amazon_syren (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amazon_syren) wrote2006-07-13 10:09 pm
amazon_syren) wrote2006-07-13 10:09 pm
The Details. :-)
I don't even know if this will fit all in one post.
Hahaha...
But I'm going to try.
Okay.
First thing: I'm typing this using my new key-board (part of the new computer that Paul got me for a wedding present! Go him!) so there will likely be more type-os than usual. Bear with me.
Right.
Friday, July 7th, dawned bright and gorgeous. Hurrah!
I did my hair at 8am.
Wah.
(Even then, I still needed a hair-dryer to get it done properly 11 hours later).
I ran arrends (including picking up my Mom's thank-you gift -- a pedicure GC and KD Lang's "Hymns of the 49th Parallel" which I heartily recommend to all) until 12:45, and then had manicures with Mom, Mom-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Sister, and Maid-of-Honour.
We picked up the wedding party flowers at about 3pm (I think) -- The one not-so-bright spot of the day was that I'd asked for white/pink yarrow and they gave me yellow. Despite the specification. <*grumble*> So I payed for yellow compost-flowers, and then pulled them out when I got home, and replaced them with (dum-da-da-dum!) super-pale-pink yarrow *from my garden*! :-D
Which is about as nice a fix-up as you can get, frankly. :-) (Currently, I've got roses drying in my window from said bouquet, plus Paul's corsage and one of the bride's maid's flowers -- don't know whose).
After dealing w/ the yarrow thing, we (and by that, I mean Amanda and Christine) wrapped Mom's (and Paul's parents') thank-you gifts (see above, plus Late Harvest white wine -- somehere between a regular wine and an ice-wine, but for much cheaper than an ice-wine).
We got Paul's parents a really cool cheese/cutting board -- from Ithaca -- that contained purple-heart, cherry, walnut, and curly-maple woods (I think), as well as a bottle of Late Harvest wine -- Paul had taken the cutting board already, but we brought the wine.
Having packed everything into my sister's (wonderfully roomy!) rental car -- Some sort of pontiac, I think... Can't remember what kind. But it's good. I recommend (although I have no clue what kind of mileage it gets) -- and headed out to Strathmere for Decorating Duty and Getting Dressed Up.
Decorating basically meant putting blue beads and tea-lights (30 tea-light holders! Wah!) on all the tables, and making sure the flowers were in the right place.
Easy.
I brought pitas and assiago-artechoke dip and hummous (chick-pea dip, not compost) for snacks, because I was pretty sure most of us -- and definitely I -- hadn't eaten much, if anything, since breakfast.
This was a good thing.
After dealing with the decorations -- and the hotel check-in (a lot of us stayed over night -- Paul and I had a room with a king-sized bed and a jacouzzi --> note: a king-sized bed is too big a bed for two skinny people. If, however, you want to have a threesome (or a more-some) it would be perfect) -- we went and got gussied up.
My Mom brought my dress, so I was waiting on her for my stuff, but I did my make-up and started undoing my hair. (Many little braids -- my hair, like the rest of me, responds better to water than to dry heat).
Our photographer turned up -- we fed her some pitas, etc, too -- and took some 'getting ready' shots (most of which were already-ready shots, because My mom arrived before she did, and I wanted to get the show on the road, effectively).
But. I think the pictures will be nice.
As I said to Laura (the photographer -- she goes to my Mom's church, and can see ghosts -- we've known each-other since we were kids): I knew that modeling course would come in handy some day. ;-)
Here's hoping it did. ;-)
There are some nice shots of the girls, as well. I'm looking forward to seeing them! :-)
Then it was time for the actual ceremony. Woohoo! :-)
Walked over to the ceremony site (The Garden House) from the hotel room. Met the officiant on the way. she's a sweety. She remembered Ami_B and Zev (the best man) from when she did their respective weddings last year and the year before. :-) And she kept exclaiming over me. (Did I mention I like attention? -- And... that rhymed... Right.).
It was a fairly informal kind of thing, really. Nobody was 'hiding' -- Paul and I saw each other before the ceremony started, and we made sure the DJ had everything he needed, and we had Grace (the wedding co-ordinator provided by Strathmere) to keep everything running smoothly.
The boys and Paul processed in (to 'A Warm Place' by NIN).
I sang. :-)
I've been told since then that I have to make a recording of the song (Annie's Song. :-)
I think I will. :-)
The girls and I processed in (to 'Fluff' by Black Sabbath)
Whee! :-)
Paul and I wrote our own personal vows. They're going in our wedding album. :-)
We had a candle lit in the front row as a reminder of my Dad. :-)
We exchanged rings (both Celtic knot-work, but totally different in style -- mine's very delicate, whereas his is very bold lines).
