Wedding Recap - The Reception

I told myself that I would have all this wedding stuff written about before our photographer got our photos done.  Lucky me, we still don't have them yet.  Time to dash off the last little bit of wedding recap.  I know this was two months ago but writing it all down feels good.  I know I have these impressions, feelings and details captured for the future.  Thanks for bearing with me (or skipping them entirely for equally exciting race reports). 

The reception was a blast.  After all the stress of the past months it was time to just let loose and drink and hang out with friends and family and have a good time.  When people talk about how fast their wedding day goes I now understand what they mean.  It whizzed by.  Like a lemon; a lemon with wings.  They are very fast you know.  Really, we couldn't have asked for anything more from our reception.  Well, there were two things that we could have asked for more on but in the grand scheme of things they are very minor.  I'm doing this bullet point style 'cause I don't want to string together a narrative.  All hail, laziness.

• We were determined to not be one of those couples that says "we didn't even have time to eat on our wedding day" so we asked the caterers to save us each a plate of all four appetizers.  Come to find out it isn't really about time as it is about appetite.  Even though we both had barely eaten in the past two days neither of us had any appetite.  We took a few bites but didn't really enjoy it much.  Same with dinner.  Just a few tastes and we were done.  People said the grub was good and we got good unsolicited comments on the food so hopefully people enjoyed it. 
• One of my favorite moments of the evening wasn't noticed by anyone.  I was standing by the doorway when I noticed a group of four strangers peering in.  I thought they were looking for the other wedding happening at Edgefield that had a similar last name so I approached them and said "you must be looking for the other wedding".  They replied "No, we are on a scavenger hunt and need to find a bride."  I am standing right in front of them.  In my wedding dress.  All fancied up with make-up and fancy hair and oh, did I mention, my WEDDING DRESS.  It was hysterical. 
  
  I gestured wildly to myself in my wedding dress and said "Hello?!  Bride here!"  One of the girls mumbling something about Pippa Middleton and white bridesmaids dresses and how you just don't know anymore and then they took my picture for their hunt.  They needed a groom too so I grabbed Kevin and they got to check something off their list.  I guess my look wasn't as bridal as I thought it was.  Maybe when one of my friends responded in a lackluster fashion when showed the dress "oh, and you can totally wear that again" it might have been a sign about what other people think about "proper" wedding fashion.
• The toasts were wonderful.  The best man gave a touching speech, my brother told a funny story and Kevin's grooms chick gave a surprise toast.  She is very uncomfortable getting up in front of people and speaking so that was a really nice surprise.  Also, sparkling wine is very tasty and McMenamins makes a tasty one.  It is made with pinor noir instead of chardonnay and it is nummy.
• The first dance ended up being a lot of fun.  For months Kevin wasn't sure he wanted to do one because he didn't want to feel like a performing monkey.  I understood but was of the opinion "you get to do this once in your life, let's just go for it".  So we kept taking dance classes that we were going to take regardless of the fact that we were getting married (still taking them by the way).  The classes are in rhumba, cha-cha, waltz, foxtrot and ballroom East coast swing and we started in mid-March.  We had a song picked out months before in case we wanted to do it after all.  We wanted something fun, lively, joyous and short; we definitely didn't want a sappy moment here.  Since we are both huge Dean Martin fans we chose "Ain't That a Kick in the Head".  Perfect.
  
  Originally it was going to be a foxtrot since it works better with that dance style but the dance floor is small for foxtrot and we actually learned more East Coast swing steps and felt more comfortable with that (read: easier).  I wanted to choreograph something but Kevin was adamant that we just go out and dance.  Even though I woke up that morning freaking out that we weren't prepared enough and "oh god, they are all going to be staring at us" he talked me into it.  And you know what?  It was a blast!  We just danced and didn't even notice people watching us.  It was just him and me dancing for fun and busting out our whole eight moves we had learned.  Actually, we learned about eight but probably only did about five because that is all Kevin could remember how to do (guys have it harder in the dancing world).  We are both so glad we did a first dance.
• I made it through about eight hours of standing, walking and dancing in my heels.  I am kind of proud of that.  They were actually very comfortable but I did finally decide to put my flats on about the last hour of the night.  Such a wuss.
• The two disappointments:  there were quite a few candles that didn't get lit on the centerpieces and on bistro tables and the guest book table.  I noticed them but was told that brides aren't supposed to do any work at the reception and for some reason listened to this.  The caterers were supposed to get them but they never got around to it. 
  The other disappointment were the centerpieces.  For something I spent a stooooopid amount of time fretting about they turned out "meh".  Not horrible but not what we had envisioned.  There were supposed to be a lot more flowers on the tables in our vision but our communication got crossed with the florist.  In hindsight, the one thing we would have done differently was have the florist do the whole centerpiece.  Doing half ourselves saved us no money and it would have looked better if she had full control of everything.  Oh well, the candles were beautiful and unless they are outstanding or really horrible no one really remembers centerpieces anyway. 
• We were both surprised how little time we had together at the reception.  We were so busy talking with friends, dancing like fools and just having a blast that we never got any quiet time together.  That is perfectly fine but I didn't anticipate that.  But we had the honeymoon for days of quiet time together and the reception was for partying with friends.
• The cake.  Oh dear lord, how I love this cake.  I won't go on and on about it as much as I would like to (I was going to give it its own post) but let me say that it was perfection inside and out.  One of Kevin's favorite moments of the night was when we brought me over to see the cake for the first time.  I was brought to tears by it.  I loved it so much.  It was outstanding.  Better than I imagined it would be.  We didn't want elegant or romantic or formal or anything like that.  We wanted joy and fun and energy and something different.  I have not seen a cake like this anywhere on the internet and I looked at A LOT of cake porn.  Hours upon hours trying to figure out exactly what the cake should look like.  I know it isn't everyone's idea of a wedding cake but it was perfect for us and suited the mood we wanted to create. 
  
  The black rabbits on it also fit perfectly with Edgefield and their connection to the black rabbit.  Using black rabbits was my mother's idea by the way and we are so glad she thought of it.  It helped cement the design for the cake. It was also the tastiest wedding cake I have ever had.  Moist and flavorful, particularly the banana rum layer.  I am so glad we found the baker we did.  She is a true artist and we could not have asked for better.  She mentioned in a few e-mails before she made it and has mentioned since that it was her favorite cake she has made this year.  She enjoyed getting to do something different and it showed. 
  
