I’m not sure exactly how many times we have jumped together in Virginia, but I would guess it’s at least 600 or so.  We have shared so many special jumps over the years, but I am choosing the low passes we did on June 12, 2010 – Our Wedding Day - as our state of Virginia jump!

Our wedding plans were somewhat ambitious.  We rented the entire sports complex above the drop zone so that we would have the soccer field and baseball diamonds to ourselves.  We asked our guest to arrive 30 minutes early so we could “skydive” into the wedding.  After we landed, I would quickly change into my wedding dress while everyone got seated.  We’d have the ceremony; we’d some food eat, cut the cake, have our first dance, and a wedding toast.  Then, we’d change into shorts and play softball with the wedding guests.

When you are planning a wedding, you can spend hours finding the right dress, picking the right venue, the flowers, wedding cake, caterer, etc.  None of those things were very important to us.  I had Lisa (my Maid of Honor) just pick out an assortment of desserts with at least one chocolate cake for Matt.  Our friends Paula & Sean made an assortment of salads to compliment the food from the concession stand.  Our flowers were very last minute - Lisa grabbed some fresh flowers from the grocery store to make our wedding bouquets.  They were simple so beautiful! 

There were only a few things that matter to us – sharing the day with our family and friends, a nice soft landing area, and some blue skies.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t control the WEATHER!  Prior to the wedding, we did a practice jump with Pastor Nate.  Nate and I started skydiving around the same time in 2004 and we’d been friends ever since. 

All the important people were there to see us land.  My parents had never been to a drop zone, and they had arrived early to help set up my dad's sound system.  My best friend from high school, Melea, also came early to help get things organized.

Log Book Entry:  #325 LP – Wedding Practice Jump - Stand up landing on target in front of pavilion.

I had been practicing for a few months trying to land right in front of the pavilion.  It paid off!  I was nervous, but I managed to land exactly where I planned to and had a beautiful soft landing.   It was so exciting for me and for my family.

After our practice jump, a huge storm moved in and dumped buckets of rain. Instead of having a rushed 20 minutes to get ready, I ended up with two hours!  This was oodles of time since I don't wear any make-up except mascara and lipstick!  Parts of the pavilion were flooded and we had to move our “spot” further into the pavilion away from the huge puddle that appeared.  As luck would have it, our friend Carl Lambert didn't have to do videos since the rain was coming down.  So, he came up from the drop zone for the ceremony and stayed for awhile afterward to take some pictures.