We signed all the paper-work while Heather Dale's 'As I Am' played in the back-ground. (Arthur's proposal to Guenivere, for those who were wondering -- very pretty, very sweet, although marginally shorter than we needed it to be. ;-)
Then back we came, and Floralove (the officiant) declared us married and invited us to seal our vows with a kiss.
No problemo, Dude! :-D
We recessed out to the tune of Wolf Parade's "This Heart's on Fire" and the Aquabats! "Look at Me (I'm a Winner)!" -- Happy, boppy, dancy, joyful music, as is appropriate for a wedding recessional. :-D
Paul is my husband now! :-D
Well, okay, first there were photographs. Lots and lots of photographs. We got eaten by bugs. We swung on swings, we walked through corn, we generally had fun. I think they'll be good. :-)
Then there was food.
It was good.
Chicken or veggie Ratatoule. And peppers, and potatoes, and fruti soup, and fruit pie-sort-of-thing, accompanied by speaches and laughing and toasts and blessings and all that lovely stuff. :-)
Then there was dancing, a few more pictures, the sudden realization that it was 11:02 and we'd meant to get the cake out of the way at 10:30 and that we really had to do this *now* because the first bus-back-to-billings was coming in less than half an hour (and that was after Paul's Dad had phoned and post-poned it by a little bit) -- So we did the bouquet toss (Caught originally by my sister's boyfriend of two-and-a-half years, Scotty, but he handed it to Paul's 12-year-old cousin Tara, instead). We did the garter-toss (I made my garters -- the one Paul tossed had little blue flowers all over it, the other was made out of wedding dress fabric and had three little roses, a bell, and a triskel on it). My six-year-old cousin, Teo, caught that one. ;-)
Then there was cake.
You may recall me posting about the madness that was that cake.
I still have some in the fridge, if anyone is dying to have some more.
Guh.
It's really, really tastey, it's even moderately healthy... But every time I look at them, I go 'ugh -- I remember *making* those' and I just can't stand to have them in my house. Plus, it would be nice to have our fridge-space back.
But.
All is not lost. ;-) Paul's Gluten-allergic cousin (now *my* cousin) will probably be happy to take the no-gluten ones off our hands. And that will leave only one tupperware worth of cupcakes left to deal with. Woohoo! That, at least, is manneageable. :-)
But, it was still a big hit at the wedding, itself. I got to explain about the colour-coding I'd done on them -- which was a good thing, since they ended up being mixed together (which I hadn't expected them to do), so I'm glad I explained how things worked. <*Phew!*>
Anyway.
After that, we danced some more. :-)
Eventually, everyone cleared out (last bus home) -- we got rid of all the table-mums (one is on our coffee table now, but that's better than 20!)
Paul and I had a nice wander (under a lovely, waxing moon) over to our hotel room.
There was lingeree, and definite lack of any need for it. (The other lovely bridal-shower goodies I'd brought along got used on the honey-moon -- more on that later. ;-) and then there was sleep.
In a freakin' huge bed.
We didn't use the jacuzzi ($30.00 for the upgraded bed and fancy tub, so we're not out that much), although I did give myself a foot-bath the next day. :-)
All in all, a very-very-very good night. :-)
There was Brunch at Malone's (Dows Lake Pavillion, second floor -- very nice. *Really* good coffee, just so you know).
We gave out thank-you gifts, and chatted with people, and held a baby, and shook a lot of hands, and got a lot of hugs (and got re-hydrated... I was going on about six hours of sleep by then, and boy did I need *something* to keep me going).
After that, we went home.
There was a very fast opening of presents. (More on that later).
There was an even faster (and very hecktic) tidying of the main floor and the upstairs bathroom.
We had some company coming that night. (They ended up being an hour late -- Baby -- but they came).
Anyway.
In general, a very good weekend, and that was even before the honeymoon started.
I will post about that later on. :-)
Right now, it is time for bed.
I think we need (very badly) to clean our bedroom.
And I need to re-mount the curtain rod. It keeps slipping out of the plaster. (It's rather annoying, in fact).
So perhaps that (as well as seeing the new Pirates movie) will, I think, be tomorrow's task.
Currently, Paul is ridding our bedroom of a Really-Tiny-Spider infestation, and I am thinking "damn, it's hot" (a rare thing, for me) and contemplating my need for a new desk. A really good one with extra, built-in shelves. Preferably cheap.
Any suggestions? :-)
Anywhoo.
Life goes on, and Married Life begins in ernest (the honey-moon is a nice way to start it, don't you think? :-)
Anywhoo. Yes. I'll post about the honeymoon, and the loot, and Pirates and Kushiel's Scion which I got as part of Friday's errands, and read on the honey-moon (Paul actually read a novel! It's a miracle! :-) later on.
Right now, I need water, and significantly less clothing, and Paul has hit his head (our windows are a bit wonky) and needs some TLC. :-)
So I'm off. :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. (Mrs. Armstrong-Raven -- I can't help smiling when I say that. ;-)
Hahaha...
