You may have heard...
Lots to tell. It was an eventful weekend.
Starts on Thursday, I suppose, since Wednesday was my last day at work last week. Thursday I... I don't even remember what I did in the morning, but that afternoon I went over to my parents' place to practice dancing with my dad, and get various other things figured out. Gray arrived, and then my flowers arrived, and it was all good.
Friday, I was back over at my parents' to go take Gray and pick up his and Don's tuxes, and then helped mom put the boutonnieres and corsages together. I'm sure I ran around and got a variety of other last minute things taken care of those days, too, but damned if I remember details. Late Friday night I headed off to the airport to pick Gill up, so that was exciting. I finally got to see her dress, which was gorgeous. She had it designed and made to her own specifications, so I know she'll be able to wear it again, which makes me very happy. I really didn't want her or Tammara to be stuck with dresses they hated and would never use.
Saturday was a surprisingly non-chaotic day, thanks in no small part to my mother, who I know was busy all day finishing the flowers, making the cake, and getting more food ready for brunch on Monday. I know she's not reading this, but in case you are, Mom, I appreciate it all enormously. Gill and I went out in search of somewhere to get sushi platters for the reception, and found this lovely little place on Rideau, about halfway between Loeb and Loblaws, whose name I don't remember, or I'd totally plug them here, because they were incredibly friendly, able to do the platters on a day's notice, and from what I understand (I don't eat the stuff myself) the sushi was good. You can't miss them, though - their storefront is hideous bright green and hideous bright orange. Support them, my Ottawa sushi-eating friends. They're lovely. Anyway, Saturday night we got all the wedding party members together at the Oak to thank them and give them their gifts - individual tarot decks matched as best we could to their personalities and interests. They went over very well as far as we could tell, so that was good.
Sunday was a loooooooooooong day. I was up by 8 (maybe earlier; I don't even remember) to shower and get ready for brunch with Gray and Gill. I finally broke down and had a steak for breakfast. I eye that option every time I have brunch, but usually stick to bacon. But I figured that my wedding day was cause for a wee splurge, so I did. It was lovely. After that we headed downtown and met Tammara for our manicures. That was fun, and watching Gray get his done was highly entertaining. Then we went back to my place and took over Glenn's bathroom as hairdressing central. Gill went to work on hair, and Eleanor arrived to do makeup, and then Amanda and Sam showed up to snap pictures. The poor cat handled all the chaos surprisingly well, as did Glenn when he showed up to find his home full of giggling, excited girls, and his bathroom commandeered by same and full of rollers and hairspray. Eventually, we were all ready, and sitting in the livingroom, putting up with me asking approximately every 3 seconds if it was time to go yet.
Finally it was, and we traipsed downstairs, me in my voluminous dress (which definitely made getting in and out of cars fun), and we headed to the hall. Ross was outside when we got there, playing away on his bagpipes, which was an unexpected but pleasant surprise (I knew he was playing for the recessional, but I wasn't expecting the pre-wedding pipes). Ian scurried off to make sure Don was out of the way, and I headed upstairs to hide in the dining room. The next little while was a flurry of people asking me questions, and photos, and me being far too excited and antsy to have any idea what to tell people, but I guess everything got figured out.
Then it was time to start. The bodhran player started, and Glenn, Anna, Drew, Rose and Kyle did their readings. I could hear them enormously well, but I know what they were saying, and it meant so much to have them taking part in it all. Then it was our turn, and Emily and Tammara led in (the latter looking lovely, and the former looking impossibly adorable), and then Gill and Gray, both looking amazing, and then Da and me. Seeing Don there waiting for me, grinning like the most adorable idiot ever was everything I'd always hoped it would be, and then I arrived, and there was much adoring gazing, and apparently I was shaking like nobody's business, but I was just so happy happy happy. I silently cursed our decision to have so many lines for us to say, as making it through them without crying like a baby was rather difficult, but it was really pretty. Everyone seemed to really like what we did with the ceremony, and it was meaningful for us, so it was good. The officiant (who was great - very calm and easy-going - liked him a lot) had told us we should kiss for 15 seconds; Don says we made it to 12. Hopefully there are some good pics.
Then it was done, and it was time for pictures, which got rained on, but that's OK. Just means we have a few fewer officially posed shots than intended, but I know there are tons of candids and others from the reception, so I think we should still pretty much have everybody.