  The cake toppers were another joy.  Originally we weren't going to have a cake topper because there are so few out there that aren't hideous.  But when we visited the Edgefield back in January to finalize all our vendors we saw these little black clay bunnies in the gift shop.  Kevin thought they would be perfect for the cake toppers and when he asked who made them we found out it was the lady in the clay studio on the property.  We met with her and she custom made a bigger pair for us for a ridiculously good price.  It was the perfect topper for the perfect cake.
• The guest book table seemed to be a lot of fun.  We had postcards that friends gave us from around the country and around the world.  People wrote wonderful kind messages and fun messages and generally had a good time with it.  We even got one dirty joke!  I actually expected more since we said on the instructions it was OK.  There were a few folks we didn't get any from but most people played along.  Reading the big stack of postcards when we got back from the honeymoon was a blast.  We played a game trying to figure out which person sent which card based on the picture on the front.  I would say we got about 80% correct. 
• We remembered to have someone videotape the ceremony but we have no video from the reception.  Apparently one or two people have the first dance on their phones but I haven't seen it yet.  I wish we had remembered to have at least the main parts of the reception recorded.
• The DJ was some of the best money we spent.  We were going to have an iPod for the music and a friend handle the few emcee duties required and he would have been great.  But the more we thought about it the more we wanted someone whose whole job it was would be to read the crowd in the moment and keep people dancing and having fun all night and he did that.  We gave him our friend's requests so he had those if he felt they were good for the evening and he just winged it.  He could tell right off the bat that slow songs weren't going to work for our crowd so he kept it lively and upbeat.  He also did a beautiful job with minimalist announcements and really helped the evening run smoothly.  Also our friend Lloyd got to just enjoy the evening with no responsibilities other than to have a good time.  I would post photos of everyone dancing and having a good time but instead, I will protect the innocent.
• People seemed to be enchanted by the idea of lemons with wings with their names on it.  Dang near every persons photos I have seen involves pictures of their lemons.  Even our photographer got a little kid look on his face when he said "I have a lemon with my name on it!"  He took a photo of his lemon for himself with his iPhone.
  The pint glasses were also a big hit.  Kevin worked long and hard on the graphic and it turned out beautiful.  Plus, who doesn't love a pint glass? 
  The Theo truffles seemed to be a big hit.  I fully expected people to take them home with them but when we cleaned tables at the end of the night there were a lot of empty truffle boxes.  I am glad people enjoyed them.

When it was all said and done we asked ourselves "was it worth it" and "given the chance would we do it again" and the answer to both was a resounding "yes!"  Yes it was stressful, yes it was expensive but it is truly a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad we had it.   Now we get to sit back and be spectators at weddings for the rest of our lives.  We can't wait for that.  There is a part of us that, immediately after the wedding, said (even though we totally would do it again) "Thank God, we never have to do that again."  But now, there is a little part that says "Oh....we never GET to do that again" and it is a little sad. 

Wedding Recap - The Ceremony

Sit back, grab a cold one, this is going to be looooooong.

Before I get into the ceremony I need to mention how phenomenal Mississippi Studios was as a venue.  They were so nice to work with and the space was perfect for our ceremony.  It was warm and inviting, the florist did a beautiful job with the candles and lemons on the stage, and the Christmas lights we bought were hung perfectly around the balcony.  Because it was a music venue it seemed that the sound quality was good and that everyone could easily hear the ceremony without resorting to microphones and because we were on stage everyone could also easily see the ceremony.  The hot stage lights were a little tough on the guys in their tuxes but we loved that space and felt so grateful that they do weddings there.  People also seemed to enjoy being able to imbibe during the ceremony.

Words won't begin to say how truly special this day was for us.  I know there are a million emotions and little things that I could say about the whole ceremony but this is way long as it is.  I might not convey it properly here but it was a day that overflowed with love and joy.   Here are my thoughts and run down of the ceremony.

So it is time to begin.  The best man has the sound guy lower the music and then Michelle, my dear friend from junior high, gets up to start the ring warming.  The ring warming was one of the first components of the ceremony we settled on last summer.  Having all your family and friends hold our rings and put their good vibes, ju-ju or blessing on these two pieces of metal was an important symbolic gesture for us.  We looked at some of the more traditional ones: unity candle, sand ceremony, wine ceremony but those didn't feel right for us.

So Michelle says a few words about what people need to do with the rings and then the specially chosen, very moving, very appropriate to the occasion ring warming song is supposed to start as the rings begin being passed through the guests.  But it doesn't.  In fact, it doesn't for over a minute causing me to almost have a Bridezilla moment (and Kevin, a Groomszilla moment).  Remember folks, the stress level is high and this is yet another thing that hasn't gone according to plan in a very short period of time.  The day is falling apart (or so it feels). The best man finally gets the sound guy to get his head out of his ass and the music finally starts:  The Finn Brothers "Won't Give In." The song delay is one of those mistakes that sticks with us and will forever annoy us about the wedding. 

Besides infusing the rings with good ju-ju we also thought that a ring warming would allow those in attendance who are of a religious persuasion a chance to feel involved in the ceremony by getting a chance to say a prayer while holding the rings.  Since we are atheists and would be having no God or prayers or religious mentions in the ceremony it allowed them to feel a part of the ceremony without having to compromise our beliefs.  It also reflected how much every single person we invited meant to us and how much we valued their love and friendship.

While the rings were passed they apparently fell to the floor twice (I just found that out last week).  The ribbon that I had carefully tied them with came undone.  No harm, no foul though.  Michelle was watching them like a hawk to make sure they got back up to the front of the room in time for the ring part of the ceremony.  When I look at my ring now I am not only reminded of my love for Kevin and his love for me but of the love of everyone in that room.  As the Finn Brothers sing:  "everyone I love is here."  Our rings are infinitely more special and priceless to us because of the ring warming. I am so glad we incorporated it into our wedding.

After the ring warming song we decided to have a little fun and play some snippets of "rejected processional songs".   We took the beginning to "Let's Go Crazy", "White Wedding", "White Trash Wedding", "The Wedding March" and a few others along with a quote from the wedding scene of Princess Bride and put radio tuning noise in between.   The effect was supposed to be a little lighthearted "we are trying to find our perfect processional song and these just won't do and just aren't right" but it pretty much ended up just confusing people I guess.  We enjoyed it and we had fun putting it together so it was still worth it. 

The rejected processional song montage ended with our real processional song:  "The Story" by Brandi Carlile. 

