Karen Wagoner has been VT's Associate Editor for the last year; a wonderful, bright cheery person and a great help to VT. On the weekend of the Japanese Grand Prix, she married Erik Nielsen, our Executive Editor. We congradulate both, and best wishes for a happy and long married life. The Editor.

Oh, my God! I Got Married!!!

By Karen Wagoner Nielsen

Well, doesn't Erik look happy? He just wants to get on the road.

Now, this may not seem like a major shocker to most people. But, the people who know me are still reeling. I was the one that knew I would never get married. Even from an early age, it wasn’t something I wanted to do. Something I didn’t see anywhere in my future.

But, I did it. October 11, 2003, I became Mrs. Nielsen. That still doesn’t look right. Not connected to me.

The week of the wedding wasn’t even that bad. I had, somehow managed to pick a sports packed weekend for my big event. The Chicago Cubs looked like they might actually make it to the World Series. Sunday, October 5, the Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves to advance to the League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Why didn't we use our Ferrari as the getaway car? 365's are rather small. But, we still love our "little red italian piece of sh**".

After going totally nuts when the Cubs won that night, it suddenly dawned on me. What if they play Saturday afternoon? The wedding was at 2:00, and I knew about 6 people that would be plastered to their TV’s if the Cubs were on, no matter what. And, the bride was one of them. Turns out they were scheduled to play Saturday night, so I was safe there.

The Chicago Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908. They haven’t been since 1918, when we lost to the Boston Red Sox. Who, by the way, haven’t been back since, either. So, this is a big deal to Cubs fans.

About three weeks before the wedding I learned that the last Formula One Grand Prix of the season was October 12, in Japan. And, since they are 12 or so hours ahead of us, it would be broadcast at 1:00 am. Wonderful. But, this wasn’t like last year. This year, the championship came down to the last race. Missing this one wouldn’t be a good idea. More on that later.

Where's the top going?

The day of the wedding finally gets here. Two of my bridesmaids and I are to be driven to the church in my nephew’s 1965 Lincoln convertible. I had never seen the thing. It is a land yacht!!! It’s huge!! It's yellow! Erik will love it. My nephew and this car were invited to Detroit for the big 100th Anniversary of Ford. I still haven't heard the details.

He arrives with the top up. Since the skies are clearing he puts the top down. I didn’t realize it was such a production. He wipes the top down to get all the moisture off of it. Then, the top moves to the trunk. Well, that's nifty. But, where does the luggage go if you're taking a long trip and want to ride with the top down?

Finally the top is down and we get in. As we drive away, I have the weird idea that it will be a nice, quiet, early morning drive. Yeah, right!!! Not with Janie in the car. As we drive through the middle of town Janie yells “She’s getting married” at the top of her lungs.

"Get me to the church on time." That's my Dad standing there with his morning coffee.

Did I tell you she coaches basketball? She can yell. She can’t out-yell Pat Head Summitt (University of Tennessee Lady Vols Basketball Coach), but she comes close.

We make it to the Church and head off to our assigned room. The bridesmaids and I had to arrive at 9:30, so we had lots of time to relax. And, to cut up. And, to get a bit nuts. My first break with my senses came when I just sat in the middle of the floor and blew bubbles. The second one came when the wedding coordinator walked in the room. She was great and I couldn’t have pulled of the wedding without her, but every time she came in my anxiety level took off like Michael Schumacher off the line.

Bouquet toss. "There is no way I can throw these flowers that far. Get over here." Erik offered me $20 if I could get them to a friend's girlfriend. I got the $20. Hehehehe.

After having hair and make-up done, two things I hardly ever do, it was time to get into the dress. Whoa!! Serious girl clothes. It was definitely not a blue jeans and t-shirt kind of day. I even ditched the sneakers. Yes, one friend asked her husband if that was really me when she saw me coming down the aisle.

As far as I know, the wedding came off without a hitch. I didn’t trip down the aisle. I didn’t forget Erik’s name. I didn’t even screw it up. We didn’t trip down the steps when it was over. I am a bit surprised we didn’t get even a stern look from the officiant. Erik and I were cutting up so badly the videographers thought their mics had picked up someone’s phone conversation. Can’t wait to see the video!!!

The reception actually turned out much better than I expected. My Dad only embarrassed me enough for me to leave the room twice. I had forgotten that one of my friends was totally incapable of keeping still when there is music. She just made the party. And, I was afraid no one would dance.

We did the usual reception stuff. First dance, toasts, cut the cake, feed each other cake (how many times did Erik hear "no cake on the dress"?), champagne, bouquet toss, garter. All too soon, it was time to make our getaway.

At least I didn't have to worry about the car being covered in shaving cream, anchovies on the air intake, or tin cans tied to the bumper. My nephew would have murderized anybody that got near his car with any of those things.

I didn't know to worry about dried flowers and lavender down one’s dress. Take my word for it, it's really scratchy. How do I know this? Well. Having a cousin stick his whole hand down my dress and let go of a large handful of potpourri helped my research. Thanks, Cuz!!!

Nervous? Who me? No way!! Where's something I can hold on to. This guy's a maniac behind the wheel.

We finally make it to the car, still being pelted with flowers. As we are getting settled on the top of the back seat, another nephew warns me to hang on. His brother seems to drive rather fast, and he doesn’t want me (us) to fall off the car. Have you ever looked for something to hang on to in the back of a ’65 Lincoln convertible? The options are very few.

We made it around the corner without being thrown off or out. Again, I thought "nice, quiet ride back to the house". Wrong!! My nephew went through the middle of town honking the horn.

Welcome to the reception. I'm about to turn tail and run at this point. That's my Dad, by the way. My mother is in the middle, looking the other way.

I hope he was able to get all of the potpourri out of his car. It was everywhere. All over the carpet, the seats, the hood.

No, I didn't watch the race. I knew my Dad was taping it, so I wasn't too concerned. But, I didn't even bother to say hello to Dad at breakfast the next morning. It was "who won the race?" before he could even sit down. He went back to his computer and printed everything out for me. I guess he thought I wouldn't believe whatever he told me. I might not have. He's a Kimi fan, and really wanted him to take the championship.

Sorry, Dad. But, there's always next year. Trust me, the Cubs have been saying it for years.