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sexion8 said that I had to write up all the details of the wedding as soon as I get back from the honeymoon, which made me think - what else am I doing right now? I might as well write a detail-filled entry about last night before I forget it all in the haze of tonight and then the beach and OMG DEAD OF RELAXATION AND POSSIBLY SEX.
And so, I present to you:
The Day Before
Most of the day yesterday was spent either a) at the airport, picking people up, or b) at the Mall of America, playing with makeup and spending money. We'll get to that in a bit.
First, let's introduce you to some people you'll need to know about later.
lillaura is my younger sister and maid of honor. She rocks. Hard. We're really close, but - as often happens with people who care a lot about each other - sometimes we absolutely hate each other. It can go either way, depending on things like the time of day and the number of clouds in the sky.
Liz is my cousin who's 15 (and a half) and my bridesmaid. She's adorable, just got contacts, and is borrowing a pair of my shoes for the wedding tommorrow, which she thinks is just the coooooolest. She has two brothers, Tim and derherrwill, who are ushers.
Stephen is Alex's older brother. He's Osley's daddy, and he and his family (he's married to Cindy) live in Albuquerque.
Hugo is Alex's best friend. He's the one who got married at the end of April, to Nikki.
Stephen and Hugo are "best men." Remember that for later.
kellyrose82 is a friend from college - she got married a year ago (tomorrow!) and I was in her wedding. You may remember pictures of me in a pink dress at that shindig. She's reading a poem that will totally make me cry.
Leslie is another friend from college. She's here with her boyfriend (Tim, which might get confusing later), who I'd never met and decided that I really like. Our friendship is really funny, in that we never really hung out with the same crowd or partied together (much) and we never lived together, but we somehow ended up incredibly close and have stayed that way. She's amazing. And she's also doing a reading.
Andrea is the last reader, and was one of my roommates when I first moved to Denver. Out of the nine other people in that house, she's the one who kept me sane - I'm not sure I would have made it through that year without her. She and Alex get along great, too, and sometimes go on dates (when a new Harry Potter flick comes out and I have no interest in it, for example), and she's listed in the bulletin as "friend of the couple." Because she is. She's also here with her boyfriend, Shaun, who is tall and fun.
Dan and Mary are the pastors that are marrying us - they're married, they've been at my church for fourteen years, they're good friends with my parents, I love them both to death, and I couldn't imagine not having both of them involved.
So, yesterday began with driving to the airport in the morning to pick up Leslie and Tim. Hugo and Nikki were coming in around the same time, so Alex was out there (with his parent's rental car) picking them up.
WAIT! I lied.
See? I'm already forgetting stuff. Damn booze.
The day really began with a 7am trip to the farmer's market. My cousin Tim's girlfriend, Martene, is doing our flowers - as their gift to us, which is so amazingly nice - and she's doing it farmer's market-style. So we met up there yesterday morning to look at stuff together and make sure we were on the same page. (This isn't the first she's thought about it, though, no sir. She has a spreadsheet and everything. They're going to be amazing.)
Okay. Then airport to get Leslie and Tim and Hugo and Nikki. That went off without a hitch, which was outstanding. We took them to the hotel and they were able to check in right away, even though it was not quite 10:00. Also outstanding.
I came home and showered, which had been the main thing on my agenda for most of the morning.
Then we went BACK out to the airport, this time with Laura in tow, and picked up kellyrose82 - from there, we all got dropped off at the Mall. Leslie and Tim were taking the light rail out there, so we met up with them eventually. I made a couple of quick stops (Victoria's Secret and The Limited, for undies and a necklace) and then we got to Sephora, where Laura and I both had appointments for makeup.
First, the most adorable girl ever did lillaura - she NEVER wears any makeup besides lipstick, so this was sort of a shock to her, but she looked gorgeous. They played with greens and golds and pretty pretty pretty.
(Oh, I should probably say here that we're planning on doing our own makeup tomorrow TODAY HOLY SHIT.)
(Ahem.)
I was next, and I finally finally FINALLY got someone who paid attention to what the hell I was saying. Thank Christ for that. The makeup she did was perfect and exactly what I wanted.
