My take on G/B/U. (Long)

lrmain

This is ueber long, folks.  If you can't make it through the whole thing, please at least skip down to the section I've deemed "Hilarious."  Whether or not you read it all, it was really fun to think about and write down.  So enjoy my Good/Good Anyway/Annoying/Bad/Hilarious!
Let me start off talking about the move.  We were on the road for three days with DH at the wheel of a 20ft. UHaul with our car towing off the back, god bless 'im.  The first two days were superb.  Beautiful weather, no big problems.  Then, the last day, it POURED.  All day.  It was about 40-degrees and pouring rain with 20 mph winds the last five hours of the trip and only got worse as we were unloading the truck.  We got everything inside of our place, but it was markedly and decidedly even less fun than anyone could've even anticipated.  But WE DID IT!  Thank goodness my parents, my sister, and my sister's BF were there to help at varying stages of moving.  Couldn't have done it without their help.
Now, on to the wedding!
I've said it once, but I'll say it again--my wedding wasn't perfect, but it was perfect.  I could not have asked for a better day.  The night before, DH and I had a minor moment of panic regarding our parents being there, but in the end, I am so happy we had them there to celebrate with us.  We had our wedding during those few hours of sunshine in more than four days.  Everyone was laughing and having fun, and even with our parents meeting for the first time, no one got into a fight.  All in all, I'd call it a giant success.
Good--i.e. Went as planned and turned out awesome.
- The Inn.  Let me tell you, during that horrendous drive through the mountains, in the dark, after the recent flooding and with even more rain, I was white-knuckling it the entire way wondering "Why, oh why, did we pick this place to get married?"  Then, we got there.  Totally worth it.  100%.  It's one of the most beautiful, homey, cozy, romantic places I've ever been.  I can't wait to go back for our anniversary.  It was a PITA getting there, but we got so many compliments from guests on how beautiful it was.
- The ceremony.  Our officiant had a ceremony she often uses that I fell in love with, but we made a couple of tweaks to make it our own.  It was great to have those little private elements that only DH and I understood that others thought were just beautiful, but they didn't know the full meaning behind them.  They were just for us.  I didn't cry, but I definitely got emotional while we were exchanging our vows.  My stepmom was full of tears at the end and gave me a humungous hug.  MIL was crying too.  Short, sweet, and perfect.  And with the lake as a backdrop.  Mega-win.
- Our photographer.  I cannot say enough about Jennifer Allis Photography (shameless plug, check her out, hire her, she is amazing: http://www.jenniferallisphotography.com). Jennifer is like a force of nature.  She is so bubbly, fun to be around, and feels more like a family friend than a photographer.  She even went into crisis mode helping Jeff look for the rings before the ceremony while taking photos of him getting ready (more on that later, don't you worry).  Not to mention, her work is phenomenal and she got us sneak peeks the very next day.  Best.  Wedding.  Related.  Decision.  EVER.  Next to the groom, of course.  :P
- I looked and felt AMAZING!  It was so nice having my sister there to help me, especially with my make-up.  
Good Anyway--i.e. Didn't go as planned, but still turned out awesome.
- The weather.  Rain came on either end of our wedding, even up to a few hours before the ceremony.  Then, when it mattered, it cleared up and got gorgeous.  Everyone said the minute I walked out of the house with my dad, the sun came out, just like when DH proposed.  Then later that night, it rained again.  I don't tend to put stock in a higher power, but it definitely felt like someone had our backs that day, especially since there was another wedding that Saturday where it rained.  We had a beautiful day AND rain on our wedding day.  Talk about as meant-to-be as it friggin' gets.  
- Our welcome dinner.  My parents got burgers and hotdogs and sprung for lobsters!  It was so much fun watching everyone struggling to eat them.  They even got a birthday cake for my sister and me (her b-day is 9/25, mine is 10/10).  Everyone got nice and "happy."  It was such a great way to unwind after the ugly drive.  It stunk a bit that DH's family decided not to come (they weren't staying at the Inn and didn't want to make the drive out after they checked in, completely understandable), but it actually ended up working out for the best (see below).
- Our reception.  After the horrible drive everyone had the day before and the already awful weather that morning, I felt like such a schmuck having to tell people that we were going to have to get back in the car AGAIN and drive to a restaurant the next town over for our reception.  It caused me a HUGE amount of anxiety (i.e. I was in some major, major tears).  We'd had such a great time having dinner at the house on property with my parents the night before.  Why hadn't I thought to do that for our reception?  I mentioned this in passing to my parents before bringing my stuff over to get ready, and my step-mom pulled me aside.  Since DH's family hadn't come to dinner the night before, they had a TON of food left over.  She said, "The grocery store is ten minutes away.  We are a package of hamburger and a package of hotdogs away from feeding everyone.  We can do this."  And before I could say anything, she and my dad left to go grab some more food.  They even got us one of those little cakes from the store.  We grilled, drank, had cake, and were merry.  It was casual, tasty, and perfect.  So us.  No one left unhappy, ungiddy, or unstuffed.  Is this etiquette-savvy?  No.  Do I care?  Not a stitch.  My favorite wedding moment was when we were out turning over hotdogs, wine in my hand.  I could see and hear DH's parents laughing down the lawn by the lake with our photographer.  My parents and my sister coming out of the house with more drinks.  The sky above the lake streaked with clouds.  iPod playlist going.  I wouldn't trade that for all of the etiquette approval in the world.  Don't worry, they are in for some HUGE thank-yous.  I'm thinking golf for my dad at one of VT's best golf courses and a balls-out trip to the spa for my stepmom for starters.  They seriously stepped up when they didn't have to.  Best wedding gift I could've ever gotten.
- Our ceremony music.  After all of that, contacting the Inn and trying to work out a way to play it, we didn't have any.  I thought this would be a huge deal for me.  But then, my dad and I hummed the wedding march quietly together to ourselves on our way toward the aisle where DH came up and met me.  It was a cute moment with him I wouldn't have otherwise had.
- Our cake.  What happened with my florist happened with my baker.  No communication.  I'm not blaming her, she had a ton of stuff going on just as I did.  Just wasn't meant to be.  We had delicious cake anyway, even if it wasn't super fancy.  Also, it ended up all over my face.  Thanks a heap, DH, lol.
- I forgot our wedding glass!  We had a breaking-of-the-glass at the end of our ceremony.  I even took the glass out of the bag so I would remember to bring it out to the lake with me.  I get there, and the officiant asks, "Do you have your wedding glass?"  My response?  "Oh crap.. no?"  My sister being an awesome MOH started walking back to the house and my dad followed her.  My stepmom immediately started making, "How many Maiden-names does it take to find a wedding glass?" jokes.  "So two men walk into a bar.."  I was embarrassed at first, but it broke the ice and ended up being a nice moment to collect myself with DH before the ceremony.
- My veil looked like a**, lol.  My sister tried, but we just could not get it to work.  So instead of freaking, I went without and only wore Michaela's flowers.  I think it was a fine choice.
- I was ready EARLY!  This NEVER HAPPENS!

