(WEDDING COUNTDOWN) Launch day!

I woke up this morning with equal parts excitement and dread. I was excited for the big wedding day ahead and the chance to be such a special part of the whole celebration. The dread? Well, that came after tuning in to the Weather Channel. What's in the forecast for my big sister's big day? If you guessed hot and sunny with no shot of rain in sight, you'd have pegged the same daily forecast we've been hearing for so long. We haven't had rain here in months... literally. We're in a drought and are so far behind on rain, watering the lawn is forbidden.

So I ask again, what's the forecast for her wedding day? Yep, the weather wizards called for rain. And not merely a passing sprinkle -- I mean STORMS. This just didn't go well with the outside wedding my sister and her fiance planned at the stunning Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. But my sister's a realist and, in the back of her mind, had planned for just such a forecast. With her usual grace and composure, she made the decision to move the wedding inside into a grand lobby underneath a gorgeous stained glass cupola. What a smart move -- because as the 6 p.m. wedding time arrived, so did heavy rains.

Everyone always says that rain is good luck for a wedding. I joke that the sentiment was created by a desperate wedding planner to calm the nerves of a freaked out bride. In reality, I know there's some truth to it: rain really does bring prosperity because without it farms fail and communities perish -- I get it. So I repeated the old "rain brings good luck" saying to my sister and declared that she should expect some serious good luck because her wedding day broke the dry spell.

The wedding and reception were fantastic! My husband remarked that at some weddings, you can tell the bride is trying to make a statement -- an over-the-top, "look at me" display of glitz (not that there's anything wrong with that...). But we thought this reception was about the guests -- with delicious food, delightful wines and divine cake. Not to mention a fabulously fun band! One of the bridesmaid's duties is to keep the party going by hitting the dance floor so I got my groove on.

At the end of the evening, Margaret & Jamie bid "adieu" to the crowd and took off through a sprinkle of rose petals and light rain to their waiting car. As I walked back into the reception area, I realized that it was over -- so quickly. All the months of excitement, planning and anticipation had come to a perfect close with no detail overlooked, but it feels like "the fun part" happened in a blink.

We all agreed it was a remarkably beautiful evening filled with laughter and levity -- but most importantly, love.