I woke up the morning of my sister’s wedding feeling much better. In fact, I felt well enough to drink a cup of coffee with no consequences. It was also a beautiful day and already much warmer than it had been the previous few days. This was good because the ladies in the bridal party would all be wearing spaghetti strap dresses (my sister’s dress was strapless). I wasn’t exactly looking forward to standing outside in the cold and wind for the 30 minute ceremony.
But first we had to go have our hair done. This, like the manicures, was another one of those things that seemed more like a chore than fun, partly because we were at the salon for about 4 hours. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of my up do but later that night, after it was all over, I pulled out 40 bobby pins. Karlen told me that the stylist only used 2 bobby pins in her hair but she pulled out 25 that night. I did manage to get a picture of the back of her head. Isn’t it cool?
The day passed so quickly, except for those 4 hours in the salon. When we got back to the house,it was time to get our dresses and Lili and head over to the country club to get ready. Luckily, we had done Lili’s hair the night before so that saved us a lot of time. I also had the foresight to bring a change of clothes for all the kids. This would be a life saver later (insert ominous sound effect here).
I think my favorite part of the day was getting ready at the country club. They had provided us champagne, beer, and sodas in our room and there were mirrors all over the place. I think the girls had fun, too, because they finally got to put on their fancy dresses and shoes, and even a little bit of makeup. It was a little surprising to see my tomboy, Karlen, loving getting dressed up. Then, about 10 minutes before the ceremony was to begin, my mom yells out, “Oh no! We forgot the rings at home!” I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. Thank goodness the house was only 5 minutes away and my dad ran home to get them. Here are my mom, my sister, and me right before my mom discovered we had no rings.
I have to say my cousin Evie was a god-send. She was there, making sure everything was happening and doing all those last minute things everyone else had forgotten about. She was also extremely helpful with Lili and those two formed a beautiful bond. We were all lining up, ready to start the procession, when Lili fell and got a huge scratch on her leg. She cried and cried and said she couldn’t be the flower girl now. She just couldn’t walk. Of course, we all knew she could, but there was she was flaking out right in front of my already very nervous sister and it was time to go. Like a superhero, Evie swooped down and saved the day, although I think my bribe to buy Lili a toy might have helped, too (and she reminded me about the toy the next day).
The ceremony was beautiful and the wedding coordinator was great (and pretty good looking, too). He helped all the kids remember what to do, since they didn’t pay much attention at the rehearsal the night before. Karlen went first so I didn’t get to see her walk down the aisle. My mom informed me later that she knew Karlen was coming by the clunk, clunk, clunk of her shoes. She
is still a tomboy, afterall. But I did get to see both Rowan and Lili because they came after me. Rowan was so dashing in his tux and he took his job as ring bearer very seriously. He stood in front of the preacher man for several seconds longer than he needed to because he forgot what to do, but it all worked out. Lili was precious as the flower girl and did as good a job as any 4 year old flower girl does: there were very few petals on the aisle and several guests ended up with petals in their laps. When she got to the preacher man, there were 3 petals left and she very emphatically threw them down right at his feet. Both she and Rowan sat in the front row with my parents, grandmother and Bob. Midway through the ceremony, Lili climbed into my mom’s lap and fell asleep.
After the ceremony we had to do pictures. One of the reasons the ceremony began at 5:00 p.m. was because the lighting and the sunset would be perfect for taking pictures. But it was also getting colder and we girls were freezing! The reception coordinator saved the day, though (the second time it needed saving). He came outside with drinks and tablecloths to wrap up in. Poor Karlen, though, was absolutely miserable (she couldn’t reap the benefit of alcohol). Hopefully, we were able to make her laugh enough so she won’t look so sad in the pictures. We’ll see. When we went inside, we still had the tablecloths wrapped around us and several guests at the country club joked about our togas.
The food at the reception was amazing and I can’t believe I didn’t go back for seconds. I’m still regretting that decision. The reception itself is a blur. Every time I turned around there was someone there to talk to. It was nice and I felt so important (you know, being the matron of honor and all). It was the first time I’ve ever been a bridesmaid, and probably the last, so I savored the moment.
The music sucked. I think that was the only thing about the wedding that disappointed me. I don’t think Steph and Jordan were too happy with it, either, but they were lucky to find someone with such short notice. I
did learn that my cousin Kuren, who is about 15 years older than me, is very up on the latest music. She was able to tell me the artists of the songs (like Usher and Britney Spears) and that just blew me away. She’s still one of my favorites cousins, though, despite that weird superpower.
Finally, it was cake cutting time. We were all laughing and having a good time when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Bob, all wild-eyed. He asked me if I had brought extra clothes for Rowan. Remember that time at Blockbuster when Rowan had an accident? he says. Oh no! I ran and got the clothes (thank goodness for foresight, and the third save of the day) and then sat outside the men’s room while Bob helped Rowan clean up. It took a long time. I was told the smell in the men’s room wasn’t too pleasant. I wonder if he just had a delayed reaction to the food from the rehearsal dinner? Anyway, here he is after the incident.
Here are Steph and Jordan during the time Rowan was having his problem, blissfully unaware.
Despite Rowan’s accident and the lousy music, it was one of the best weddings I’ve ever been to. And then, later that night, back at my parents’ house, my dad and Bob and I stayed up until 2 a.m. talking. It was wonderful and I wish it could have lasted longer. It felt so nice to be there with my family and I need to have more times like that.
