't believe it you know." I express. "I just hope it's perfect."
"It will be perfect." Ariana reassures me.
"Come on you're marrying a perfect man, it'll definitely be perfect." Marie says and I smile.
"Thanks guys." I say and they smile.
It takes around another hour for Zara to perfect my hair, and once it's done, I absolutely adore it.
I thank the girls and walk them out once they've finished everyone, then head back upstairs where all the girls are in their bridesmaid dresses, and Bella is in her flower girl dress.
"You look so pretty." I say to her and she smiles.
"I feel like a princess."
"You already are a princess!" I say and she smiles. "Give me a little twirl." I add and she nods, spinning around in her dress and we all watch her in awe.
"Gorgeous." I say and she smiles.
"Do you like the dress?"
"I love it!" Bella answers and I nod.
"I'm glad!" I say and she smiles.
"Now it's your turn to put your dress on!" She says excitedly and I nod, looking at the other girls who are just as excited.
I walk over to my gorgeous wedding dress, that is handing on a coat hanger in the protective bag all wedding dresses come in. I unzip the bag and pull the dress out, undoing the zip and stepping in. Em walks over to me and helps me pull up the dress, as it is a tighter fit. It's for the better as it sits nicer if it's tighter. Once it's up, she zips me up and I smile, staring at myself in the mirror in awe at how incredible I look. Then it hits me. I'm getting married today...
"Wow." I say. "I can't fucking believe I am getting married."
I then turn around and face the girls who all squeal out of excitement!
"Stunning!"
"Gorgeous!"
"Beautiful!" They all compliment and I smile.
"Now, for the heels!" I say walking over to the bed and sitting down. Em hands me my heels, and I put the left one on first, doing up the buckle, before grabbing the right one off Em, and buckling up around my right ankle.
I then stand up, and walk over to the mirror and smile.
The heels definitely make it easier to walk, as the train of the dress is pretty long. The added height from the heels definitely comes in handy!
"Alright, how we doing for time? Are we running late?"
"Nope, we're just on time so it's perfect! You can head on downstairs and take photos with your parents and us!" Em says and I smile, then nod.
The girls all head down first revealing their dresses to my parents before I make the grand entry.
"So... what do you think?" I ask my parents as I get to the bottom of the stairs and they both smile. My Mum puts her hand on her mouth, trying to hold back tears while my Dad has a massive grin on his face.
"You look so beautiful Tahlia." Dad says walking over to me and wrapping me in a hug and I smile.
"Thanks Dad."
"I can't believe we're gonna send you off today." Mum says dabbing her eyes as she walks over to me and hugs me.
"Don't cry Mum. You guys know I'll always be a Bontempelli at heart. It's in my blood." I say and my Dad smiles.
"Come, let's get photos!" Mum says pulling me over to the blank wall in the house where we'd take photos as kids.
The videographer films this moment as Em takes photos on my phone of me and my parents. Then I have an individual one with each of the girls, before a big group one.
"God my cheekbones already hurt from smiling." I complain and Mum rolls her eyes.
"Get used to it kiddo. You're gonna be doing a lot of smiling today!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever." I say as I follow everyone out of the house and into the limo that will take us to St Patrick's Cathedral that's located in East Melbourne. Not that long of a drive, but still a fair distance.
We are running a bit late but who cares am I right? The bride is meant to be late!
The girls dig into some bubbly, which I pass on because I know I will get drunk way too easily if I have some alcohol now. I'll save that for the reception when I can let my hair down and celebrate a new chapter in my life.
Of course, in typical Melbourne spirt, there is traffic in the city. Apparently there was some sort of accident that happened earlier but we somehow cop it as everyone is nosy and wants to see what happened, and potentially how the crash occurred.
My main priority is getting to this church on time. I don't wanna keep my man waiting for too long. Although, knowing James, he will wait, and wait, and wait, until I get there, even if I'm an hour or two hours late, he will be there.
We finally get to the cathedral and the girls jump out of the car first, before I do. My Mum walks in first, then followed by the bridesmaids, then Bella, and then me. Dad is waiting by my side to walk me down the aisle.
He puts my vale over my head, and links his arm through mine.
"You ready kiddo?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." I say taking a deep breath as now I feel so nervous, which Dad notices.
"Hey, you'll be fine. Once you see him, you'll relax." He says and I smile.
"Thanks Dad." I say and he smiles as we walk up the steps of the church. I take another deep breath, before we enter.
The church is gorgeous, with it's high ceilings, and old vintage structure that has been here for over a hundred years.
All the guests are standing up, and facing in my direction. They all have smiles on their faces and it helps me relax a little.