Then came the part where we had to figure out what the hell we actually wanted to buy. That was hard, and lillaura had sort of a dramatically difficult time, but it's all okay and we'll be pretty and not broke and it will all work out.
By this time, it was after 4:30, and the rehearsal was at 5:30. We dropped kellyrose82 off at the hotel (she and Leslie and Tim had wandered around and played together and had fun) and got back to the house where Laura promptly took off half the eye makeup she was wearing and we both did our hair. We got to the church approximately on time, where we all ended up standing around for a while.
At this point, Hugo and Nikki showed up, but were just staying outside, talking to Alex. Hugo was crying about something, but I couldn't tell if they were just being Bros or if something was really wrong. Nikki eventually came in and told me that Hugo's brother had called right before he was getting in the shower to get ready for the rehearsal - a friend of his (and Alex's, though as far as I know, Alex hasn't seen this guy in the entire two and a half years we've been together) has had lukemia, and it's going downhill quickly. So. Upset Hugo.
And here's where I get heartless, so prepare yourselves.
I understand being upset, and I'm sorry that Hugo's having to deal with this right now. However. When I said he was being obnoxious? I mean that I honestly couldn't tell if he was drunk or sober (I'm still not sure, honestly). As we were getting ready to rehearse the walk down the aisle, my dad said, "Man, Hugo's a piece of work, isn't he?" And he's NOT, which is the frustrating part. I'm not angry that he was upset, but he's a grownup and needed to keep his shit together for forty minutes, not try to make himself feel better by being completely fucking disruptive. It just made him - and Alex, by proxy - look bad.
Anyway.
The rest of the rehearsal went super-duper fast, which was great. Except that Alex is incapable of making decisions, so there's some confusion - and possibly hurt feelings - among his best men. Dan and Mary are so incredibly relaxed that we were all relaxed and we were done before 6:30, while our dinner reservations weren't until 7:30. So we hung at the church and talked about a few things, I chewed Alex out about Hugo, and then we walked back to the hotel and had a drink (or two, in my case, damn you Nikki).
(Also, just so we're clear, the hotel is half a block from the church, and the reception site is two blocks down. Hence all the walking)
We were having dinner downtown at Pizza Luce. Downtown on a Friday night was maybe not the best choice, especially when there's a Twins game and a Dixie Chicks concert. Whoops. But everyone made it to the restaurant in one piece.
The food was fantastic. There were salads right away, then lasagna, and then Alex's dad ordered a bunch of pizzas and OMG there was so much food and it was amazing. I had two glasses of wine, some salad, some lasagna, and a piece and half of (really super yummy) pizza.
Hugo and Nikki did end up coming, which I wasn't sure they would. I guess after the rehearsal Hugo went back up to their room and fell apart for a few minutes, and then was better. He and Nikki ended up riding to dinner with my mom and Alex's mom, which was sort of hilarious, 'cause my mom drove around and around and AROUND the block, which meant she drove by Sexworld about seventeen times. Hugo, later in the night, was like, "Was your mom trying to tell me something that I wasn't aware of?" Hee.
We hung out and ate for a while, handed out cards and gifts, I said a little something - and totally cried, dammit - and then we headed out. There was a ton of food left over, so we took all that to church and put it in the new big refrigerators for lunches for today. Outstanding.
Eventually, we made it back to the hotel. "We" was me and Alex, lillaura, Kelly, Leslie and Tim and Andrea and Shaun. By the time Alex and I and Laura got there, Hugo and Nikki had headed to bed, and Andrea and Shaun left soon after (they're staying way out in the 'burbs and had to drive). Stephen eventually came down, too, and we all sat around and talked and drank and Tim at one point asked the bartender for munchies, which was an excellent idea, and pictures were taken and it was so so so fun. I love my buds.
We got a couple of nice words, too - Tim said the whole day had been a "thumbs up" (which is nice to hear, especially from someone you just met, who doesn't have to be nice) and kellyrose82 said she liked our rehearsal dinner better than her own. Wheeee!
We eventually made it home in one piece, and lillaura and I stumbled up to bed and passed out.
And there endeth the day.
It's now over an hour after I started typing this, and I've got to go start thinking about packing for the honeymoon (our flight LEAVES at 6am tomorrow), but I'm really glad I took the time to type all this up. Don't feel obligated to read every word, but I'm happy I've got it preserved for posterity. I may have to take notes tonight so I can do the same thing later for the wedding itself.
