What a wonderful wedding! And no, I'm not just saying that to tantalize you, it truly was beautiful. I'm starting the rundown from Wednesday/Thursday, with Evil Chipmunk throwing in some interjections....this will be long but I hope you enjoy...
Wednesday- First set of coscto flowers arrived. Loose stems, all off white roses. Got them in water, only one stem went bad. Picked up other necessities, and my dress, had drinks with girlfriends. Mom arrived late evening, mostly to help out/keep me sane.
Thursday- Second set of flowers arrived. All pre arranged centerpieces, bouts, corsages, and my bouquet. Mom was a bit skeptical about my getting floral from Costco, but boy was she surprised at how beautiful everything was! She literally gasped out loud and almost cried. We also picked up the cupcake favors, to find the shop gave us extra. Stopped by a friend's work to give her one, gave several to the next door neighbors who have 3 girls who have been avidly watching wedding activity (and who are fond of our cats) for them to enjoy. Also got stones to put in the centerpiece vases to stabilize them, and delivered welcome bags. Later, DH went to see his family, while I went to the main hotel to see my Dad, Mom, and Aunt. Dad was very impressed with hotel and how things were put together. Sister arrived with nieces late in the evening, got to see the girls briefly.
Evil Chipmunk breaking in with funny anecdote- Sis and I both went to Univ. of FL (me for undergrad, her for med school). Older niece is a HUGE Gator Fan. I now live in Tallahassee, home to Florida's in state arch rivals, the Florida State University Seminoles. Older Niece, upon arrival, stated she was now in enemy territory. I told her both her Mommy and I had gone to FSU for at least part of our schooling (me for law school, her for 1st year of med school, back when UF and FSU were collaborating to build a med school program in Tallahassee). Older Niece, who is not yet nine, sat back, looked at us, and deadpanned "I am so disappointed in the two of you, I cannot even begin to describe it." 2nd anecdote- younger niece asked if they'd have to be up really late like at Uncle and Auntie's wedding. When I explained no, she dramatically leaned back (7.5 yrs old), rolled her eyes, and said "Ooh, thank Gaaawwwhdd"
Friday- got crap for hotel packed. Mom and I took centerpieces and individually boxed cupcakes to ceremony and reception site. Coordinator had already started decorating, so Mom was in for a hell of a surprise when she walked in- we basically had to put the centerpieces on the table and put pergola fabric up. Easy peasy. Weather that morning was not good. Cold, rainy, windy. By mid afternoon, during rehearsal, it was quite cold, and very windy. One flower girl was unable to make it to the rehearsal, but coordinator ran things like a drill instructor, it was awesome! Dinner that night was also very good, though people wouldn't sit down so we could seat the remaining folks.
Evil Chipmunk interjection-idiot sister got lost on way to rehearsal (despite turn by turn directions provided). Ended up being 20 mins late. Sister did not bring any jackets or coats for the girls. Both nieces were shaking and shivering in their thin outfits, as was sister in her sweater dress. My mom (not their bio-grandma, a point my sister has apparently been making clear to them, jerk), immediately took off her cardigan, and I took off my light fleece, and we put them on the girls. Later, during dinner, older niece got bored, and apparently asked her mom if she could go into lobby area of restaurant and play their piano. Sister said as long as the management said she could, it was fine. Yeah, like the 8 year old is totally going to ask permission. I didn't know till later. DH and I will be apologizing to the restaurant, a local favorite of ours.
Saturday morning- wedding day!
Got up early, had a breakfast with mom, got hair done after dropping off dress at site. Got back, started getting ready, everyone on time.
Weather was beautiful, bright sunny day, no clouds, light breeze. Had a few people running late who saw me in the foyer, including brother and his wife, Once I saw DH at the end of the aisle, I couldn't stop grinning. I was so excited to see him, handsome in his tux.
The ceremony was lovely and touching. Officiant included several prayers, including one that DH had thrown in by the Dali Lama. Wasn't expecting that one, so DH and I had 3 minutes of silent giggles from surprise. I nearly cried when saying my vows, but managed to keep it together. Got a few chuckles from the crowd, and a huge cheer when we kissed. I think half the crowd heard me when I said to DH "we're married!" after we got announced. Had some latecomers arrive right as we were walking back up the aisle, but it couldn't bother me by that point
Our photographer did an awesome job of photographing things quickly. We managed to get all the photos staged and enjoyed about 20 minutes of cocktails. One of my friends arrived at that point, apologizing- she didn't realize how long it would take to drive up from Tampa, despite my gentle suggestion she should tack on an hour for traffic and the like when calculating driving and leave times. Got to circulate with lots of people, and was getting lots of compliments on everything!
Dinner was pretty good, kids were thrilled with the activity bags I'd put together for them. Photographer got some photos of the flower girls all coloring together. We were fed early, got to visit 4 of the 7 tables before speeches/toasts and dessert and chat with everyone. Had a sweet toast from a friend, an iffy one from DH's former mentor. He's been having a rough time of things lately, and lost his train of thought. It's ok, we knew what he meant. Noticed about midway through our thank you speech, one of my Dad's friends wore a BRIGHT WHITE knee length dress. Internally, I side eyed it, but I know she's a nice person, though absentminded at times. Cut the yummy cake, and did some more circulating, got to speak with everyone else.
The chocolate fondue was a HUGE hit, as was the cake. The fondue was less fountain style, more melting pot dip method. We only got to have our shared slice, but that's ok, our venue put together two take away boxes of dipping treats, and two big cups of chocolate. We should have skipped dinner later, lol. We also got some slices of cake for later, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Everyone also got the cupcakes to enjoy later.
We've been getting nothing but positive feedback about everyone having a good time with the low level jazz music as background to conversations, great food, drinks, and dessert. Hint hint, the priorities described by knotties are spot on!!!
I hope you made it through this saga. I'll post photos once I'm able, probably after finishing thank you notes.
ETA: Forgot to mention, I wore one of DH's late mother's rings on my right hand as a something borrowed. After the wedding, I showed it to DH's maternal grandma, and explained we had wanted to have her daughter there. Grandma started crying, I apologized, that I didn't mean to make her cry. She patted my hand, said not to worry, she thought it was a beautiful thing for us to do, and that her daughter was there- she brought the sunshine for the beautiful weather that day.
Preliminary photo from photographer (sans retouching to make me skinny, lol) where you can see my dress! Hope to get some of my FIL's photos up soon too.