Wedding Weekend

It’s hard to say good-bye to our weekend of fun, family, friends (and *marriage*).  I’ll try to re-live the magic for a bit, and tell you all about it, one day at a time.  Be prepared for mind-numbing detail – this is for my scrapbook, too!

I pick up my dress at the tailor’s mid-morning.  In keeping with my dress’s diva nature, it decides to squeeze me a bit too tightly when I put it on, but I don’t care – I can still zip it up, and who needs to breathe?  Plus, the extra corset-like squeeziness makes my cleavage, well, cleave a bit more convincingly.  I thank the tailor, then head home and pack in a mad rush.  Although we were careful to keep all wedding stuff in one place, I’m still terrified we’ll forget something.  At about 5, my oldest sister Amanda rocks up with two other siblings in her car, C and R, who she’d picked up at the airport – hugs ensue.  The Professor follows soon after.  After a couple of last minute details are taken care of, we take off for South Carolina.  We make it about five minutes down the road, stopping at a local Mexican place for dinner (might as well wait out rush hour traffic).  I order a massive margarita (I need to relax), and we all clink a cheers to the upcoming weekend.

On the 5 hour drive, we trade around drivers and passengers.  For a while I drive with my brother next to me, and we talk a lot, get caught up.  It’s nice to breathe, drive, and focus on someone else’s life for a little bit.  I really enjoy it.  At around midnight or so, we pull into the gated community where the house we’ve rented is located.  It is a pretty fly house – huge, plenty of bedrooms, plenty of closets and floor space for junk – and about 45 minutes away from town.  This proved to be TOO FAR by far, but we worked around it.  The other 3 in my family (baby sister, mom, dad) are still up, and we hug all ’round.  We pick our rooms – I get a small room with a daybed upstairs, near my sisters.  I loved it – it was dark and quiet, near the bathroom, and all my own – no sharing for the bride!

I’m up at 8:12 am, restless and unsure of what to do with myself.  The Professor leaves early in the morning to pick up some items we had dropped off previously.  I can’t get much accomplished until he brings those things to us, and this makes me anxious.  We have a big breakfast, and then settle in to watch the one hour video my dad has made of the Professor and I through the years.  My mother is crying in seconds, so I snuggle up to her.  It’s very good, very well thought out, though as Dad said only the Professor, me, and our parents would ever find it that interesting.  After the video, everyone pulls out their outfits to look them over – including my brother R.  R clearly hasn’t looked at his tux in a while, because the shirt has a big round coffee ring on it, and the suit itself is pretty dirty.  Ahh, my brother.  So out my parents go, shopping for a new tux shirt and 24 hour cleaners, while I strap on my running shoes and take a long, slow run.  It felt good.

The kids (that’s what I call my siblings) strike up a loud card game, and though normally I would join in, on this day it starts to freak me out.  The noise, the shouting, the laughter, it all begins to take its toll on me, and by the time the Professor pulls in the drive, I am about to cry.  No real reason, just bride jitters, and I feel foolish about it.  Thank God, and I mean it, the Professor wasn’t alone when he arrived – he had picked up a pair of my friends who stayed with me the rest of the day and preserved my sanity.  Bridesmaid E and her husband Jay had arrived, and boy did they save the day.  They talked, tied ribbons, trimmed daisies, went through checklists, super-glued fake berries onto paper clips (it was a very DIY reception decoration scheme, or should I say HJDI <Have Jay Do It>).  Not only was it good to see them again, it was good to have people there who understood my fragile bridal nature.  I’ve never felt so edgy in my life!  The Professor had to leave again pretty quickly to tend to his own side of the aisle and their arrivals.  It took me a few minutes to come to grips with the fact that we were going to have to face this huge undertaking of a weekend without each other for support.  I’ve never understood the fixation with keeping the bride and groom separate up until the ceremony – just when I really needed him to help me stay normal!  But, as politeness dictates, he greeted his guests, I greeted mine, and E and Jay (and other attendants as they arrived) served as my support group in the meantime.

My mother made a pork loin roast with potatoes and green beans, and E and Jay stayed for dinner, then headed off to their hotel to get ready for a wild night on the town.  We all showered and got ready ourselves, and then headed out for wild and crazy night – in Small Town, South Carolina.  And I’ll tell that story tomorrow!