There is a lot I want to say about the wedding weekend, from the rehearsal dinner to the joint bachelor/bacheorlette party. Like how at one point we had so many people in the car that Jamison had to ride in the trunk on top of several suitcases. And once I was with Adam's family, when we encountered a man with such a deep Southern accent that they couldn't understand what he was saying, I watched as his cousin's face dropped in shock, before I had to step in to translate. And on Friday night Adam and I were meeting with the minister, right before the rehearsal started, when my flower girl, Chloe, walked up and asked her mother who I was talking too. Her mother told her I was talking to the man who was going to marry me. Chloe thought I was marrying the minister, a MUCH older gentleman. So she freaked out and every five minutes she would say, "SHE CAN'T MARRY HIM, WE HAVE TO GO TALK TO HER." But for now, I really just want to skip to the main event. There would be a million things I could say, but I just want to share some best moments.
I woke up on Saturday and the first thing I did was put on the perfume beautiful. Because when I was growing up that is what my mother always wore. The smell always reminds me of all the wonderful times I had with my mother, and brings back all the best things about childhood. While I was driving to my grandmother's house to pick up the dress & bridesmaid's gifts, "Keeper of the Stars," by Tracey Byrd came on the radio. I haven't heard that song in years; it is my mother's and stepfather's song. That made me tear up.
That morning I sat around the salon talking to my bridesmaids, and we reminisced about our favorite stories. We teased each other about how crazy everyone looked in rollers and under the dryers. I was reminded about why and just how much I love my friends. This is the place it finally hit home, "This is my wedding day."
The weather was spectacular, the house was decorated gorgeously. The tables looked elegant, the gazebo was stunning. I went upstairs to get ready, and my mother put on my make-up. My sister-in-law helped me with my petticoat, my maid of honor and one of my bridesmaids pulled me into my corset. My Aunt Dawn did my hair, and a family friend, Tina, put on my garter. Everyone was milling around getting ready, waiting on me hand and foot. I talked to my mother-in-law and she told me Adam was pacing around outside. Soon it was show time, and a guy friend Austin helped me down the stairs with my train (I'm not supposed to tell y'all that). Everyone lined up and for the first time I felt nervous.
My mother and father both walked me down the aisle. When I first saw Adam, he nodded at me, and that was one of the most blissful moments of my entire life. The preacher asked who giveth this woman, and at that very moment my 15 month old cousin hollered loudly. Everyone laughed. And then my father said, "Her mother and I do." We exchanged our vows, and I did get a little choked up. We then exchanged the rings and the preacher announced we were husband and wife, and we kissed like there was no tomorrow. The minister then said, “What God has brought together, let no man tear asunder."
After doing the receiving line, and taking some pictures, everyone went inside to get a bite to eat. Adam and I both ate dinner (sorta), we were too keyed up to really pay attention to what we were eating (baked chicken, meat loaf, southern green beans, mashed potatoes). My advice to brides-to-be? Get a to-go plate from the caterer to take with you to the hotel. Next, we lit the unity candle, and then our best man & maid-of-honor gave touching speeches for the champagne toast. Jenny's speech almost made me cry. Then it was time for the part I've been looking forward to for months...cutting the cake.
My mother didn't want me to do the shoving cake in the face thing, because of my dress. So I told her not to watch. I knew I was going to do it, and I told Adam to go for it. And that is what we did, and once wasn't enough, we got each other three times at least. It was a wedding day food fight! He got it in my eye, and I got it up his nose.
After the cake cutting, it was time to get the party started. But first Adam and I had our dance. I had chosen the song Feels Like Home by Chantal Kreviazuk. A song that truly explains how I feel about Adam. I thought I would be self conscious dancing with everyone watching me, but I really did feel like we were alone on the dance floor.
Then we did the dollar dance to "Hungry Like the Wolf." It turned into a mini- competition between Adam and me (who could get the most money). Adam made one more dollar than I did. Boo. I danced with almost every guy there, in fact one of the groomsmen tried to stop anyone else from dancing with me. And at one point I looked down to find the ring bearer holding up a dollar. So precious. And the flower girl wore all the guys out! Chloe's form of dancing involved repeatedly hopping around, so the groomsmen all took turns with her. After it was all over, Chloe was going around telling everyone that, "She danced with all the boys there..."
When things settled down a bit, I finally got to dance with my father. It really doesn’t matter why, but my father and I have been estranged for a number of years. So at first while we danced it was only small talk, and then it turned to more serious talk. And my father told me he loved me, something I really needed to hear. And then I bawled like a baby, it really just felt like a fresh beginning. A much needed fresh beginning.
One of the last things we did was the bouquet/ garter toss. All weekend long we had been mercislessly teasing our friends Jana & Austin (pictured above), who have been dating for quite a while, and who are a tad bit commimtment phobic. So I told her I was going to toss the bouquet straight to her. I was only kidding, but she actually caught it! So after that Austin announced, "The bouquet means nothing!" Then when we did the garter toss, all the boys bolted as soon as it was thrown. So no one caught it. I think they must all sit around comparing non-marriage notes. Men!