Annoying--i.e. Wouldn't go as far as "Bad," but was less-than-stellar.
- No s'mores.  After all of that.  My plan had been to pick up s'more stuff before we headed out on the road so it would be easy, but it had been raining so hard for so many days, I convinced myself in my gloominess that it would be disgusting and rainy on our wedding and that we shouldn't bother.  Then, it got beautiful.  Sigh..  Oh, well.  AHR maybe?
- Because we had no s'more stuff, a few of us hopped in the car to grab it.  DH and I stopped at a Rite Aid that was about ten minutes away earlier that day, so we were planning to go there.  We got HORRIBLY lost.  It took us a really long time to get back.  At least DH assures me the cloud cover had come back by then so we would've missed the sunset anyway.  Still kind of a bummer.
- My dad made some choice comments later in the night while we were doing the light painting with our photographer.  Everyone was having a perfectly good time, but he is an incredibly worrisome person and was getting all surly.  It wasn't a big deal, I just couldn't help but think, "You've been so incredible today, don't be a party pooper now!"  Everyone handled his occasional attitude-ness throughout the night like a bunch of champs.
Bad--i.e. This was legit bad.
- The weather driving to the Inn.  Absolutely awful.  But the weather when it counted was beautiful, so I can't complain.

Hilarious--... you'll see.
DH forgot the rings.  And by, "forgot," I affectionately mean, "lost."
Allow me to set the stage.  I'm getting ready, putting crap on my eyes, starting to get excited when my photographer comes in.  "So, Lindsey..  we have a bit of a problem.  Jeff forgot the rings."  My sister and I initially think that this is a joke.  Surely, my then-FI couldn't have possibly forgotten the rings, the rings I still hadn't seen that he had been saving for our wedding day, the rings that I asked about COUNTLESS TIMES to make sure he had them.  Ah, but I was wrong.  He had, indeed, forgotten the rings.  He, his family, and our photographer ripped our stuff apart to find them.  But he said that he remembered where they must've gotten to in our apartment back in VT.  
You'd've been so proud of me, ladies.  I handled this like a champ.  I had an, "I told you so" moment, but after I got out my frustrations, I just went back to getting ready.  It was sweet, we used MIL and BIL's rings as stand-ins during the ceremony, which was actually very touching. I figured we'd get home, we'd dig our rings out from where he knew they were, and we'd laugh about it later.  
We get back home, check where he thinks they're hiding, and guess what?  They aren't there.  Nope.  No rings.  I still haven't so much as seen my wedding band.  He says they must be in his hiding place, in a box of sentimental stuff from when we were in NC, which still makes me angry because then that means he NEVER had them even though he reassured me over and over again that he did.  While tearing through the rest of the apartment, I had an epiphany (after praying to St. Anthony, of course; fist-bump and mad props dude, seriously..).  I told him to call the hotel where we stayed after the first leg of our trip.  And wouldn't you know it..?  They have them.  Our rings are in effing Manassas, VA.  
First of all, I would like to kiss the kind soul who not only found them but KEPT them for nearly a WEEK in the lost-and-found.  Once/if they get here safely, then we really CAN for srs laugh about it and have it be a great story.  Until they get here via FedEx early next week though, I'm going to remain at least somewhat raw about it, haha.  Here's hoping.

Yikes.  If you made it through all of that, you deserve a cocktail.  And a trophy.

Thanks so much to all of you again for helping me make this day come to life.  Can't wait until it's your turn and to hear all about it!