The 17th of September 1983 is a day I will never forget. That is the day that I was sealed for time and all eternity to the most wonderful man in the world. With our 15th anniversary approaching, I decided to dedicate a page to that fantastic day.
The alarm goes off and I crawl out of bed. I didn't get much sleep the night before, I suppose because of the nerves, but I am still wide awake. It doesn't take me long to get myself ready and before I realized it, the time had come to leave the house for the one hour trip to the Los Angeles Temple where Arlen, my husband to be, and I were to be married. My sister, my best friend and her husband were riding with me.
The trip went so well that we arrived earlier than expected so we stopped to get a donut first. I could barely eat but I knew I needed something because the next meal wouldn't come until around 2:00 that afternoon. After we were done at the donut shop, we drove across the street to the Temple.
When we walked through the door and into the lobby, Arlen jumped up out of a chair and looked at me like he was worried that I would be late. In fact, we were still almost an hour early. After checking in at the office, we headed our seperate ways to get dressed in our wedding clothes. I was lucky enough to have two people helping me that day. My best friend and my Mother-in-law. They weren't about to let me get any more nervous than I already was.
When we were finally ready we walked through the bride's room and out into a lobby where Arlen would be waiting for us. At one end of this lobby is a beautiful spiral staircase. Ordinarily, in this Temple at least, a bride is asked not to let the train on her dress down. But, exceptions are always made when the couple is walking up this staircase. As we were walking up I looked back and could see the lace falling back down the stairs. It was so beautiful.
We had to climb another set of stairs before we reached the sealing room where we were to be married. When I walked through the door I was in awe. I had never before seen such a beautiful place. The best way for me to describe what it looked like is to show you a picture.
After the ceremony, we once again walked down the spiral staircase but this time it was different. We were now husband and wife. On the opposite end of the lobby from the staircase is a door that is only used on wedding days so that those in attendance outside, who were unable to attend the actual wedding, can be introduced to the new couple. When that door opened for us and we walked through it to the waiting family and friends. I was overcome with emotion. My sister came up and gave me a big hug and helped me put on my veil. I didn't wear it in because I wanted her to help me and she couldn't attend the wedding.
We took pictures on the Temple grounds for a little while and then left to go to the cemetery where my father is buried. We placed one white rose on his grave and then returned back to my Mother's house for a luncheon.
We had a reception that evening at our local meeting house. It was more like a party than your average LDS wedding reception. We tried to have a receiving line, but that fell apart. We decided to just dance and have lots of fun. The song that is playing is the one we danced our first dance to, both at the reception and at our first date.
By the time the day was over I was exhausted. I sat down in a chair and almost fell asleep right there at the reception. It was a great day but with all the emotions of the preparations and the wedding, I finally had to give in.
I have some pictures of that day HERE. I hope you enjoy them.
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