I knew I wanted this song somewhere in the wedding and we considered it for a first dance for about two seconds. We quickly realized it was totally undanceable and we also didn't want to do the junior high school swaying thing. The processional was the perfect place for it.  It is beautiful, powerful, real, emotional and not a cheesy love song.  We both can't listen to it now without getting the nervous butterfly feeling we had before the ceremony and without tearing up or crying. 

The processional started after Kevin had to shoo the wedding party into starting because my bridesdude didn't remember the cue to start.  The officiant and the wedding party walked up the aisle got on stage and we waited out of sight next to the bar.  I have never been so nervous in my life.  Heart pounding, stomach churning, crazy kind of nervous.  Not about getting married but about being up in front of all those people, saying things I don't usually say in front of people, worrying I'll melt into a puddle of tears, worried how the rest of the day will go and just feeling the stress from months of planning and all the hard work and it has come down to what you are always told is the biggest moment of your life. My nervousness was never about Kevin or marriage but rather everything I just mentioned.  It is a little terrifying.  Luckily we had each other.

We walked in right when Brandi gets all screamy and headed down the aisle.  Even when my father was alive I never intended on being "given away".  I feel like this is a commitment both of us are making and that we should walk down the aisle together since we are going on this adventure together.  That philosophy worked well because I can't imagine all those people staring at just me.  Ugh!  It was comforting to have his hand to hold on to.   

We got on stage, turned to the officiant and the ceremony began.  I kept hoping no one would notice that my legs were shaking.  Our officiant, Myrna, was wonderful.  Just looking at her helped calm me down.  We had worked with her a month earlier to craft a ceremony that was right for us.  We removed words (no "holy" allowed), kept a "sacred" here or there since it isn't a religious word to us, played with some other words and tweaked it to get the right feel.  She could not have been more delightful to work with and to have perform the wedding.  She did, however, get lost in the stage lights and didn't see that everyone was still standing for 10 MINUTES into the ceremony.  It really loosened the mood up in the room when she figured it out and embarassedly told everyone it was OK to sit.  Both of us were much calmer by that point. It was also at that point that it started to get fun, we started to get into the spirit of the day and we both began to enjoy ourselves.  I think I have said before that it wasn't the happiest day of my life but it sure as hell was the happiest seven and a half hours. 

We had our good friend Kathy do a reading for us of "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"  by Dr. Seuss.  It was difficult to choose from all our friends and family but it came down to:  who would want to get up on stage and read in front of people and who would know how to read Seuss the best.  Not just anyone can capture the word magic of Dr. Seuss. We knew Kath would be the perfect person for the job and she nailed it.  She read it perfectly and we are grateful she did us the honor of reading at our wedding.  We had toyed with a few other readings but having someone read a love poem written in the first person seemed awkward so we kept it lighthearted and in the spirit of adventure that we feel marriage is. 

Our officiant then told our stories and what we had told her we loved about each other.  She got the majority of the details correct and we weren't going to correct her on the ones she got wrong until she mentioned that I had just completed a marathon before we got engaged.  No way I was going to let that one stand so I had to correct her on stage that is was only a half-marathon.  I won't even wear a race shirt from my half-marathons that says "marathon finisher" on it until I run my 26.2 I couldn't let something as important as a wedding ceremony be a lie.

Then it came time for our vows.  We knew we wanted to write our own but were both very nervous about doing so.  The traditional vows just seem like saying the Pledge of Allegiance or something.  They are so rote that all the meaning has been sucked out of them.  Compressing all you love about someone into a very brief few sentences and then saying these personal, private things in front of a bunch of people (on a stage no less!) we knew would be challenging.  No, not just challenging......terrifying.  We wrote our vows separately and then kind of tweaked them into a format that kind of mirrored each other.  We felt they were more cohesive this way.  We began with a declaration of love, said a bunch of things we loved about the other person, used the same line "Today I stand with you for the rest of my life", did our vows, and ended on a declaration of love.  Kevin chose to use the word "vow" and I chose the word "promise" because those words felt stronger and had more meaning to each of us. 

When I first got engaged I thought our vows should be more lighthearted.  Something along the lines of "I love you even though you believe in the single-gunman theory" and "thank you for loving me even though I am frequently more flatulent than an aged labrador retriever."  But as we progressed through the planning I realized it was a serious occasion and while levity could be in the ceremony the words we said to each other should be serious. 

We were also worried that saying them ahead of time might suck all the meaning out of the wedding moment but it didn't.  Actually, holding each others hands and saying them in private a few days before the wedding was just as powerful of a moment.  Also, it was self-preservation.  We both were worried about getting through our vows without sobbing.  Practice did help that.  In fact, on the day of the wedding we read our vows to each other while Kevin was.....um, .....having his morning constitutional.  I even cried then.  Myrna had also told us that many couples worry about crying during their vows but they always seem to get through them with emotion but no major sobbing when the time comes.  I didn't quite believe her but it turned out to be true for us.

Actually saying the vows was surprisingly easy.  We looked at each other and forgot that everyone else was there.  It was just the two of us speaking from the heart.  I started to choke up one time and then swore what was meant to be a soft "dammit" under my breath but apparently was perfectly audible to everyone.  I really wanted to get through the vows without crying.  Dammit!  I got myself back on track and then got choked up again at the same part I do everytime.  My volume was good but I know my voice was cracking with emotion as I finished them and then placed Kevin's ring on his finger.

Kevin did better about not crying during his vows to me although he definitely choked up during his as well.  He was much softer spoken but no less strong in his delivery.  He placed my ring on my finger and our vows were sealed.  We have kept a copy of our vows and read them to each other on our one week anniversary while we were in Bora Bora (I know, sorry for the nausea) and again on our one month and will read them to each other on the 14th of every month until our one year anniversary.  Then we will eat year-old cake.  We will pull them out every anniversary to remind ourselves of our commitment and of this day. 

Myrna then said a few wonderful words sending us out on this adventure and we kissed and couldn't stop smiling.  We left the stage to "That's Amore" by one of our favorite artists, Dean Martin.  We had the bartender waiting for us at the end of the aisle with a PBR tall-boy in hand for me and an IPA for Kevin and we went upstairs for the document signing.  Actually the document is just for show because we had signed the original license when we got it at the courthouse a month earlier. We snapped a few pictures, wrote a few hurried checks that we almost forgot and then hightailed it back for the party.  We were hitched!

