Saturday, July 08, 2006

We're going to the chapel, and we're gonna get maaaarrriiiieed....

Just for the record, I really hate that song.

So here’s the wedding tale, for those of you who want to read it. I posted it on here because I know not everyone wants to hear about other people's weddings, and I figured if you get bored, you could quite reading at any time!

Saturday 6/24, my sister arrived. We were at a party that evening, and when I went out to get in the car to pick her up, I saw that the side mirror was missing. My car had been sideswiped by an unknown culprit! We called the police, who told me that I would have to file an accident report on my own at the DMV or the police station. Just what I need a week before the wedding – more paperwork!

My sister and I spent the week going on errands. I also managed to take her hiking at McHugh Creek one day and shopping for souvenirs another day.

Saturday 7/1 was the day of our back yard barbecue and my bachelorette party. The plan was to have a barbecue for our friends and family (guys and girls) and then have the girls split off and go downtown for a more traditional bachelorette. I freaked out a little when E invited some of our guests to arrive early and I wasn’t ready. Plus, I had the wrong information for my bridesmaid’s flight, so when I went to pick her up at the airport, she wasn’t there. Luckily, her plane was late, so I managed to pick her up ½ an hour later without a problem.

The party was great. We had plenty of food and alcohol. My sister managed to spray Margherita mix all over the kitchen. We kicked the soccer ball into the next yard, where the neighbor’s rottweiler tried to destroy it. All in all, fun. Then the girls all got together and went downtown.

The first bar I picked was so lame for service. We ended up sitting there forever, and it kind of sucked. Then as we were leaving, we ran into the guys, who tagged along with us after that. I think my friend was disappointed because the guys “crashed” the bachelorette party, but I didn’t care. I was glad to be spending time with my fiancé!

Sunday was pretty relaxed. I took my bridesmaids sightseeing. Unfortunately, Dad had gotten sick the night before (not from the party, it was the flu). I was pretty worried about him because I wanted him to feel good for the wedding! We decided that if he didn’t feel better by Monday, he would skip the rehearsal and show up for the wedding.

Monday was the day of the rehearsal. I got up early and picked up the brownies for the dessert with E’s dad. Then all the ladies went to get manicures. I was disappointed in the manicure place; they were really busy and the person who did my manicure was the 16 year old niece of the owner, or something. So it wasn’t as good as I had hoped. That’s what I get for making last minute phone calls I guess. Then at 3:30 we headed over to the garden for the rehearsal. Fortunately Dad was feeling better, so he came too. The best man had injured his ankle the night before, so he was on crutches. Unfortunately, there was a snafu with the garden gate, so the poor best man had to hoof it all the way through the garden! After that the rehearsal went really well and we headed back to E’s mom’s house for the dinner.

The dinner went great. E’s bro (the best man) made some awesome potatoes and a very succulent prime rib. There was also a chocolate fountain, which was a huge hit. I handed the presents, including a joke present for E: a pair of terribly ugly, mismatched purple shoes. They had been given by my parents to my uncle as a joke at their wedding, so we wanted to give them to someone at my wedding. The shoes were a big hit.

Also, E’s fraternity brothers gave us a joke gift: a 25lb wheel of cheddar cheese. He is famous for his love of cheese, and he also is famous for giving weird gifts to everyone at weddings. So the fraternity brothers thought the cheese would be appropriate. Now that E is deployed, I’m stuck with a lot of cheese. We had the cheese out on a cooler, and a little dog came by and took a big bite out of it! We were all horrified. E's cousin cut out the dog spit, though.

Tuesday: wedding day! When we woke up it was cloudy, but it finally started clearing up around 2 p.m. By the time of the wedding, the sun had come out and it was beautiful. My flowers were delivered around 8 and they were gorgeous. My florist had been calling me the day before saying “the flowers that came in weren’t exactly what you wanted”, but I trusted her to figure something out and she did a great job. Then I sent E off to his mom’s at 11, and my bridesmaid’s and I got our hair done and got ready.

Finally it was wedding time. I was so nervous! I think E was too, because he decided to start the wedding even though his aunt and cousin weren’t there yet. They had to watch from outside the garden since they got there late. They were really nice about it though. Other than that, the ceremony went perfectly!

After the ceremony we headed over to the reception hall. When we got there, we were surprised to find that someone had placed a 12 pack of Natural Ice on our sweetheart table! That is E’s favorite beer, so he was really excited! I thought it was a nice/funny touch. Dinner was very tasty…then it was time for the magician. He did a great job; E and I assisted a couple times. I got to pull the bunny out of the box! He also had E’s niece and another little girl help him out – they were thrilled. Definitely a hit!

We had brownies and ice cream for dessert during the toasts. MOH, BM, and Father of the Bride all delivered great toasts. Then a couple of other people got up and said a few things. It was really nice. After that, E and I had our first dance to “At Last” by Etta James. Although I managed to keep from crying during the ceremony, I did break down during the dance. Then I danced with Dad to “Unforgettable” – the duet sung by Natalie and Nat Cole. Finally, we danced until about 11:30 p.m.

It was a really great wedding – basically everything I have always dreamed of. I was so happy with everything and I can’t wait to get the pictures back.

Now E is gone to Mississippi for training, which makes me really sad. He hasn’t been gone long, but I keep seeing things of his lying around and thinking “he won’t need that for a year and a half”. I’m really glad we got married before he left though, and I’m excited to be Mrs. Hislastname.

2 comments:

Robyn said...

Congratulations! I'm glad everything went well!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. You were stunning & E wasn't bad either!