The toasts and speeches were very sweet and delightfully short, with everyone who said anything saying very nice things about us. We had our first dance, which was really nice - and probably the longest we spent together during the party. Then I danced with my dad, and Don and his mom joined us as soon as he managed to track her down I guess. And then it was just party party party. Wasn't too much dancing for the first little while, but everyone mostly seemed to be in a good mood, chatting and mingling - even me, and I'm the worst mingler EVER. Between Jeff, Gill, Glenn and Rob, I was rarely without a drink, and managed to stay awake and on my feet despite that, and I got to see so many people, some of whom I haven't seen in forever, so that was really awesome. I think I at least managed to say hello to everybody, so I hope no one felt neglected or slighted.
Later, we were summoned outside for a "special picture," which had us a little nervous, but it turned out to be some guys from the Jazz Festival, who had brought over the site golf cart, all decorated up with cans and everything, and some hard hats (a hot pink one for me) to wear as we took a spin around the parking lot, which was an excellent surprise.
Things started to quiet down shortly after that, and eventually we got everything all packed up, and then went back to the hotel. Stuck our heads in briefly at the Jazz Fest Late Night Jamming, but they were just about wrapped up, so we got ourselves changed and went to Ian's room for a wee after party. Didn't stay there too long before we went up to our own room.
Next morning, we overslept, and then rushed back to our apartment to pick Gill up and get her to the airport, then back to the hotel to check out, then over to my parents' for brunch. I really liked that, and definitely appreciate all the work that went into that. We had a bunch of my relatives, a few of his, and a bunch of friends, so it was very chill and very nice. It was a Monday, so of course quite a few people had to go back to work, but it was still really nice.
Went back home and opened some very lovely gifts. Thank you notes will of course be forthcoming, but in the meantime, thank you everybody. The cat also says thank you for the delightful ocean of paper he got to play in until we cleaned up. We went out for a nice pho dinner, and then went to bed pretty early.
Now I am back at work, and checking out all the photos that keep getting posted. I'm hoping to get them mostly consolidated to one spot, so I'll try to get a link for those who are not on Facebook.
All in all, a wonderfully busy weekend. So many friends and family, which was awesome, and getting married to someone so amazing... It was just good.
Starts on Thursday, I suppose, since Wednesday was my last day at work last week. Thursday I... I don't even remember what I did in the morning, but that afternoon I went over to my parents' place to practice dancing with my dad, and get various other things figured out. Gray arrived, and then my flowers arrived, and it was all good.
Friday, I was back over at my parents' to go take Gray and pick up his and Don's tuxes, and then helped mom put the boutonnieres and corsages together. I'm sure I ran around and got a variety of other last minute things taken care of those days, too, but damned if I remember details. Late Friday night I headed off to the airport to pick Gill up, so that was exciting. I finally got to see her dress, which was gorgeous. She had it designed and made to her own specifications, so I know she'll be able to wear it again, which makes me very happy. I really didn't want her or Tammara to be stuck with dresses they hated and would never use.
Saturday was a surprisingly non-chaotic day, thanks in no small part to my mother, who I know was busy all day finishing the flowers, making the cake, and getting more food ready for brunch on Monday. I know she's not reading this, but in case you are, Mom, I appreciate it all enormously. Gill and I went out in search of somewhere to get sushi platters for the reception, and found this lovely little place on Rideau, about halfway between Loeb and Loblaws, whose name I don't remember, or I'd totally plug them here, because they were incredibly friendly, able to do the platters on a day's notice, and from what I understand (I don't eat the stuff myself) the sushi was good. You can't miss them, though - their storefront is hideous bright green and hideous bright orange. Support them, my Ottawa sushi-eating friends. They're lovely. Anyway, Saturday night we got all the wedding party members together at the Oak to thank them and give them their gifts - individual tarot decks matched as best we could to their personalities and interests. They went over very well as far as we could tell, so that was good.
Sunday was a loooooooooooong day. I was up by 8 (maybe earlier; I don't even remember) to shower and get ready for brunch with Gray and Gill. I finally broke down and had a steak for breakfast. I eye that option every time I have brunch, but usually stick to bacon. But I figured that my wedding day was cause for a wee splurge, so I did. It was lovely. After that we headed downtown and met Tammara for our manicures. That was fun, and watching Gray get his done was highly entertaining. Then we went back to my place and took over Glenn's bathroom as hairdressing central. Gill went to work on hair, and Eleanor arrived to do makeup, and then Amanda and Sam showed up to snap pictures. The poor cat handled all the chaos surprisingly well, as did Glenn when he showed up to find his home full of giggling, excited girls, and his bathroom commandeered by same and full of rollers and hairspray. Eventually, we were all ready, and sitting in the livingroom, putting up with me asking approximately every 3 seconds if it was time to go yet.
