Saturday

*WARNING: FM, LEGP&GD* (food mentioned, long entry go potty and get drink)

We got up Saturday and went to breakfast in the hotel. I saw a couple youngsters that I thought I recognized, but I wasn't so sure so I didn't say anything. After breakfast we went back to our room and I started getting ready. I very quickly remembered why I stopped bothering with make-up. *Bah* What a pain in the ass it is to apply and if it's the least bit warm it just melts off. I did manage to make myself somewhat presentable though. The necklace the clerk at Catherine's was just the right touch to the outfit too. Man that expression...LOL. The first picture, Im sure would have been much nicer but that dingy husband of mine...well let's just say he only aimed at a body part and didnt get the whole outfit. So of course he clicked when he was getting the mixed "you're funny" and "you're in trouble" looks. Geez looking at that pic I really need to go out and get some sun.

As we were leaving the hotel, we noticed that we were going to get some rain. The clouds were starting to come in and the wind shifted a bit. That's when we noticed a certain.. umm...odor. Seems the hotel was just down the road from a farm....ew. Cow country. All I could hope for at this point is that the lingering of its ummm unique scent wasn't going to mingle with the Donna Karan Cashmere Mist I was wearing! I could see it now...*sniff* "what are you wearing? It smells like a bovine in a sweater..".

We got within a few minutes of where the wedding and the reception were to be held and the skies opened up. Thank goodness I hadnt done anything special with my hair. We drove around trying to find this place and for the life of us couldnt find the sign for it. After about 10 minutes or so we just started checking for the street address and found it right away. Hmmm. It would help if the sign for the place was at STREET level and not over our heads. That way those driving in a pouring rain can find it easily. The good news is that in the time it took to find the place, the rain stopped and the temps dropped a good 10-15 degrees F. When we pulled into the parking lot, I saw a very familiar figure. It was the one child I'd seen earlier, getting out of a vehicle. As we approached the front doors of the building, I could see into the vehicle better and LO and behold who was there but a friend from highschool (not the bride)! I gave her a brief hug and we all went into the building. She got directions to where we had to be and we all went on up.

The chapel was absolutely gorgeous with this awesome stained glassed ceiling. It must have been superb on a beautiful sunny day in there. As it was, it was still somewhat cloudy out. The lighting wasnt exactly condusive to getting good shots with my camera. It's one where I had to decide on whether I wanted things all washed out or cover the flash and pray for a nice pic anyhow. The floral arrangements were all in white with a hint of purple here and there. To the right and out of the frame of the picture (man I wish I'd grabbed a shot of it now) was a beautiful stained glass picture of a peacock and flowers. The service was short and sweet. The hardest part of getting pictures was not only the lighting but the fact there were a couple of pros there doing the pictures and video and you cant exactly tell them to get the heck out of the way. Needless to say the pictures I managed to get weren't too good. Sad because I wanted one last pic of her before she became a Mrs (she looked ~GORGEOUS~!).

We had a cocktail hour before the reception started so I got a chance to grab a few pix of the reception area. There was a dance floor and the dining area was set up and away from the dance area. The cake was very pretty all in white and lavendar trim. Upon closer inspection, Im just noticing that the topper was much like the one I had for my first wedding. It had two hand spun glass hearts and lotsa white fluffy tulle on it. It tasted ok, there was something different about it when compared to a standard wedding cake (I think my second one tasted much nicer). This one was a tad grainy for my liking and had a bit of a whipped cream filling between the thin layers. Considering she is half Italian (Im not sure what he is...Im thinking with the last name and looks he's at least half Italian too), it would not surprise me if they had a Tiramisu wedding cake. As I have not had it before, I couldnt tell to be sure.

I had been looking around before and during the service in the chapel as well as in the reception hall for a face I hadn't seen up to that point. It was rather odd I hadn't seen her yet. Who was it I was looking for? Why the bride's sister of course. I hadn't seen her in over 20 years and besides the other school mate and the bride, was the one other person I was really looking forward to seeing (she'll be in a later picture). Hubby and I were just discussing it again (for like the 3rd time) as we sat down when I heard this voice behind me. It was the unmistakable nasally New Yorker sound (not Fran Drescher nasally but distinctly New Yorker) that I had been listening for this whole time. YAY!! Oh boy did I get a huge hug from her. It was so good to see her. She's got a beautiful family too. Her little girl is the spitting image of her when she was younger.

The food was quite good. As to be expected there were a few dishes I couldn't eat because of one ingredient or another, but there was still plenty. There were at least 2 veggie dishes and some pastas and 3 different types of meats. One was a whole roasted pig. Boy was that ever delicious! I chose some of that, some of the pasta salad and a couple other items. I skipped the pasta and sauce dish though as it wasn't a sauce I like (they had a wine sauce of some kind...I'd had it at a restaurant once and sent it back because it was disgusting). While I was up getting my plate of food, I chatted up the dj some. I asked him if he'd mind playing the "Chicken Dance" later as the bride had wrangled me into it during my first wedding and I was looking for a touch of pay-back. We had a good laugh over it and I told him that if it was on his dont play list to not worry about it. He said it was a go.