And so, I present to you:
The Day Before
Most of the day yesterday was spent either a) at the airport, picking people up, or b) at the Mall of America, playing with makeup and spending money. We'll get to that in a bit.
First, let's introduce you to some people you'll need to know about later.
lillaura is my younger sister and maid of honor. She rocks. Hard. We're really close, but - as often happens with people who care a lot about each other - sometimes we absolutely hate each other. It can go either way, depending on things like the time of day and the number of clouds in the sky.
Liz is my cousin who's 15 (and a half) and my bridesmaid. She's adorable, just got contacts, and is borrowing a pair of my shoes for the wedding tommorrow, which she thinks is just the coooooolest. She has two brothers, Tim and derherrwill, who are ushers.
Stephen is Alex's older brother. He's Osley's daddy, and he and his family (he's married to Cindy) live in Albuquerque.
Hugo is Alex's best friend. He's the one who got married at the end of April, to Nikki.
Stephen and Hugo are "best men." Remember that for later.
kellyrose82 is a friend from college - she got married a year ago (tomorrow!) and I was in her wedding. You may remember pictures of me in a pink dress at that shindig. She's reading a poem that will totally make me cry.
Leslie is another friend from college. She's here with her boyfriend (Tim, which might get confusing later), who I'd never met and decided that I really like. Our friendship is really funny, in that we never really hung out with the same crowd or partied together (much) and we never lived together, but we somehow ended up incredibly close and have stayed that way. She's amazing. And she's also doing a reading.
Andrea is the last reader, and was one of my roommates when I first moved to Denver. Out of the nine other people in that house, she's the one who kept me sane - I'm not sure I would have made it through that year without her. She and Alex get along great, too, and sometimes go on dates (when a new Harry Potter flick comes out and I have no interest in it, for example), and she's listed in the bulletin as "friend of the couple." Because she is. She's also here with her boyfriend, Shaun, who is tall and fun.
Dan and Mary are the pastors that are marrying us - they're married, they've been at my church for fourteen years, they're good friends with my parents, I love them both to death, and I couldn't imagine not having both of them involved.
So, yesterday began with driving to the airport in the morning to pick up Leslie and Tim. Hugo and Nikki were coming in around the same time, so Alex was out there (with his parent's rental car) picking them up.
WAIT! I lied.
See? I'm already forgetting stuff. Damn booze.
The day really began with a 7am trip to the farmer's market. My cousin Tim's girlfriend, Martene, is doing our flowers - as their gift to us, which is so amazingly nice - and she's doing it farmer's market-style. So we met up there yesterday morning to look at stuff together and make sure we were on the same page. (This isn't the first she's thought about it, though, no sir. She has a spreadsheet and everything. They're going to be amazing.)
Okay. Then airport to get Leslie and Tim and Hugo and Nikki. That went off without a hitch, which was outstanding. We took them to the hotel and they were able to check in right away, even though it was not quite 10:00. Also outstanding.
I came home and showered, which had been the main thing on my agenda for most of the morning.
Then we went BACK out to the airport, this time with Laura in tow, and picked up kellyrose82 - from there, we all got dropped off at the Mall. Leslie and Tim were taking the light rail out there, so we met up with them eventually. I made a couple of quick stops (Victoria's Secret and The Limited, for undies and a necklace) and then we got to Sephora, where Laura and I both had appointments for makeup.
First, the most adorable girl ever did lillaura - she NEVER wears any makeup besides lipstick, so this was sort of a shock to her, but she looked gorgeous. They played with greens and golds and pretty pretty pretty.
(Oh, I should probably say here that we're planning on doing our own makeup tomorrow TODAY HOLY SHIT.)
(Ahem.)
I was next, and I finally finally FINALLY got someone who paid attention to what the hell I was saying. Thank Christ for that. The makeup she did was perfect and exactly what I wanted.
Then came the part where we had to figure out what the hell we actually wanted to buy. That was hard, and lillaura had sort of a dramatically difficult time, but it's all okay and we'll be pretty and not broke and it will all work out.