Our guests seemed to really enjoy themselves and we got loads of comments from people about what a sincerely moving, beautiful ceremony it was.  Apparently we had people who don't usually choke up actually tear up and choke up a little.  We even had a few do that during the ring warming!  Yay!  At least we succeeded in creating a ceremony that was authentic for us, that felt a little different, and was filled with emotions that people could actually feel. 

All right folks, it's time to get on the school buses (they sent two this time) and go back to get our drinking, eating and dancing on!

P.S.  This was written in fits and starts over a week and a half so I apologize if there is a horrendous lack of continuity or is repetitive.  It was too momentous for me to tackle in one sitting.

Wedding Recap - Photos, Transport and Stress Oh My!

I have promised myself that I will have the wedding recaps done before we get our professional photos back.  We should get those between 1-3 weeks from now so I better get typing.  I aplogize for the length of these posts but this was just so huge for me that I need to give it a decent recap for myself. 

When last we left Beluga Girl and Orca Boy (seriously, the coloration is remarkably similar) we had set up the reception space and were getting ready for the "first look."  I had been all prettified by two wonderful women at the Edgefield spa and got into my dress with only a tiny bit of help to zip it all the way up. I was determined to do it myself without anybody around in the room but needed to call Diane for the final zip and to make sure I didn't have back cleavage.  Who knew your back could look so much like an ass? 

The photographer showed up before I got fully zipped and started shooting.  I was surprised how little I noticed him and how natural I felt with him shooting all the time.  I thought I would have a bigger problem with being photographed but I had so many other things going through my mind that I didn't even notice.  So I was dressed and accessorized for the wedding but didn't really feel like a bride until I got to hold my bouquet.  That was the first moment I actually felt bridal.  I loved my bouquet too.  It had wonderful yellow flowers, tiny touches of white (can we all just agree that a white dress with an all-white bouquet is BORING and should be stopped? Agree? Good!), beautiful seed pods and the pieces that really made the bouquet pop; chocolate fern curls.  I could have stared at it for hours.  The florist did a beautiful job.  Sadly there aren't any good pictures of it yet.  The billy button boutonnieres for the guys were also perfect.  A fun, unusual flower for a fun, unusual occasion.

"How the hell do we put these on?"

I met Kevin outside and the photog had him turn around for the "first look."  Now, this seems a little silly because he had seen me in my dress a bunch of times, seen the shoes, seen the necklace, seen the hair and make-up but had never seen it all together.  But it was the actual wedding day so it was a little different this time.  He looked so handsome in his tux even though his hair was still wet from hurrying through his shower.  He was SO stressed from the insane reception set-up that he was almost in tears and the first thing he said to me was "we should have eloped."  The pom poms gave him PTSD.  We quickly got out of the stressful morning mood and into having fun being together on our wedding day and taking photographs around the grounds of The Edgefield. 

Taking pictures was a lot of fun.  I felt really pretty at the time although the few photos I have seen don't make me feel that way now.  But at the time I felt beautiful which is all that matters.  I have never seen a photo of me I have liked anyway so why should the wedding be any different.  I also thought Kevin looked great but after seeing his hair in some of the shots I don't hold out much hope for either of us in our photos and he usually photographs beautifully.  Orca Boy's hair looked like it had been cut by a Flowbee.  It is what it is though.

After photos the stress came back big time when we started to worry about the school buses we had rented for guest transportation.  We hadn't heard them come up the drive-way and were kind of freaking out that they weren't going to be there.  Turns out only one of the two made it and after Kevin did some take charging with the situation our guests were finally able to head out to the reception space after waiting and waiting for the other bus to show up.  I found out later the bus driver took some wacky, long route instead of the quick easy route they should have gone if they used Google maps.  This all resulted in people getting to the reception later than we anticipated and caused us to get there later than we wanted as well.  The stress level was rising.  We were worried people wouldn't have enough time to relax and have a drink before the ceremony began and that we wouldn't have any unwinding time.  Turns out that was probably good because it wouldn't have been unwinding time at all.

On the way over we spent time stressing about the reception space and whether the cake topper was on the table so the cake lady could find it or did someone pack it away so we would have to dig for it when we got back.  I also couldn't get anyone to return a phone call or text at this time either.  Aaaarrrgghhh!  The most important thing to me was the cake and I didn't want to walk in and not see the cake in its complete state.

We arrive at Mississippi Studios and shoot up the side stairwell to the little waiting room at the top.  We could hear the pre-ceremony music we had carefully chosen (all non-sappy songs about love), could hear people talking and laughing and I could feel my pulse quicken.  I can feel it now just remembering and typing about it.  We were both so much more nervous and excited than we thought we would be.  Heart pounding, sweating kind of nervous and excited. We talked with our officiant and went over a few last minute items. We were getting more and more nervous as the moments ticked by.  We were moments away from getting married. 

(Seriously, I am feeling that heart-pounding nervousness reliving this.Yikes!)

Wedding Recap Part I: Pre-Wedding

We made the smart decision to head down on Thursday instead of Friday which allowed us a little more time with a few out of town friends.  It also allowed us to relax a little before the big weekend shindig activities started.  It was funny because neither of us felt nervous at all at any point during the engagement.  That is until we took the exit for The Edgefield.  Both of us simultaneously started to get the nervous, butterfly thing going.  This big thing that we had been working on for so long was actually happening. 

The main thing we did Thursday was put together all the out of town gift bags.  In the spirit of being welcoming and inclusive we wanted to get everyone's weekend off on the right foot with a welcome bag to thank them for making the trip (since everyone had to travel to it).  They were filled with some fun tasty treats and give them a sense of what the vibe of the wedding would be like.  The black rabbit cookies with the story of the Edgefield black rabbit seemed to be a hit, the water bottles (with heavily borrowed from the interwebs "nutrition label") and everyone's own personal flying lemon magnet were our favorite things.  We didn't decide to do the out of town bags until about five weeks before the wedding so they created a bit of last minute work but it was worth it.  People seemed to enjoy going into their rooms and seeing their bright yellow welcome bag.

Prepping the bag for delivery

Friday Kevin and I had a couple's massage in the morning and then had some soaking pool time (to recreate our soaking pool engagement).  Later, I had my first manicure (meh, don't see the point to them) and pedicure (woo-hoo!  Those are great!).  My dear friend Michelle joined me for the pedicure and it was great to spend some more time catching up with her before all the craziness began.

