Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL

Well, the biggest story this week is the wedding of Jessica and Antonio. Where do I begin? First I’ll just say that I loved seeing Reverend Andrew. We need to see him more often and not just at weddings. Let’s give some of our old favorites a life again.

Let me just say that it saddens me to watch a beautiful wedding knowing that in the near future the marriage is going to fall apart and from what we are hearing, this marriage is not going to last. Hmmm, I wonder why. Somehow the fact that it took three tires for Jessica and Antonio to light that unity candle was a BIG HINT. And let’s not forget that Jessica married Tico when she didn’t have a clue whether or not she was doing the right thing. She should have learned from that.

One thing I do love about watching any wedding is seeing what everyone is wearing and this wedding did not disappoint me. First and foremost, Jessica looked beautiful and her dress was absolutely stunning. I think she should have walked backwards all day because the back of that dress was even more beautiful than the front. It was just classically stunning. All of the men looked very handsome, but it’s not hard to put any guy in a tux and have him look great. That’s not to take anything away from the boys of Llanview, most of which are quite fetching. But I have to say that next to the bride, the most beautiful one was little Jamie. She was just precious and looked so adorable in her dress. I thought the bridesmaids all looked beautiful and I was happy that Kelly showed up after all. And forgive me, but it was nice for a change to see Natalie not “hanging out” more than the other girls.

Okay, I will give some credit to Dorian, the witch. For someone who wasn’t even invited to the wedding, she sure did prepare for it. She looked great in that dark green dress, but as mature women go, Viki buried her. Viki looked stunning and although sometimes I think the wardrobe people dress her in outfits that are too matronly for her, they did themselves proud this time.

Now, on to what actually happened. Don’t you just love those wedding where everyone is waiting at the church and the music plays ten times over and the bride is off somewhere contemplating her life? If there is such a thing as cold feet, Jessica’s were icicles and for good reason. She should have paid more attention to all the feelings of doubt she had about her Tess side all week instead of working so hard to convince herself that she was ready for this marriage. To be honest, although I have given Antonio a very hard time since Nash came on the scene, I thought that Jessica’s decision to go through with the marriage was very unfair to Antonio. I don’t think anyone who has that many doubts and is so confused about her feelings so much of the time should make a commitment like Jessica did. It would have been so much kinder to Antonio to at least postpone the wedding, but obviously Jessica didn’t feel strong enough against Tess and her feelings for Nash to take the time to deal with her integrated self and by the time she walked down the aisle, she just about had herself convinced that she was doing the right thing.

I think there are too many people involved in Jessica’s situation and except for Nash, everyone wanted her to marry Antonio. I think it was totally uncalled for when Natalie went to Nash and threatened him, saying that if he did anything to hurt Jessica she’d set fire to him and his vineyard and watch them both burn. That was a horrible thing to say and even I could have slapped Natalie for saying it. There was no excuse for her to even go to see Nash. I think after all this time he knows how the Buchanans feel.

And was it necessary for Cristian to be the voice of gloom and doom all week when he kept on badmouthing Nash and trying to make Antonio more worried about Nash and Jessica than he already was. I was sitting on my couch telling Cristian to shut up when they were at the church and he kept questioning Antonio about Nash and wondering why Antonio trusted him. It’s not Nash that Antonio has to worry about; it’s Jessica’s feelings for him.

And let’s talk about that Nash guy for a minute. He didn’t handle the wedding day very well. I can’t say I blame him for showing up at Llanfair and cornering Jessica in a last ditch attempt to get her to call off the wedding. I think he was totally right when he told her that now that she was integrated and she was a new person, she has a new heart too and I did feel sad for Nash when he said, “You’re not listening to your new heart and you’re breaking mine.” I alternated between feeling sorry for Nash and Antonio, but as much as I like him, Nash really was out of line when he stood there throughout the ceremony tearing the petals off that white rose and flinging them in the air. I was waiting for Kevin or Clint to toss his butt out of the church, but I guess they figured they’d bite their tongues so as not to disrupt the wedding any further.

I thought it was nice of Antonio to offer Nash the money to pay off Vincent and sever his ties with him, no matter what Antonio’s motives were. I think he meant well and I was glad that Nash had the sense to take him up on it. Let’s see how things go with Nash and Antonio now that in addition to Jessica, a lot of money stands between them.

It really was a very nice ceremony. Antonio was beaming with happiness. The vows were very sweet, especially with Antonio messing them up a little. Whether or not that was in the script or it was a mistake that they thought was cute and left it in, I thought it was really sweet. It was the kind of ceremony you like to see when you know the couple is going to last. Too bad this one is not destined for that end.