The wedding post

What is with me? Anytime something big happens I completely forget to report on it. Here it is, over a week after my mom got married and I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Perchance there is just too much to say. Perhaps there are no words to describe the event. Maybe I've been busy. It's most likely that I'm just lazy. Sorry Ma!

Day 1, Thursday night:
Arrive in Chicago late. Sister arrives late at the exact same time. Hilarity ensues as she waits for luggage in one terminal, I wait for train in another to get to her terminal, and Mom waits in car outside clueless as to where we are. Somehow we find each other, complain about air travel, and head to Mom's condo.

Day 2, Friday:
Three-way fight with Mom and Leah over brunch, perfectly normal. We generally get on each other's nerves anytime we are together, best we got it out of the way before any wedding activities began. Mom and I head out for some last minute fun-time shopping while Leah decorates the wedding cake. We all converge at the condo and head up to the hotel/restaurant to drop off the cake and check in to the hotel in Evanston. Mom has dinner with Homer, Leah goes out with her friends, I have dinner with Kristen. We complain about men, she spills wine all over her cute capris, we drink remainder of the bottle and then start laughing for the rest of the night. Can't remember about what, but I'm certain it was hilarious.

Day 3, Saturday:
Today we begin to simply refer to Mom as "The Bride" or "Bride." We start early for The Bride's Super Special Spa Day. The guest list as pictured below: Leah, Lisa (Bride's best friend), The Bride, me, Gerry (Bride's older sister), Abby (Groom's youngest daughter), and Susan (Bride's younger sister). Hey, I'm not even close to the shortest person in that group!
Bride got a manicure, pedicure and facial while the rest of us got mani/pedis. Except for Lisa, who, due to an unfortunate nail polish allergy, got the strangest hand and foot massage in history as the technician didn't use any lotion/oil/spittle... anything. After the spa, tapas for lunch where we surprised The Bride with presents.

Sidebar... The Bride really wasn't surprised by the presents at this point. Before the day started I get a call from Susan in my hotel room. We are getting ready to depart with Bride to the spa and she doesn't know how to hide the presents. The conversation goes something like this:

Susan says, "I got a garbage bag from the front desk, do you want to put your present in there too?"
I ask, "A garbage bag? Don't you think Bride will think it's a little strange that you are bringing a suspicious garbage bag with you to the spa?"
"Well I'll just tell her it's junk or something."
"Don't you think she'll wonder why you are bringing a bag of junk to a spa?"
"I don't know..."
"Susan, I think the jig is up on the presents."

She still came downstairs with the garbage bag. Bride told us later that she did think it was strange but just thought they were decorations for the restaurant, or so she says....

After lunch we have about an hour to relax before heading to the church for the rehearsal. There was major miscommunication in that Bride thought her two sisters were coming to the rehearsal but they thought they weren't. Last minute she calls them both, wakes them up from their naps and drags them to the church. The church went long, but we were having fun. Most fun I've had in a church... ever. I didn't even burst into flames.

After the rehearsal, dinner at a pizza place with everyone at the rehearsal and anyone else who was in town, which was a lot of Homer's family by this point. Lots of people getting to know each other from many families. Good times with round cheesy Chicago goodness.

Day 4, Sunday, The Wedding Day:
First day I get to sleep in a little bit. After getting ready Leah, Abby, Caroline (Groom's older daughter) and I met in The Bride's suite at 2pm for girl pictures. We then took some more with Groom in the parlor. Into the limo and off to the beach we went for some fun pictures in the sun and surf. Then it was on to the church for The Big Event.

The ceremony was lovely, and very touching. The Bride looked absolutely beautiful and The Groom was cool as a cucumber. The church was filled with family and friends, all of which were special to the couple. After refreshments in the church it was off to The Big Party!

The reception was in the restaurant at the base of the hotel, with one room for dinner and another for cocktails and dancing. Dinner was delicious family style Italian fare. During dinner the photographer secretly edited and created a slide show of some of the best pictures from the beach as a special treat. They were amazing, people couldn't look away. Dancing to a live jazz band followed dinner, as did pictures outside. New family and friends ate and drank and laughed and danced through the evening.

Here's a picture of The Bride and The Groom after they were announced before dinner. Awwwwwww......

Day 5, Monday, The Day After:
Bride and Groom left very early for flight to Puerto Vallarta. Bride sends text message before flight about how happy she is. After checking out of the hotel, Leah, her friend Nick and I have lunch with Caroline and her boyfriend Dave. Back to Caroline's place where we find Abby is back from her morning plans and we all go hang out at the park and the beach with Caroline's dog. It was nice to spend a few hours with our new step-sisters, who are in no way evil and in fact quite wonderful. It might be a really long time before we get to hang out together again... I live in NY, Caroline in Chicago, Leah in Minneapolis, and Abby lives in Thailand. This is what e-mail and web cams are for!

I wish I had more pictures of the event, but when you are part of a wedding it's hard to take the time to snap some shots. Its always when you are having the most fun that you end up with the least photos. When the photographer releases her online slide show I'll post the link here for all to see.