The day of Jackie and Zach's wedding rolled around quickly and they were so excited. Jackie spent the night at my house and Zach stayed at his place the night before. Since Jackie was good at doing her own makeup and was very particular with the way her hair got done she decided to do both on her own. I was her only bridesmaid since she mainly stuck with Zach and I in high school and Seth would be Zach's only groomsman. They wanted to keep it small and put the money towards their new place and towards Zach's goals of opening the veterinary hospital on the property or to eventually go on a vacation together.
Seth stayed the night once again and since the wedding wasn't until three we slept in longer than usual. Seth had to get up early still to start on the chores for the day but he tried to work as quickly as possible and make it back home before I rolled out of bed at ten. Since the cake was in the pantry fridge and so were all the baked goods I made for the wedding I wasn't very worried about the desserts. Mom and her side of the family offered to help make the food so it was a potluck and we wouldn't have to hire caters.
Almost the whole town was invited and we anticipated the arrival of a few unwelcome and not invited guests since word travels fast in a small town. However Dad and Uncle Joe were ready and promised Jackie that she wouldn't be disrupted.
Dad's side of the family couldn't book the time off from work, but Uncle Hank and Aunt Julia had called two nights ago and said they were going to fly in for the wedding, as they 'wouldn't miss it for the world'.
This time they would be staying with Mom and Dad, since they heard that I had a boyfriend and they told me they wanted to respect my privacy and didn't want to put me out again. Dad didn't want to put them in a hotel since they were paying for the flight to come to the wedding.
Jackie made a pot of coffee when she got out of bed and sighed, resting her head in her hand,
I was already up doing the dishes but I had used the left over coffee from the pot that Seth made earlier in the morning.
"Did you sleep last night?" I asked, handing her a plate of breakfast; eggs, bacon, home fried potatoes and toast. She shook her head, sipping the coffee,
"Hardly. I'm so nervous."
"There's no need to be nervous. You and Zach love each other and that's all that matters Jackie." She nodded and glanced at the clock. It was almost ten, and she grinned,
"I guess I'd better start getting ready." I laughed and put a lasagne in the oven for us so it would be ready by lunch, and went with her to watch her get ready.
"Should I do your make up and hair first?" She asked, looking at me from the mirror. I shook my head,
"You are more important. I can do my own make up, but do my hair after. This isn't my wedding." She rolled her eyes playfully and pretended to flip her hair,
"Whateva."
I laughed and sat beside her and watched as she started doing her hair. She had practiced it a couple of times before so she knew how to do it today, and she was so graceful. Bailey started to make some noise on the monitor so I went to get her, sitting her in my lap. She was content and she watched Jackie do her hair. Hannah showed up almost five minutes later to start taking the photo's for us, and Zach's sister in law Mariah would be taking the photo's of Zach and Seth, and Zach wanted some with his brothers and Dad.
She started snapping pictures as soon as she walked in the door, of Jackie doing her hair, of Bailey, anything really.
Jackie started on her make up after, and she did an amazing job. She made it look like it was completely natural and I was really impressed.
After that she begged to do my makeup (since she expected to take at least two hours with hair and make up and only killed an hour), and after much arguing I agreed to let her, but I made her promise she would do the bare minimum and she eagerly agreed. She ended up doing a thin coat of foundation and winged liquid eyeliner. She knew I would put eyeliner on the bottom of my eyes so she wasn't concerned with that. Around two Mom and Dad came in to help her start changing into her dress and Jackie shook her hands nervously when she was finally in the dress,
"You look stunning," I said, smiling at her. She smiled and sniffled and I noticed she was trying not to cry,
"Hey hey, sweetheart why are you crying?" Mom asked, and Jackie tried to laugh,
"I've just been waiting for this day for so long..." She said happily. I pulled out a small box from the drawer, handing it to her,
"What's this?" She asked, opening it. Inside was my charm bracelete that I hardly ever took off and she smiled,
"Something borrowed?" She asked and I smiled, nodding. She hugged me tightly and I put it on her. She smiled and Dad handed her a box that was also wrapped and she smiled,
"What's this?" He grinned and rolled his eyes,
"Well open it." She grinned and opened it, and it was a set of diamond earrings and a necklace. She hugged Mom and Dad tightly, and they kissed her head,
"The earrings are new, but I wore that necklace when I married your father."
She smiled and hugged them both again, and Hannah came in from her car carrying a box, and she smiled knowingly at me. Knowing to complete the little tradition she just needed something blue, I'd sent away her old cowboy boots from when she was in her teens to get redone with leather and have the blue fabric replaced with leather so it would last longer. She opened them and then she started crying. She had absolutely loved those boots and she was pissed when Mom made her throw them out. Or so she thought.