Shortly after the relaxing spa treatments, the craziness did indeed begin.  Everyone started showing up and the fact that this was actually happening now became even more real.  Instead of a rehearsal dinner we had a 30 minute run-down with the wedding party about what was happening the next day and then we went to hang out by the Little Red Shed pub with a whole bunch of guests.  One of the advantages of a whole weekend deal instead of just the wedding on Saturday night is that we got more time to talk to our friends than you usually do at a wedding.  The day after brunch helped with that too.  However, I was nervous about how the next day would go and didn't enjoy myself a ton and just would have really rather been alone in the soaking pool.  Even with not feeling particularly social it was still a nice time though.  A group of our friends even showed up in their Edgefield bathrobes; they were truly getting into the spirit of the place.

Saturday morning was a quick breakfast where we barely ate (nerves again), a few times practicing dancing to our first dance song that lightened the mood immensely and took the worry out of us being able to remember any moves at all, and then off to the reception space for set-up.  I was only there for an hour before I had to leave for hair and make-up but I know this was hugely stressful for Kevin.  It was the fluffing and hanging of 80 tissue paper pom poms and a dozen flying lemons that really seemed to cause the kerfluffle.  They were a pain in the ass but boy did they help make that place festive.  He was so stressed about it that he actually had a nightmare the following night about the pom poms not being right.  Thanks to the previously mentioned wonderful friends it turned out beautifully and turned this



into something beautiful and happy and light that I don't have any good pictures of.  Maybe when the professional prints come in. 

The only glitch here other than the clusterf*#k that was the pom poms was I wanted bright yellow sashes for the chairs and got these soft butter yellow instead.  It turned out fine because one of the pom pom colors was the same yellow so all was good.  And at least the chair cover woman knew to not tie them into bows.  Even though I hate chair covers it was necessary for this space to make it lighter and more festive.  The chairs on their own are seriously ugly for a wedding.



Kevin's awesome flying lemons!



Michelle creating the flying lemon place cards.



I hated being away from the decorating.  This was our baby and we had worked so long and hard on it and I wanted to help make the vision a reality and it sucked to not be there.  Being a bit of a control freak it also stressed me out to leave it in other people's hands.  Luckily, Kevin knew exactly how it was supposed to look so I felt confident that it would come out pretty darn close to what we imagined.  I also wanted to do a quality control check/final run through when it was all done but there was no time for that. 

In the next installment:  with the set-up done it was time to meet for our "first look" and get the show on the road! 

Introducing Your New Superhero Duo......

.....Beluga Girl and Orca Boy!

Christ, we had a year engagement.  Shouldn't we have managed to be less porky by the time the wedding rolled around?

Wedding Recap In Which Very Little Wedding is Recapped

Where to begin, where to begin.  There is so much to say about the wedding that I didn't know where to start which is why I haven't posted anything yet.  I decided to break it down into four parts:  this post, pre-wedding, ceremony and reception.  I realize that this rehashing isn't going to be particularly interesting to anyone but me but since this is my, in the words of Mike Birbiglia, "secret public journal" I am going to do it anyway. 

Also, I am going to apologize in advance because I am going to do a lot of self-congratulating and patting us on the back in these posts.  We worked SO freaking hard on this wedding and worked on so many little details to have it turn out a certain way and to have it basically hit a home run on nearly every point feels amazing.  Sorry to be boastful but we both really feel that way which is good; it is how every couple should feel after their wedding.  We wanted the wedding to be joyous, celebratory, unique, inclusive, welcoming and most imporantly everything needed to be authentically "us".  We didn't want to be a wedding where you could throw in any couple into our roles and have it feel right.  I think we nailed those criteria.

Before I get too far into dissecting the weekend I do need to acknowledge that a lot of the weekend wouldn't have gone quite as well without the help of many, many friends.  Mike and Amber came over twice before the wedding to cut out lemon wings, bag earplugs and help with the Theo Chocolate favors.  My brother and his girlfriend Diane (that I had met only once before by the way) came over to make a zillion tissue paper pom poms and then Diane came over again two nights later to help me make and frost 90 black rabbit cookies for the gift bags.  All four of them also worked tirelessly on the day of the reception to help make the reception space look beautiful.  They were joined by so many others:  Michelle, best man Matt, Cherie, Todd, Patti, Paul, the whole Coocoochin clan, Kevin's co-worker Denise and her husband Curt.  I am certain I have missed someone and will feel like a jerk when it is pointed out so I apologize now for forgetting; the day was a blur.  It is just amazing how people jumped in to help.   Kevin and I kept commenting all weekend long and for many days afterwards how lucky we are to have such great friends. 

Next post:  actual wedding things discussed.  Maybe even a picture or two!

Home Stretch

Well, the big day is almost here.  I have a few moments while I am waiting for a computer process to run at work to muse on some things. 

First, this whole process has made me bipolar, I swear.  Between learning how to make me and my world views fit into bride and wife roles and planning a gigantic ass party I have been all over the map these past few months.  Some times I love it, other times I hate it, other times it is all sort of "meh".  It can vary from hour to hour or day to day. I am ready for life to get back to normal and all of the pressures (mostly self-made) can be off.   I never questioned my relatonship with Kevin but I have questioned the institution of marriage and the role of wife.   I have figured out how to make bride and wife fit for me and I am close to not thinking of the word "wife" as a swear word anymore.  Huge progress people.

I have also been made even more aware that there are two things that will set me off and get me out of balance and those are:  being tired for multiple days and being hungry.  I knew this about me before but these past few weeks have pounded that message home.  The mood has been dark and negative and that isn't normal for me.  I have been getting about 5-6 hours a night and for the last week, to fit into the damn dress, I haven't been eating much.  This combination makes for one unhappy and bitchy Ann-Marie.  Luckily we are almost done with tasks and we can head down to Portland tomorrow for some pre-wedding relaxation and SLEEP and I can get myself back to normal and enjoy the weekend.  Up until this morning I wasn't excited, I just wanted it to be over with.  I am now actually starting to feel excited and happy about our shindig. Finally feeling like I want to smile about it and am looking forward to it feels good.  I still think if you are looking at the whole thing with an objective eye that weddings are kind of ridiculous but I will revel in the ridiculousness of it all this weekend. 

Oh, and the dress fits again.  I am down just over six pounds in a week.  Hooray for quick water-weight loss!!!

Deep Weeds

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.  I'm getting married in eleven days and ........I don't fit into my wedding dress.  Not just a "oh, it's a bit too tight" or "it's slightly uncomfortable" or "I bulge a little there".  It is a I CAN'T EVEN ZIP IT UP!  I CAN'T HOOK THE TOP EYE!  Excuse my vulgarity internet but I am fucked.