Finally it was, and we traipsed downstairs, me in my voluminous dress (which definitely made getting in and out of cars fun), and we headed to the hall. Ross was outside when we got there, playing away on his bagpipes, which was an unexpected but pleasant surprise (I knew he was playing for the recessional, but I wasn't expecting the pre-wedding pipes). Ian scurried off to make sure Don was out of the way, and I headed upstairs to hide in the dining room. The next little while was a flurry of people asking me questions, and photos, and me being far too excited and antsy to have any idea what to tell people, but I guess everything got figured out.
Then it was time to start. The bodhran player started, and Glenn, Anna, Drew, Rose and Kyle did their readings. I could hear them enormously well, but I know what they were saying, and it meant so much to have them taking part in it all. Then it was our turn, and Emily and Tammara led in (the latter looking lovely, and the former looking impossibly adorable), and then Gill and Gray, both looking amazing, and then Da and me. Seeing Don there waiting for me, grinning like the most adorable idiot ever was everything I'd always hoped it would be, and then I arrived, and there was much adoring gazing, and apparently I was shaking like nobody's business, but I was just so happy happy happy. I silently cursed our decision to have so many lines for us to say, as making it through them without crying like a baby was rather difficult, but it was really pretty. Everyone seemed to really like what we did with the ceremony, and it was meaningful for us, so it was good. The officiant (who was great - very calm and easy-going - liked him a lot) had told us we should kiss for 15 seconds; Don says we made it to 12. Hopefully there are some good pics.
Then it was done, and it was time for pictures, which got rained on, but that's OK. Just means we have a few fewer officially posed shots than intended, but I know there are tons of candids and others from the reception, so I think we should still pretty much have everybody.
The toasts and speeches were very sweet and delightfully short, with everyone who said anything saying very nice things about us. We had our first dance, which was really nice - and probably the longest we spent together during the party. Then I danced with my dad, and Don and his mom joined us as soon as he managed to track her down I guess. And then it was just party party party. Wasn't too much dancing for the first little while, but everyone mostly seemed to be in a good mood, chatting and mingling - even me, and I'm the worst mingler EVER. Between Jeff, Gill, Glenn and Rob, I was rarely without a drink, and managed to stay awake and on my feet despite that, and I got to see so many people, some of whom I haven't seen in forever, so that was really awesome. I think I at least managed to say hello to everybody, so I hope no one felt neglected or slighted.
Later, we were summoned outside for a "special picture," which had us a little nervous, but it turned out to be some guys from the Jazz Festival, who had brought over the site golf cart, all decorated up with cans and everything, and some hard hats (a hot pink one for me) to wear as we took a spin around the parking lot, which was an excellent surprise.
Things started to quiet down shortly after that, and eventually we got everything all packed up, and then went back to the hotel. Stuck our heads in briefly at the Jazz Fest Late Night Jamming, but they were just about wrapped up, so we got ourselves changed and went to Ian's room for a wee after party. Didn't stay there too long before we went up to our own room.
Next morning, we overslept, and then rushed back to our apartment to pick Gill up and get her to the airport, then back to the hotel to check out, then over to my parents' for brunch. I really liked that, and definitely appreciate all the work that went into that. We had a bunch of my relatives, a few of his, and a bunch of friends, so it was very chill and very nice. It was a Monday, so of course quite a few people had to go back to work, but it was still really nice.
Went back home and opened some very lovely gifts. Thank you notes will of course be forthcoming, but in the meantime, thank you everybody. The cat also says thank you for the delightful ocean of paper he got to play in until we cleaned up. We went out for a nice pho dinner, and then went to bed pretty early.
Now I am back at work, and checking out all the photos that keep getting posted. I'm hoping to get them mostly consolidated to one spot, so I'll try to get a link for those who are not on Facebook.
All in all, a wonderfully busy weekend. So many friends and family, which was awesome, and getting married to someone so amazing... It was just good.