By this time, it was after 4:30, and the rehearsal was at 5:30. We dropped kellyrose82 off at the hotel (she and Leslie and Tim had wandered around and played together and had fun) and got back to the house where Laura promptly took off half the eye makeup she was wearing and we both did our hair. We got to the church approximately on time, where we all ended up standing around for a while.
At this point, Hugo and Nikki showed up, but were just staying outside, talking to Alex. Hugo was crying about something, but I couldn't tell if they were just being Bros or if something was really wrong. Nikki eventually came in and told me that Hugo's brother had called right before he was getting in the shower to get ready for the rehearsal - a friend of his (and Alex's, though as far as I know, Alex hasn't seen this guy in the entire two and a half years we've been together) has had lukemia, and it's going downhill quickly. So. Upset Hugo.
And here's where I get heartless, so prepare yourselves.
I understand being upset, and I'm sorry that Hugo's having to deal with this right now. However. When I said he was being obnoxious? I mean that I honestly couldn't tell if he was drunk or sober (I'm still not sure, honestly). As we were getting ready to rehearse the walk down the aisle, my dad said, "Man, Hugo's a piece of work, isn't he?" And he's NOT, which is the frustrating part. I'm not angry that he was upset, but he's a grownup and needed to keep his shit together for forty minutes, not try to make himself feel better by being completely fucking disruptive. It just made him - and Alex, by proxy - look bad.
Anyway.
The rest of the rehearsal went super-duper fast, which was great. Except that Alex is incapable of making decisions, so there's some confusion - and possibly hurt feelings - among his best men. Dan and Mary are so incredibly relaxed that we were all relaxed and we were done before 6:30, while our dinner reservations weren't until 7:30. So we hung at the church and talked about a few things, I chewed Alex out about Hugo, and then we walked back to the hotel and had a drink (or two, in my case, damn you Nikki).
(Also, just so we're clear, the hotel is half a block from the church, and the reception site is two blocks down. Hence all the walking)
We were having dinner downtown at Pizza Luce. Downtown on a Friday night was maybe not the best choice, especially when there's a Twins game and a Dixie Chicks concert. Whoops. But everyone made it to the restaurant in one piece.
The food was fantastic. There were salads right away, then lasagna, and then Alex's dad ordered a bunch of pizzas and OMG there was so much food and it was amazing. I had two glasses of wine, some salad, some lasagna, and a piece and half of (really super yummy) pizza.
Hugo and Nikki did end up coming, which I wasn't sure they would. I guess after the rehearsal Hugo went back up to their room and fell apart for a few minutes, and then was better. He and Nikki ended up riding to dinner with my mom and Alex's mom, which was sort of hilarious, 'cause my mom drove around and around and AROUND the block, which meant she drove by Sexworld about seventeen times. Hugo, later in the night, was like, "Was your mom trying to tell me something that I wasn't aware of?" Hee.
We hung out and ate for a while, handed out cards and gifts, I said a little something - and totally cried, dammit - and then we headed out. There was a ton of food left over, so we took all that to church and put it in the new big refrigerators for lunches for today. Outstanding.
Eventually, we made it back to the hotel. "We" was me and Alex, lillaura, Kelly, Leslie and Tim and Andrea and Shaun. By the time Alex and I and Laura got there, Hugo and Nikki had headed to bed, and Andrea and Shaun left soon after (they're staying way out in the 'burbs and had to drive). Stephen eventually came down, too, and we all sat around and talked and drank and Tim at one point asked the bartender for munchies, which was an excellent idea, and pictures were taken and it was so so so fun. I love my buds.
We got a couple of nice words, too - Tim said the whole day had been a "thumbs up" (which is nice to hear, especially from someone you just met, who doesn't have to be nice) and kellyrose82 said she liked our rehearsal dinner better than her own. Wheeee!
We eventually made it home in one piece, and lillaura and I stumbled up to bed and passed out.
And there endeth the day.
It's now over an hour after I started typing this, and I've got to go start thinking about packing for the honeymoon (our flight LEAVES at 6am tomorrow), but I'm really glad I took the time to type all this up. Don't feel obligated to read every word, but I'm happy I've got it preserved for posterity. I may have to take notes tonight so I can do the same thing later for the wedding itself.