The damn thing fit when I picked it up from the alterations lady a month ago but there wasn't much room for error (i.e. porking out).  What did I do?  I gained 7.5 lbs since I had it measured and fit five weeks ago (only 5.5 lbs since I picked it up) .  Yes, thank you, that is mad weight gaining skills.  At least I have mad skills at something.  Stupid tiredness and stress.

The weight I was at when I was fitted was one of those tipping point weights where just a two pound weight gain means all of my clothes fit differently.  That might sound ridiculous but it is really true.  This means that the 7.5 lbs feels like an extra 15 and totally alters the way all my clothes fit. 

I am taking the dress into her today to have them whisk it away for pressing/steaming.  Maybe I can see if she can do something. I am guessing not since she took in fabric to fit it to me and that probably doesn't leave anything to let out.  My other tactic is to do something I HATE and that is crash diet.   I don't think they are safe or effective in the long-term but this is the short term and if I blimp right back up on May 15th I can deal with that the real way (proper diet and exercise) then.  In the meantime I am resorting to South Beach because I know I can drop some quick pounds that way and hopefully not have to go out and buy another MF-ing dress.

Mooooooon!

There have been some components of this wedding that have seemed impossible to make decisions on:  the centerpieces, a necklace, transportation to and from the wedding for us and bridal party (still not figured out by the way) and the honeymoon.

The honeymoon should really take priority over the whole shindig but we found it difficult to find, and stick with, a plan.  Our starting criteria was that it should be someplace special, exotic, a once in a lifetime experience.  So we went with this:

an African photo safari to Tanzania and Kenya.  My dream trip as long as I can remember. Since Kevin had already done this when he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro he wanted to add something that was new for him and one of his dream trips.  Since we were already going to be over Africa way we decided to add this:

Also, because we decided to do this trip later in the year we decided to go on a mini-moon to the Oregon Coast.  We wanted some sort of vacation right after the wedding to unwind and relax and we know a beautiful romantic spot right on the beach that fit the bill.  Perfect!  All settled!  But then Egypt had to go and get all revolution-y and even though things have kind of settled down, until they get an actual government in place it doesn't seem like a great bet for all of your vacation dollars.  On to Plan B.

Where else have we both always dreamed of going?  How about here?

Greece!!  Great!  Done!  Settled!  That is our big Autumn trip.  Except......the more we thought about it the more we realized that as much as we call our little post-wedding trip a mini-moon it is still really our honeymoon.  Neither of us wanted our honeymoon to be the Oregon Coast.  It is lovely but did it fit the "special and exotic" criteria?  No.  So the plan became a mini-moon here: 

the beautiful island of Maui.  We could relax, unwind, not feel like we had to go exploring and do much since we had both been here before.  The further we got into this wedding business the more a relaxing spot seemed desirable to us. It is a gorgeous place and we both really like Hawaii.  So it was settled:  mini-moon on Maui and then Greece in the fall.  Except........neither of us were really excited about it.  We knew we would like Hawaii but it didn't feel special.  I thought of Hawaii as a honeymoon cliche, which I know makes me sound like a world class tool.  But really, it isn't that I find it so much of a cliche as it didn't feel right for us because of the aforementioned need for something exotic, once in a lifetime, truly special but where we didn't have to spend all our time running around being tourists and could just sit and relax.  Since we have both been to Hawaii and plan on going back a few times it didn't really fit the "specialness" part of the equation. You only get one honeymoon and you want to do it right.  We would have had a lovely time and been very happy but we jokingly started looking at some other options and then, quite by accident, found the perfect place.   So where is this magical place that will fit the bill?  Why it is right here....

Bora Bora and Tahiti!!!  We are staying a few nights in Tahiti and then a few more in Bora Bora in an over water bungalow that looks just like this....

...complete with "glass" floor to watch fish through.  The place we are staying is also a turtle sanctuary so we get to swim with these guys too!

We are both super excited about this which we weren't really about any of the other options. Nothing else really seemed to fit for us right now.  Yes, it Bora Bora and Tahiti are total honeymoon cliches but it doesn't matter because it fits perfectly with the criteria we had decided need to be included in our honeymoon:

• A trip right after the wedding so that it feels like a real honeymoon and not some regular, albeit very nice, vacation?  Check!
• Exotic, special and once in a lifetime?  Check!
• Time to really relax and spend time together because there isn't a ton of stuff to run around and see and do?  Check!
• But still has some interesting things to do like swim with sharks and rays and see the Gauguin museum and hike a little?  Check!
• Warm? Check
  
  South Pacific here we come!
  
  
  

Details Coming Together

We had a wonderful, busy productive weekend in Portland.  We had scheduled a whole slew of final wedding details around McMenamin's Celebration of Syrah that took place last weekend. 

In addition to much, much syrah tasting on Saturday we managed to:  pick up our marriage license, finalize almost all the food and arrangements for the reception (still waiting on input from some stragglers before we finalize beer), do a hair and make-up run through with the people who will be taking care of it on the wedding day and created our ceremony with our officiant. 

It all went better than I thought it would.  No lines for the license.  They nailed my make-up and (almost) nailed my hair, which I was worried about.  You never know what kind of person you will get and if their vision and talents will gel with what you want and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw the results.  We picked tasty appetizers and main courses for our guests and figured out how all of the little details of the reception will work. 

The biggest and best part though was crafting the ceremony.  We LOVE our officiant and she has come up with a ceremony that really feels like us.  She spent over two hours with us going over everything and listening to our stories and getting our feedback on what words we did and didn't want to include.  She also sprung a few surprises on us like having us spontaneously say what we loved about the other person and saying practice vows.  It sounds so simple but it put us on the spot in a good way and made us really respond naturally.  It was very emotional; many happy tears were shed hearing some of the beautiful words she will be saying.  We did decide that we need to write our own vows even though it will be difficult for us to get through them without crying.  Unless we can find pre-written vows that sound like our voices we need to do it ourselves so it feels real to us.  We also figured out our ring warming and who will be involved in that and who will be doing our reading (Hi, Kath!).  It is finally all coming together.

Oh, and stay tuned for the big news......we FINALLY decided on a honeymoon location.  No, really we did this time.  We paid for it and everything so there will be no changing of the mind now.  It is a post that deserves some pictures so I will write that later. 

Is the Room Half-Full or Half-Empty?

Well, something new to obsess over:  not enough people at our wedding shindig.   So many couples have an issue with paring down the guest list but our problem is the opposite.  We are worried there won't be enough people there to make it feel festive and fun.  Scratch the "we" on that, I am the only one worried about that. Kevin thinks it will be fine.