I then look down the aisle, and see James standing there with his back turned to me, Marcus and the other boys by his side and I smile.
There he is. The man I love with my entire heart. He's standing right there, waiting to commit to spend the rest of his life to me, and only me.
We finally get close and James turns around, a massive smile on his face as I take another step closer to him.
"Wow." He says which makes the guests giggle and I smile. He bites his lip, and scratches his head before saying "fuck" and wiping his eyes as I stand next to him.
Dad unhooks his arm from mine and kisses me on the cheek, before saying something to James I don't quite catch, then heading over to sit down next to Mum.
"Don't cry." I whisper and he smiles, tears forming in his eyes.
"I just can't believe we're doing this. And you look so beautiful." He says and I smile.
"Me either. You look amazing too." I say and he smiles, before he grabs my vale and flicks it off my head. I grab his hand and we walk closer to the alter where the priest greets us.
He goes through the introduction and talks about marriage and love, then he instructs James to say his vowels.
"I James, take you, Tahlia, to be my beloved wife, to have and to hold you, to honour you, to treasure you, to be at your side in sorrow and in joy, in the good times, and in the bad, and to love and cherish you always. I promise to never lose our spark and to always do the little things to make you happy. You are my person, my inspiration, my love and my everything. I promise you this from my heart and the rest of the days in my life. I cannot wait to spend a lifetime loving you." James says beautifully, looking directly into my eyes and not breaking any eye contact with me. It takes everything in me not to burst out crying then and there, he is just so special and I honestly am so lucky to be marrying such a good man.
"I, Tahlia, take you, James to be my beloved husband, to have and to hold you, to honour you, to treasure you, to be at your side in sorrow and in joy, in the good times, and in the bad, and to love and cherish you always. Our love withstands our flaws, our imperfections and our shortcomings because our love always cherishes and loves the good in each other. I promise I will make you laugh when you're sad, and be the best possible wife I could be. I will always be honest with you, kind, patient, and forgiving. But most of all, I promise to be a true and loyal friend to you. I never thought this day would come so quickly, but from the day I met you, I knew nothing could come between us. We had our fair share of challenges along the way, but it has made us stronger and that's why I stand here with you today. From today onward, you and I will be one in heart, body and mind. I promise you all this from my heart and until death do us apart." I say, with my voice cracking at the last part. James gives me a reassuring squeeze and I am at ease immediately.
"Tahlia, do you take James to be your husband?" The priest says and I nod.
"I do." I say and James smiles.
"I thought you would've done a runner by now." He says which makes everyone laugh.
"I made it down the aisle and said all those lovely things to you, it would be rude to run." I say and James laughs.
"That's true." He says as we again focus our attention on the priest so he can continue, still laughing.
"James, do you take Tahlia to be your wife?"
"I do." He says
"I now pronounce you husband and wife, James, you may kiss your bride." The priest says and James smiles.
"Been waiting for this." He whispers and I nod as we both lean in and our lips meet. We both pull away a few seconds later, realising we need to try and control ourselves in front of our family.
We then make our way to the table where both James and I sign our marriage certificate before heading out to the front of the cathedral where everyone is waiting for us. Confetti is thrown at us as we kiss again and then take photos with everyone at the front of the church. Once that's done we head to the royal botanic gardens to take wedding pics with the bridal party.
I was a bit upset I didn't get time to say hello to any of the boys but I guess I'll be able to speak to them tonight at the wedding reception.
I did spot Aaron though who looked to be a bit tipsy already, which surprised me. I might have to have a chat with him later to see what's going on.
"To the married couple!" Dylan says and I smile as we all clink our glasses together as our bridal party makes a toast to us.
"Were you crying Worpel?" Marcus teases and James nods.
"A little bit. Just seeing how gorgeous Tahls looked hit hard I guess." He says and I smile.
"Have you calmed down now? You were shaking when you got to the aisle." James asks sweetly and I nod.
"Yes, as soon as I felt your hands in mine I calmed down. I don't know why I was so nervous."
"It's normal to be nervous on your wedding day." Em says. "I was."
"I remember." Marcus says and I smile as we arrive at our destination.
"Get ready for some more smiling!" James says.
"Yay!" I say sarcastically as we all get out of the car and take photos....
***
Hey guys!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
This chapter is being split into two parts because it would've been over 6000 words in one chapter which is a bit excessive HAHA
Anyways, hope you're enjoying the last couple of chapters of Summer Love!
Remember to vote and comment
Next update out soon
PS: the next chapter might be a bit emotional, especially with all the speeches :)