"Thank you so much," She said before eagerly pulling them on, "They still fit perfectly..."
She hugged me tightly before Dad checked his watch and sent Mom to her seat and Hannah to where she would be to capture the moment. Once everyone was in their seats I could hear the music begin to faintly play. Jackie took my dad's arm and nodded at me, so I started walking. I had my hair half up and half down, the bottom half left wavy. I saw Seth go wide eyed when he saw me before winking at me. I grinned and looked down, taking my spot beside where Jackie would stand. I saw Mom sitting in the front row with Bailey in her lap and I grinned at her, she looked so pretty in her dress.
The music got louder as Jackie and Dad got closer and Zach's mouth dropped open as she started to walk down the path of petals that lead her to him. He grinned and wiped his eyes quickly, saying something quietly to Seth who grinned in return. When she got close enough Zach stepped forward and took her hand in his. I'd never seen Zach this happy and I knew that this was the best thing that's ever happened to him.
*****
The ceremony was stunning. It was beautiful and it brought tears to everyone's eyes. Their vows to each other brought tears to everyone's eyes and everyone cheered loudly when they shared their first kiss as a married couple. Everyone began to move over to where the tables were set up for guests to help themselves to food. Jackie and Zach went around and thanked everyone for coming, and Seth and I sat at the wedding party table, along with Mom and Dad for the time being.
"You look stunning," Seth said into my ear, and I blushed and rested my hand on his cheek as he pulled away and I kissed him softly,
"You look so handsome all dressed up," I said jokingly and he laughed. He picked Bailey out of her carrier and kissed her head,
"And you looked gorgeous princess!" He cooed, and she grinned.
Jackie and Zach came over and hugged us both as well as our parents.
"Thank you both for everything." When we finished hugging Zach smiled,
"We're going to get some food now, you'd better follow us before the guests stampede the food table." We nodded and started making our way over to the table. I held Bailey and Seth made us both a plate and I appreciated that he put the same amount on both plates, even though I probably wouldn't eat it all.
We sat back at the table and started eating, and it was quiet while everyone ate. We had country music playing even though the only couple dancing was Uncle Hank and Aunt Julia.
"This is amazing Mom," Jackie said, being mindful not to spill anything on her dress. Mom smiled and I ate after I finished feeding Bailey. Seth was almost done so he sat her in his lap and held her while he finished so I could eat.
Jackie and Zach had their first dance to "I Don't Dance" By Lee Brice, and Zach wrapped his arms around her and they danced slowly to it. At the end of the song they shared a passionate kiss and everyone cheered. The next dance was the parents dance and Zach went to sit down as Dad got up to dance with Jackie. Mom smiled and walked over to him, taking his hand,
"Is it okay if we have this dance Zach?" Zach looked up at her with tear filled eyes and he nodded, standing and going over to the dance floor with my mom. The crowd went quiet and watched Jackie dance with Dad and Zach dance with mom. The next dance Zach and Jackie wanted Seth and I to dance with them and we danced to "And Then Some" By Dallas Smith. Seth rested his arms on my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He kissed my head softly and I was glad that he was comfortable showing this type of affection in front of most of the town. Later that night everyone was exhausted and Jackie and Zach went around and said thank you to everyone for coming before they each got on their horses' back and rode down the gravel driveway to their house.
A lot of the guests stayed late and just danced to some upbeat songs, and I was talking with Hannah when I felt a hand snake around my waist and lips pressed to my head. Seth smiled warmly at Hannah but waited to say anything so he didn't interrupt our conversation. Hannah gave me a plastic Baggie with a couple of hairs in it,
"I found it on his brush... I hope that's enough Charlie." I nodded and Seth took it, sliding it into his pocket. He wasn't too comfortable with the idea of me testing Bailey's DNA but he figured he wasn't really in a position to question it.
She went back to where her son was munching on dessert and Seth took my hand and lead me out to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around me and brought me close, and I rested my head on his chest.
"Did you have fun today?" He asked softly, tilting his head down so his mouth was next to my ear. I nodded, turning my head to kiss him softly.
"I... I really like you... So much." He whispered against my lips. I grinned and kissed him again,
"I like you too Seth. Everything has been amazing lately..." He winked and kissed my head again.
"Shall we get heading home?" He asked, kissing me again. I giggled and nodded, and we got Bailey from Mom and Dad before saying goodnight and we went home, hand in hand.
Thank you everyone for reading! The picture above is a collage of all of the details for Jackie's wedding!