They say a woman is the happiest on her wedding day.
It is my wedding day today, and honestly, they were wrong; because I don’t just feel happy; I am ecstatic! The feelings running through me are indescribable, it felt like I am going to combust and at the same time, I feel like a whole new being has occupied by body.
My whole body is already shaking in anticipation of what is to come. Even though I’ve dreamed about this very day countless times since I was a little girl watching Disney’s princesses and their charming princes, I’d equally dreamed of the day my prince charming would carry me away on a white horse – okay maybe not a white horse but you get the gist. I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time and now several years later all my late-night fantasies are going to be fulfilled in just a few hours.
A smile descended on my face as scene after scene plays behind my eyes.
“Ma, please you have to stay still so that I can apply the makeup well,” the makeup artist who is busy with my face complained.
Mumbling my apology to her I tried to stay still as she went on with her business.
How does she expect me to stay still though? She’s not the one getting married today so she wouldn’t understand, I argue in my mind where I know no one can hear my ridiculous thoughts.
Tito’s laughter disturbs the quietness of the room, me no doubt being the object of her action. “Only God knows what is making this one smile.”
“It’s her wedding day abeg, let her keep smiling,” Lara replies from somewhere in the room.
“You guys are not the ones getting married so you won’t understand,” I say in a teasing manner. My best friends have their prince charming so it would only be a matter of time before they both get married like I am doing today.
Sure enough, Tito and Lara burst into laughter and even though I can’t see them, I imagine them shaking their heads at me.
“Wahala for who wan marry today,” Tito says eliciting chuckles from the makeup artist and me.
For the rest of the duration that I get ready for my wedding, I’m unable to keep the smile off my face. My makeup artist notices this and doesn’t complain, instead she starts to tell me tales of the other brides she has worked with.
I burst out laughing at one particular story.
“She was so excited that she fainted and I was in the middle of her makeup. Then the groom and the whole family came running into the room thinking that she had died or something. It was hilarious, seriously.”
“I can’t even imagine that happening to me” I smile looking at the finger that held my engagement ring. “I’m excited actually like you won’t believe how happy I am that this day has finally come for me. But I don’t think I’d be so excited that I would faint on my wedding day….”
I try to say more words to express how I feel but no words come to mind.
I hesitate as snippets of words come to me but it still doesn’t feel enough. “I don’t know how to express what I feel about today, but in one word I can confirm to you that I’m ecstatic.”
Dami, my makeup artist stops applying powder to my cheek. She meets my gaze in the mirror. “I’ve not heard that word before. What does it mean?”
Meeting her gaze in the mirror I start what will no doubt be a heartfelt explanation. “Well ‘ecstatic’ is from the word ecstasy which I can best describe as being in intense pleasure, joy, happiness, or even delight. But for me especially on this day, a list of colorful adjectives won’t express just how overjoyed I am right now. I’ve waited so long for this and the fact that it’s all becoming a reality just makes my heart want to burst! I just feel so happy,” I say, ending my elucidation with a sigh.
Dami smiles shaking her head as she drops the brush she is holding. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone sound so passionate about their wedding.”
I laughed because she sounded really surprised.
Lara comes to stand beside Dami, behind the chair I’m perched on. “I’ve heard a druggie use that word before.”
“Really?” Dami asks slowly packing up her tools. Lara affirmatively nods.
“He said he was always ecstatic when he used hard drugs. He described ecstatic as being in this kind of high or frenzy. He said in that state that all his problems and challenges were forgotten. He said he felt untouchable, loose, and strong all at the same time.”
“The way he explained it that day it seemed like a whole new life non-hard drug users knew nothing about.”
Before Dami could share her thoughts, a knock sounded on the door and a second later my Mother and my husband’s-to-be Mother step into the room dressed to the nines in their matching traditional attires.
“The ceremony is about to start o,” my mother-in-law says walking further into the room. My Mother, on the other hand, goes straight to the bed to lift my wedding dress.
“Oya, come and put this on. There’s no time again.”
I smile as I stand up admiring the beautiful work Dami has done on my face and hair. “Thank you so much, Dami.”
She smiled in return. “You’re very much welcome.”
I walk to my mother, and with Lara and my mother-in-law’s help, I put the wedding dress on. When I look at myself in the full-length mirror just by the walk-in closet, I put my hand to my chest trying but failing to calm the erratic beats. My heart is beating so fast that I can’t catch my breath.
“Awn you look really beautiful” says Lara.
I could only nod as words seemed to fail me at that moment.
Tito who had been quiet all along spoke. “I bet Daniel would faint the moment he sets his eyes on you.”
I blush just as the rest of the party laugh.
In a matter of minutes, I am ushered out of the room to the entrance of the hall. There I meet my father waiting for me, looking all proud and pleased.
He asks me a question just as I put my arm in the crook of his elbow. “Are you ready?”
I don’t need to think twice about my answer. “Yes sir.”
He nods and keeps his gaze straight at the double doors that guards the hall where I shall be married. A familiar slow tune begins, it’s our cue to start moving. I don’t think it is any more possible but my heartbeat increases and I feel momentarily light-headed just as the doors are thrown open with a hundred people’s heads turning backwards to look at me and my father.
I take a step forward but it does not feel like I am walking on land, it feels like I am floating amidst the fluffy clouds that adorn the skies on a cloudy day. I don’t need to tell my brain to give me a smile to put on my face for one is already there. I smile so hard that it feels like my face is going to be split into two.
We walk down the aisle as if we own time, we move in sync, our steps are not rushed, instead they sre careful and deliberate. My gaze roams the entire hall even as I move, the decorations, the people, heck everything warms my heart and adds to my excitement.
As if all these are not enough, I meet the gaze of Jamal, my husband-to-be. I freeze and make my Dad stop in his tracks as I do not take a step further.
Just a few steps away from me on the makeshift altar stands the man I will give my heart to over and over again. As his eyes roam my face, a familiar thrill begins to make its way through all the veins of my body. His gaze burns my very soul and I feel alive more than ever.
Moments like this are ones I put in a space close to my heart, and because I want to make many more memories with him I take a step forward and then another until my father let me go for Daniel to help me climb onto the altar.
The short ceremony starts and when it is time, feeling intoxicated with happiness, I say the words:
“I do.”
I am ADELEYE JOSEPHINE, a young aspiring writer who hopes to write content that is not just creative but enthralling and exciting. I write short fiction and informative articles. My short stories can be found on Medium where I publish every Wednesday or Thursday weekly.
I am a Nigerian who hails from Kogi state from Ijumu Local Government though I reside in Ikorodu, Lagos State. I’m currently a student at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) studying Applied Geology. I love to read novels and watch Anime when I’m not thinking about what next to write.