So far we have had a few unexpected "no" RSVPs and last night discovered that the only relative from one side of Kevin's family that will be attending will be his 88 year-old grandmother.  That is unless one of the aunt's stops her from attending because she is old and it is a long flight from Baltimore.  She is already trying to do that.  We thought we might get a few relatives from that side but it looks like a big "zero" instead. 

We intentionally didn't pad our guest list and only invited people we really wanted to be there.  On one hand this is good; we get a room full of people we really care about.  On the other hand this is bad; we just don't have many friends and family and the room isn't full at all.  I know being a "destination" wedding (yes, I guess technically it is) means you will get a smaller turn-out but I still can't help feeling disappointed.  It just taps into personal issue #3 (a post for another day) that wedding planning has uncovered. 

The War Room

So we have dubbed our dining room area The War Room because it is the hub of all wedding related activities and projects.  Much planning for the battles ahead occurs here.  We also have this on our War Room wall.

That is the world's coolest seating chart.  Somewhere in blogland (WeddingBee perhaps?) I read about the idea to get pink and blue sticky notes to write your guest's names on. This way you can easily pick them up and move them around to different tables while you are planning your seating and make names easier to spot by color coding gender.  Of course we immediately ruined the symmetry of the board by making a few tables of nine and moving some blues and pinks together but it still looks awesome. 

If you look closely you will see that those are tiny National Park postcard replicas in the center of each table.  Instead of using numbers we are doing National Parks for table designations and using my beloved WPA poster style postcards for each table.  When we were searching for table number holders we ran across some restaurant tent style that we liked but were not willing to pay $11 each for.  So my ever-industrious guy decided he could make them.  Here is his first one.  I love these!!

We have also been perfecting the wing for the place card lemons.  This is a proto-type. I don't like the name placement so we are still working on it.

Oh, and the most fun was the week before when we decided to celebrate getting our invitations in the mail with a little Edgefield sparkling wine we picked up when we got engaged.  We also used the occasion to taste test truffles for potential wedding favors.  Oh, the lengths we'll go to for our guests.

If It's In Print It Must Be True

Even though we have been planning this wedding shindig for 10 months sometimes it seems very far away and vague.  I've purchased a wedding dress, booked venues, met with florists, picked out a cake, and written scads o' checks.  Heck, we even picked out my wedding ring last week.  None of those activities has really had that "Wow, we are getting married" sort of feeling to it.  Then there are moments that make me stop dead in my tracks and say "Oh, Holy Crap!  I am really getting married."  Yesterday, I had one of those moments.

The final proof from the printer came in and there were our names looking all wedding-y on what looks suspiciously like a wedding invitation.  Even without a swoopy, romantic font and even with informal wording I can't escape that it is, very much, a wedding invitation.  A wedding invitation with our names in it.  For real.  Freaks me the hell out on one hand and makes me feel kind of giddy and excited on the other.

This piece of paper (OK, this screen shot soon to be a piece of paper) has driven home the fact that this is really going to happen and soon and it isn't some vague "someday" sort of occurrence.  It is really real.  And I couldn't be happier.

Oh, and by the way, they are going to be awesome.

Three Months to Go

Yesterday was the three months until the wedding mark.  Yikes!  How did that happen so quickly? 

Once we got done with our Portland weekend and finalized all the vendors and FINALLY decided on what to do about centerpieces (I marvel at how much brain time went into that only to fall back to the original idea I first liked last summer) I felt great.  I said to myself  "wonderful, all the decisions have been made and there isn't much else to do."  And then I started listing some of the little things that were left on the list.  And I listed, and listed and then, for a change, I listed some more.  Holy crapballs is there still a lot to do.  Here's the problem:  I feel done.  Not particularly interested anymore.  The fun has passed.  This is bad, bad, bad.

I am gamely trying to keep my enthusiasm about wedding details going but at this point it is just about checking tasks and decisions off the list because we have to.  We have created this beast and must see it through to fruition.  Yes, I realize lots of the items on the list are technically optional but they are details we really want so we must proceed.  Those lemons won't get wings by themselves you know.

Luckily, Kevin is very invested in this wedding and enjoys helping plan and find just the right things. This way, the entire day is a reflection of the both of us and not just something the bride conjured up and the groom shows up at to say his few words.  This has been an equal partnership and I am extremely lucky that he cares, and wants to, and actually takes an active involvement in the whole process.  From stories I have heard this is a rare sort of fiance.  Hopefully the wedding will reflect that by actually showing some personality. 

In the meantime I keep checking the few wedding websites I visit to keep some level of enthusiasm up and wait to hear details from my friends Amber and Mike who are planning a July wedding to keep me motivated.  We just need to remind ourselves that we just have to keep pushing down the course and that the finish line isn't that far off.  Do you think there will be bananas and bagels?  Will Kevin's nipples bleed?

Clearly I Was Clueless

I really thought I would have oodles of time on the day of the wedding to help take care of decorations and make sure everything was set up the way we want for the reception.  That turns out to be not even close to being true.  My leisurely "oh, the wedding isn't until 4:30 we have oodles of time" has turned into "holy crap, I have to be in the salon for hair and make-up at 12:00 so there is enough time to make me look presentable and have time for all the pictures before high-tailing it to downtown Portland for the ceremony."  We don't have access to the reception space until 11:00 so that leaves exactly one hour for me to help set-up and make sure this beast we have spent a year planning looks and feels the way we want it to.  Aaarggh! 

All this wedding day stuff is really interfering with our wedding day. 

Cake Ramblings

I love cake.  I love cake a lot.  So going to cake tastings and choosing one baker and her cakes over the others was going to be difficult.  Much like puppies and kittens, all cakes are beautiful and deserve good homes.  There are also no flavors of cake that are off-limits in my world.  All flavors are good.  Coconut?  Check. Dark chocolate strawberry? Check.  Pineapple walnut? Check.  All three together?  Sure, I'm game! I could go on and on but you get the idea.  All desserts and all dessert combinations are OK with me.  So it was difficult to not only narrow down the bakers but to narrow down the flavors in the tiers.

