We had carefully planned this day since our engagement in April, and both very much looked forward to beginning our life together. The planning had been relatively easy and even enjoyable. In large part, I credit Julie for this. She's planned many product releases in her job, and she knows very well how to make task lists & schedules, and work her way through them. This helped immeasurably as we navigated our way through the myriad choices that need to be made, and deadlines met, to put together a wedding.

As the wedding time of 11:30 AM approached, I stood in a dressing room with my best man Tom (my friend since fourth grade), my younger brother Rick (my groomsman), and my father. The room had a window that overlooked the outdoor balcony where the ceremony was to be held, with the Pacific Ocean behind it. As I dressed, I quietly watched through the window as our guests arrived and were seated, smiling to myself as I recognized each one and appreciated the fact that they had come here to share this day with us; most had to drive 80-100 miles to attend, some came from Missouri and Wisconsin, and one of Julie's high school friends in China managed to coordinate a business trip so that he could attend.

Tom opened a bottle of champagne and we all shared a few sips. At 11:10, Julie's hairdresser arrived to make sure my hair stayed in place for the wedding. Then we pinned our flowers onto our jackets, and were sent out of the room so Julie and her bridesmaids could use it. I was not really nervous, just excited that the day had finally arrived, and anxious that all our planning for this day come off well.

Julie, her maid of honor Beau (whom Julie met and became good friends with 14 years ago when she was still in China), and her bridesmaid Julia (Li Jia, Julie's graduate school friend in China) had dressed in our room at the Inn, and only come to the dressing room for final preparations. The Inn sent a driver and a small electric cart to drive them the several hundred yards from our room to the wedding site. As Julie later told me, she didn't want to sit down in her wedding dress and wrinkle it, so she rode standing up on the outside of the cart, leaning outwards, hanging onto a steel pole the attached the roof to the cart. The wind blew her hair, veil, and dress. All she needed was "Ride of the Valkyries" blasting out of a speaker to complete the scene.

At 11:30, Tom, Rick, and I walked to the gazebo at the front of the balcony, while the Carmel String Quartet played Pachelbel's Canon in D. A few minutes later, Julie entered to the Bridal Chorus (from Lohengrin, by Wagner). For weeks, I had been very anxious to see her in her wedding gown, and I was not disappointed! She looked beautiful in her floor-length white gown, elbow-length gloves, and veil. Her long dark hair was put up, and she wore a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. The simplicity of the gown was chosen not to compete with her graceful shape, and she beamed with a radiant smile. I stopped and simply looked at her for a moment (to remember that first sight), smiled back, happily extended my arm for her to hold, and proudly walked with her to the gazebo where Vincent (our priest) and attendants awaited us.

Vincent conducted a beautiful 25 minute ceremony, which included a soft, heartfelt reading of "marriage" (from "The Prophet", by Kahlil Gibran) by my close friend Sun-Inn, and an eloquent reading of "Love" (by Roy Croft) by Julie's good friend Tadd. We chose to light a Unity candle, which provided the only challenge of the ceremony, as a gentle wind thwarted us on the first two attempts. Fortunately, the quartet was playing Schubert's Ave Maria at the time, and we managed to light the candle long before the music ended.

Facing each other and holding hands, we looked into each other's eyes and recited our wedding vows (without stumbling), exchanged rings. Before we knew it, we were married, giving each other the traditional kiss, and exiting to the "Wedding March" (Mendelssohn).

Our four-hour reception, in a room overlooking the balcony, went all too quickly. Much of the time, we were busy taking pictures or talking with our guests. We weren't able to talk with each guest for as long as we'd like, but did our best.

Overall, the day went much more smoothly than we could have hoped for, and the presence of many of our good friends made it all the more special. Our only remaining wish was that Julie's parents, and my mother, could have attended, but all three of them were unable to travel to be with us that day. Nevertheless, they were in our thoughts throughout the day, and I'm sure we were in their thoughts, too.

We spent our wedding night in a wonderful room at the Highlands Inn, visited Monterey on Monday with my father and brother, quickly packed for our honeymoon on Monday night, and left for our two-weeek honeymoon (one week in Lisbon, a couple days in Madrid, and a week in Paris) on Tuesday.