But I'm going to try.
Okay.
First thing: I'm typing this using my new key-board (part of the new computer that Paul got me for a wedding present! Go him!) so there will likely be more type-os than usual. Bear with me.
Right.
Friday, July 7th, dawned bright and gorgeous. Hurrah!
I did my hair at 8am.
Wah.
(Even then, I still needed a hair-dryer to get it done properly 11 hours later).
I ran arrends (including picking up my Mom's thank-you gift -- a pedicure GC and KD Lang's "Hymns of the 49th Parallel" which I heartily recommend to all) until 12:45, and then had manicures with Mom, Mom-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Sister, and Maid-of-Honour.
We picked up the wedding party flowers at about 3pm (I think) -- The one not-so-bright spot of the day was that I'd asked for white/pink yarrow and they gave me yellow. Despite the specification. <*grumble*> So I payed for yellow compost-flowers, and then pulled them out when I got home, and replaced them with (dum-da-da-dum!) super-pale-pink yarrow *from my garden*! :-D
Which is about as nice a fix-up as you can get, frankly. :-) (Currently, I've got roses drying in my window from said bouquet, plus Paul's corsage and one of the bride's maid's flowers -- don't know whose).
After dealing w/ the yarrow thing, we (and by that, I mean Amanda and Christine) wrapped Mom's (and Paul's parents') thank-you gifts (see above, plus Late Harvest white wine -- somehere between a regular wine and an ice-wine, but for much cheaper than an ice-wine).
We got Paul's parents a really cool cheese/cutting board -- from Ithaca -- that contained purple-heart, cherry, walnut, and curly-maple woods (I think), as well as a bottle of Late Harvest wine -- Paul had taken the cutting board already, but we brought the wine.
Having packed everything into my sister's (wonderfully roomy!) rental car -- Some sort of pontiac, I think... Can't remember what kind. But it's good. I recommend (although I have no clue what kind of mileage it gets) -- and headed out to Strathmere for Decorating Duty and Getting Dressed Up.
Decorating basically meant putting blue beads and tea-lights (30 tea-light holders! Wah!) on all the tables, and making sure the flowers were in the right place.
Easy.
I brought pitas and assiago-artechoke dip and hummous (chick-pea dip, not compost) for snacks, because I was pretty sure most of us -- and definitely I -- hadn't eaten much, if anything, since breakfast.
This was a good thing.
After dealing with the decorations -- and the hotel check-in (a lot of us stayed over night -- Paul and I had a room with a king-sized bed and a jacouzzi --> note: a king-sized bed is too big a bed for two skinny people. If, however, you want to have a threesome (or a more-some) it would be perfect) -- we went and got gussied up.
My Mom brought my dress, so I was waiting on her for my stuff, but I did my make-up and started undoing my hair. (Many little braids -- my hair, like the rest of me, responds better to water than to dry heat).
Our photographer turned up -- we fed her some pitas, etc, too -- and took some 'getting ready' shots (most of which were already-ready shots, because My mom arrived before she did, and I wanted to get the show on the road, effectively).
But. I think the pictures will be nice.
As I said to Laura (the photographer -- she goes to my Mom's church, and can see ghosts -- we've known each-other since we were kids): I knew that modeling course would come in handy some day. ;-)
Here's hoping it did. ;-)
There are some nice shots of the girls, as well. I'm looking forward to seeing them! :-)
Then it was time for the actual ceremony. Woohoo! :-)
Walked over to the ceremony site (The Garden House) from the hotel room. Met the officiant on the way. she's a sweety. She remembered Ami_B and Zev (the best man) from when she did their respective weddings last year and the year before. :-) And she kept exclaiming over me. (Did I mention I like attention? -- And... that rhymed... Right.).
It was a fairly informal kind of thing, really. Nobody was 'hiding' -- Paul and I saw each other before the ceremony started, and we made sure the DJ had everything he needed, and we had Grace (the wedding co-ordinator provided by Strathmere) to keep everything running smoothly.
The boys and Paul processed in (to 'A Warm Place' by NIN).
I sang. :-)
I've been told since then that I have to make a recording of the song (Annie's Song. :-)
I think I will. :-)
The girls and I processed in (to 'Fluff' by Black Sabbath)
Whee! :-)
Paul and I wrote our own personal vows. They're going in our wedding album. :-)
We had a candle lit in the front row as a reminder of my Dad. :-)
We exchanged rings (both Celtic knot-work, but totally different in style -- mine's very delicate, whereas his is very bold lines).
We signed all the paper-work while Heather Dale's 'As I Am' played in the back-ground. (Arthur's proposal to Guenivere, for those who were wondering -- very pretty, very sweet, although marginally shorter than we needed it to be. ;-)
Then back we came, and Floralove (the officiant) declared us married and invited us to seal our vows with a kiss.