I thought it was really cool that the bride remembered to publicly thank the people other than those in the wedding party (there was only the maid of honor and the best man in the party) for their help in getting things done for her. Her sister made the favors, the center pieces and the wishing well and the other school mate made sure everything else ran smoothly. The speech by the best man was just right and had just the right amount of humor vs seriousness to it that kept it from being overly boring. And speaking of keeping it from being boring....then there was the dj. He played nearly anything you wanted....he even had (when it was requested) The Humpty Dance. Never in any wedding I've been to have I ever heard anyone play that song.

The DJ kept things rocking with a good mix of music making sure those that only slow danced had music if they so chose to get up and waddle to the faster songs that the youngsters seemed to prefer. Strangely enough, the couple to the left here got up and boogied down with the best of them and managed to dance circles around most. They were one of the most fun couples to watch. The other two couples that were great to watch were the bride and groom (of course) and this other Italian couple with some wicked moves. The dj had people really hopping and even did several line dances. He even had them doing the Cha Cha Slide. Although I've heard the song before and have a couple versions of it, it was the first time I'd ever seen anyone doing the dance. *shakes head* I'm gonna chalk it up with the Electric Slide as one I'll never learn. Well those two and the the Cotton Eye Joe, which he also had them doing. No way my joints could handle some of the moves. Shoot, I barely got through the Chicken Dance and you dont do nearly with that dance.

Speaking of the Chicken Dance....here I was thinking payback is nice...I'll get a few pix of the bride and groom doing the dance. Yeah right. You see it coming right? The dj calls the bride and groom to the center of the floor and says there was a special request for them and then proceeds to come up into the dining area, grab me by my arm and drag me to the dance floor....telling all that I'd said something about pay-backs and we all know how pay-backs dont always go the way we plan. *shakes head sighing* So I ended up on the dance floor dancing with the rest. That first butt wiggle squat was a killer and the rest weren't much better I'll tell you. My poor legs were sore for the next two days just from that one dance and my knees, well they are just beginning to feel better.

A bit later, I get called to the dancefloor again....by name. Ut oh. This cant possibly be good. Looks like the bride had her own pay-back planned. I have no clue if it was planned in advance or if it was spur of the moment, but the clever little Italian gal had a surprise and a half for me. So I go out to the dance floor and the dj starts laughing because he now had a name to the face. He came right up to me and said that he heard I was celebrating my 21st birthday *laffin*. Turning to the bartender, he said..."You can start serving her now" LOL! Then he says "at the count of 3, everyone sing Happy Birthday". The cute little man on my arm in the pic to the left started singing before the dj counted and so the dj looked at him and pulled him over next to me to share the spotlight. As they were all singing, I egged him on...louder...louder...LOL.

After the cake (which they very sweetly fed each other), they called ALL the ladies (married and single) out to the dance floor for the bouquet toss. From what I gather, the more ladies out there, the more luck the couple has. At least that's the way it was spun as Im thinking most of the gals there were former brides of the bride. Then they did the garter. Im guessing we had a rather shy groom because that garter really wasnt that far up...she made it too easy for him. Then we had the garter toss. All males (again married or not) were called to the dance floor. A sweet young man managed to catch it, much to the dismay of the gal who caught the bouquet. Why dismay? Because her fiance didnt move fast enough to get the garter. So the gal was seated on a chair in the middle of the dance floor and the young man was told that he was to place the garter on her arm. For every inch he put it up her arm, the married couple would have a year of good luck. Cant fault the boy for what he did....he slid it up her arm very quickly. Much too quickly for the dj's liking. *laffz* So the dj took it off and told the boy to do it again...oh and gals dont like it if you do things too fast. *LAFFZ* After the garter was worked (a bit slower this time) up the gal's arm, the fiance was brought to the floor at which point the gal was instructed to put the garter on him. Again, for every inch was a year of good luck. That's the pic to the right you see. Dude had some skinny legs because she got it nearly clear up his leg!

One of the last dances was the YMCA. The bride's sister dragged me out to the floor to do it with her. She's the one with the purple vest to my right in this picture on the left. I think this is a great picture of the bride and groom. They look like they're having a blast. That was pretty much the last of a great day. Most of the other guests were starting to leave at that point and the waitstaff were clearing the tables. I did manage to get one last picture in. Im going to have to have it printed and framed to put on my desk sometime.

Me, a mutual friend, the bride and her sister. We'd all graduated together except the sister...she was 1-2 years later.