Ah, the tiers.  I need to rant here.  I am personally starting a one-woman campaign to end the single-flavor multi-tier wedding cake.  Who is with me?  Most, if not all, bakers will be happy to make each tier a separate flavor without adding additional cost.  So you tell me why you would choose one flavor when you, and your guests, could have multiples to choose from?  More flavors = more choices which = happier guests.  The next time you go to a wedding like that you kick the newlyweds in the shins because it is the only way we can stop such madness from occurring.  With all the cake choices in the world why limit yourself?  Aaaarrrggghh! Also, we discovered bakers are really pleased to get to make something other than white cake with white frosting. 

We had a great time playing with the design and figuring it all out.  Because our guest list is small and cakes designed for our numbers of guests just look sad and lonely we upped the size of the cake to approximately double our guest count.  Seriously, those little two tier jobs really make me sad.  But then again, the cake is the part of the wedding I care the most about so I might be a little skewed.  Anyway, we are keeping the design a secret until the wedding day but I can safely say our guests will get three flavors of awesome (Kevin wants to keep the top tier for our anniversary otherwise they would get four) and it will be large enough to feel like a special occasion cake.  I love this cake so much I want to hug it.  Now I have to wait three and a half months to get to meet it in person.* sigh*

Weatherproof Wedding

Since our wedding is in the Northwest in May I  figured I needed to plan for rain.  I won't want to ruin my hair and makeup walking to and fro and my fabulous shoes are satin and therefore could be destroyed by water so I needed a plan of action.  Also, we want to take photos all around the Edgefield grounds and those grounds can get muddy and dirty.  So I decided to create the inclement weather wedding ensemble.

Voila! 

I might actually love this look a little too much.  Although I think the dress is a smidge long and should be taken up a stripe.

So Glad I Am Marrying This Man

I recently sent Kevin a list of Portland bakeries that I have chosen as possible creators of our wedding cake.  I found six that I liked but we are trying to whittle it down to four.  Yes, wedding specialists advise only trying three vendors but dammit this is cake and we are trying at least four different places.

Today I received a response to my e-mail.  I expected him to look at the links, browse through the sites and pick a few he thought looked nice.  Oh no, he is too methodical and analytical and thorough for that.  He loves to spend time learning and researching things and I shouldn't have been surprised that that would include cake too.  Here is his e-mail:

I actually created a weighted matrix based on the below categories and rated each bakery.
Weight 5: Artistry
Weight 4: Flavors
Weight 3: Price
Weight 2: Reviews
Weight 1: Delivery & Web Site

White Rose: 73
Sweet Cakes: 62
Serious Cakes: 57
Laurie Clarke Cakes: 51
Papa Haydn: 42
La Joconde: 39


If you want a go at it I have a spreadsheet ready for you to plug numbers into. ;-)

How freakin' cute and awesome is that?  I just want to hug his little computer nerdness right now.  I absolutely love it. 

Wedding Update

I actually took a fairly long break from wedding planning towards the end of the summer but now am back into it full-force with the finding of the dress.  Here are some of the things we have decided on:

• As I mentioned, I found my dress!  That was a huge weight off my shoulders since I was pretty much convinced I would never find one that I liked.  Maybe I should have actually gone and tried on a few before I came to that "woe is me" decision.  It is fabulous and is completely me and is made to go with my fabulous wedding shoes.
• The wedding shoes have determined the color scheme.  I didn't want to be one of those brides that chooses colors for her wedding.  Somehow in my mind girls who had a color scheme were the same ones that sat around dreamily writing Mrs. Ann-Marie Doe and only ever dreaming of being a wife.  Yes, I know how asinine that sounds now but I have a lot of goofy bride/wife/girly stuff hang-ups that I am just fully realizing the extent of.  Dealing with those as I go.  Anyhoo, the colors are going to be bright yellow and navy.  That is for the reception only.  Not so much worrying about a color scheme for the invitations, ceremony or website. 
• We have found a new venue for the ceremony.  The location we were going to have it was the same as the reception location.  The venue wanted us to vacate the space for an hour to remove the chairs after the ceremony and we just couldn't see breaking up the flow of the event that way.  What would people do for an hour?  Besides, the space was never really pretty enough for a ceremony and has always been a bad fit for us in that regard.  We chose it for the whole "weekend of fun" thing for our guests and didn't really think through some of the logistics.  Since mid-May is a dicey month for anything outside (really, any time is dicey for that in the Northwest) we had to find a new indoor venue.  I had a rare moment of genius and remembered a place we saw a small concert at in Portland last year.  Lo and behold, they rent out their space and it is awesome.  The Oregonian called it a cross between a church and a bordello and that is a perfect description.  We are getting hitched at Mississippi Studios!
• I have come to terms with the fact that we are going to have to have chair covers.  I dislike chair covers a lot but the chairs are ugly black metal things and those are the only chair options for the venue so.....chair covers it is.  I draw the line at bows though.  There will be no bows on the back of our chairs.  
• I can't talk Kevin into wearing a suit so a tux for all the men in the wedding party it shall be.  I can't blame him.  I wouldn't want him dictating what I wear for the wedding any more than he wants me telling him what to wear.  I really do appreciate the fact that he is into this 100% and LOVES the planning.  I am lucky that way.  I still need to expose him to less formal weddings so he can drop some preconceptions though.
• The custom art we were planning on fell through so now we have to look for a different artist.   It was going to be so cool too.  :-(

 I want to get as much done as possible before the end of the year when marathon training begins so I don't have to try and juggle both too much.  Right now our weekend with the wedding coordinator to go over menu, linens and crap is the same weekend my 20 miler is scheduled.  Nope, no worries there.

Beach Weekend Getaway

Mom and I went to the beach for a long weekend and this was my view for three days.  It was fabulous.  I basically did nothing other than sit on our deck and look out at this for days.  The weather was warm, blue skies and no wind.  Abnormal for a Washington beach especially in October.

To break up the sitting and reading and talking to Mom I ran five miles on both Saturday and Sunday.  The last time I went that far was quite awhile ago so it felt good to get into "high" mileage again.  In addition to the running I also did some swimming and, like a good Finn, some sauna-ing. 

We also ate some wonderful food including a pumpkin yogurt/honey granola trifle that haunts my dreams.  Movies and horrible wedding shows were watched and a good time was had by both.

This weekend was probably the most relaxed I have been in awhile.  Our typical vacations are "go go go" the entire time and this was refreshing to just do nothing and have no agenda.  I know it was a much needed escape for my mother too.  She almost didn't go but gave in to me and was extremely glad she did.  After the crappy year she has had she deserved a few days of R and R.

Oh, and on our way down to the beach on Friday we stopped at a bridal store and I bought my wedding dress!  Whoo-hoo!