When it was time to leave, everyone lined up with their bubble bottles that were shaped like champagne bottles. We hugged everyone goodbye, and then we ran and jumped into my mom’s car that was decked out. The whole trip home people were honking and waving. When we got to the hotel, two little girls were waiting to see the bride come out of the car. I gave them a big hug, and I felt like a princess.
We were told our room wasn’t ready for us, I didn’t know what was going on, but they told us to wait 10 minutes before going upstairs. So while we were waiting for the room to be ready, I sat around feeling like a pastry puff. I ran into my cousin Samantha and her daughter Cammie (who was a junior bridesmaid in the wedding), and found out she had been walking around pretending to be me. So cute. Finally we got to go upstairs, and we saw flower petals leading up to the door. Once we got inside there were flower centerpieces from the wedding everywhere, candles were lit, and champagne was sitting on the coffee table. It was stunning. I opened the bottle of champagne, and the cork hit the ceiling. And this is where all descriptions end…
Launch Wedding Photos*
These are some great unedited photos my dad took; this isn't all the pictures I have. But a good amount, so check it out. (Just click on the photo of Adam and me to see them all).
I mused out loud, “I wonder how they got the penguin to stand on top of the polar bear?” No one really said anything because they really thought I was just kidding.
I'm so cute when I'm clueless.
After lunch we were supposed to meet with Ana, to help her set up her reception hall. But Ana wasn't yet in town, so we went back to the hotel for a few hours. By that time I had only slept three hours in two days, and it occurred to me that I should probably take a nap. But instead we stayed in bed giggling like a bunch of school girls because of an episode of Wife Swap. During the introduction, the announcer introduced a family who is really busy, except for the husband who is a loner that plays the organ. But of course the announcer said, "The family stays really busy, except for the husband, who stays home alone to play with his organ in the basement." OK, so maybe we were lacking sleep or we just have the mentality of 12 yr old boys in puberty, but that seemed like the funniest thing ever. In fact, we laughed about that all weekend. The man stays at home to play with his organ in the basement!! Oye, that's good.
Finally, Banana got into town and we headed over to the reception hall. Now I'm not in the wedding party, but I planned to help because I love her. Plus she helped me with my wedding favors, after I had gotten my nails done which made me lose all ability to use my hands. Banana was definitely not a bridezilla, more like a bananazilla. Not in the mean way, just in the really overwhelmed way. I felt that way too, and I remember the morning of my wedding I cried for 45 minutes because I just didn't know how everything would get done.
Ana's wedding was at 5 o'clock on Saturday, she walked down the aisle to "Oh" by the Dave Matthew's Band. The thing I will always remember from the ceremony is the look on the groom's face. Jason is a really laid back guy, and you never see much emotion on his face. But as the wedding party was walking down the aisle he was grinning from ear to ear, and when Ana made her appearance he began to cry. Which in turn made me cry, I always cry at weddings. They combined Catholic, Methodist, and Filipino traditions, along with doing both traditional and personal vows. In the end they walked out to, "You & Me" by the Dave Matthew's Band. One of my favourite songs!
Their reception took place at a nearby country club. We waited for the couple at the wrong entrance, so unfortunately they didn't get the grand entrance they should of. But they were too happy to care. For the first hour, they had hire an Elvis impersonator. Which rocked since we were in the birthplace of the king.
Their first dance was, "Must Be Doing Something Right," by Billy Currington. But soon we were all dancing, and let me tell you I may have no ability to dance, but I'm a dancing fool. Soon we were all dancing, laughing, drinking, and having the best time. They cut both cakes, one was the bride's cake, a beautiful butter cream covered with orchids. And the groom's cake was a 3D version of Jason's Purple Hooter Car. The weirdest thing about the wedding to me, is for the first time in my life I couldn't try to catch the bouquet!
After much dancing and festivities, Ana and Jason ran through a maze of sparklers and headed off to their mini honeymoon. I guess we hadn't had enough drinking at the wedding, because afterwards we hit the liqor store. I can honestly say I don't remember much of the evening after that. But I do remember making up my own lyrics to Benny & Jets, " She's got electric boobs, homemade shoes, you know I read it in a MAGAZINE!" And I kept singing that over and over. Also you know the lyric from a song that says, "How Low Can You GO? Can You Go Down Low? All The Way To The Floor?" I demonstrated how low I could go, by laying down on the floor and not getting up again. 
So you know how I had stayed up the entire night before my flight to Mississippi reading about plane crashes, and how it made me a girl who adores flying slightly apprehensive? Well you will never believe what happened to me. My flight to Dallas went off without a hitch. And I even spent sometime feeling like a lush in DFW airport, because I started drinking at 9 o'clock a.m. California time. I felt guilty, but then I asked myself, "What Would Alan Jackson Do?" And Alan Jackson would say it is 5 o'clock somewhere and get on with it.