No problemo, Dude! :-D
We recessed out to the tune of Wolf Parade's "This Heart's on Fire" and the Aquabats! "Look at Me (I'm a Winner)!" -- Happy, boppy, dancy, joyful music, as is appropriate for a wedding recessional. :-D
Paul is my husband now! :-D
Well, okay, first there were photographs. Lots and lots of photographs. We got eaten by bugs. We swung on swings, we walked through corn, we generally had fun. I think they'll be good. :-)
Then there was food.
It was good.
Chicken or veggie Ratatoule. And peppers, and potatoes, and fruti soup, and fruit pie-sort-of-thing, accompanied by speaches and laughing and toasts and blessings and all that lovely stuff. :-)
Then there was dancing, a few more pictures, the sudden realization that it was 11:02 and we'd meant to get the cake out of the way at 10:30 and that we really had to do this *now* because the first bus-back-to-billings was coming in less than half an hour (and that was after Paul's Dad had phoned and post-poned it by a little bit) -- So we did the bouquet toss (Caught originally by my sister's boyfriend of two-and-a-half years, Scotty, but he handed it to Paul's 12-year-old cousin Tara, instead). We did the garter-toss (I made my garters -- the one Paul tossed had little blue flowers all over it, the other was made out of wedding dress fabric and had three little roses, a bell, and a triskel on it). My six-year-old cousin, Teo, caught that one. ;-)
Then there was cake.
You may recall me posting about the madness that was that cake.
I still have some in the fridge, if anyone is dying to have some more.
Guh.
It's really, really tastey, it's even moderately healthy... But every time I look at them, I go 'ugh -- I remember *making* those' and I just can't stand to have them in my house. Plus, it would be nice to have our fridge-space back.
But.
All is not lost. ;-) Paul's Gluten-allergic cousin (now *my* cousin) will probably be happy to take the no-gluten ones off our hands. And that will leave only one tupperware worth of cupcakes left to deal with. Woohoo! That, at least, is manneageable. :-)
But, it was still a big hit at the wedding, itself. I got to explain about the colour-coding I'd done on them -- which was a good thing, since they ended up being mixed together (which I hadn't expected them to do), so I'm glad I explained how things worked. <*Phew!*>
Anyway.
After that, we danced some more. :-)
Eventually, everyone cleared out (last bus home) -- we got rid of all the table-mums (one is on our coffee table now, but that's better than 20!)
Paul and I had a nice wander (under a lovely, waxing moon) over to our hotel room.
There was lingeree, and definite lack of any need for it. (The other lovely bridal-shower goodies I'd brought along got used on the honey-moon -- more on that later. ;-) and then there was sleep.
In a freakin' huge bed.
We didn't use the jacuzzi ($30.00 for the upgraded bed and fancy tub, so we're not out that much), although I did give myself a foot-bath the next day. :-)
All in all, a very-very-very good night. :-)
There was Brunch at Malone's (Dows Lake Pavillion, second floor -- very nice. *Really* good coffee, just so you know).
We gave out thank-you gifts, and chatted with people, and held a baby, and shook a lot of hands, and got a lot of hugs (and got re-hydrated... I was going on about six hours of sleep by then, and boy did I need *something* to keep me going).
After that, we went home.
There was a very fast opening of presents. (More on that later).
There was an even faster (and very hecktic) tidying of the main floor and the upstairs bathroom.
We had some company coming that night. (They ended up being an hour late -- Baby -- but they came).
Anyway.
In general, a very good weekend, and that was even before the honeymoon started.
I will post about that later on. :-)
Right now, it is time for bed.
I think we need (very badly) to clean our bedroom.
And I need to re-mount the curtain rod. It keeps slipping out of the plaster. (It's rather annoying, in fact).
So perhaps that (as well as seeing the new Pirates movie) will, I think, be tomorrow's task.
Currently, Paul is ridding our bedroom of a Really-Tiny-Spider infestation, and I am thinking "damn, it's hot" (a rare thing, for me) and contemplating my need for a new desk. A really good one with extra, built-in shelves. Preferably cheap.
Any suggestions? :-)
Anywhoo.
Life goes on, and Married Life begins in ernest (the honey-moon is a nice way to start it, don't you think? :-)
Anywhoo. Yes. I'll post about the honeymoon, and the loot, and Pirates and Kushiel's Scion which I got as part of Friday's errands, and read on the honey-moon (Paul actually read a novel! It's a miracle! :-) later on.
Right now, I need water, and significantly less clothing, and Paul has hit his head (our windows are a bit wonky) and needs some TLC. :-)
So I'm off. :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. (Mrs. Armstrong-Raven -- I can't help smiling when I say that. ;-)