Monday, February 1, 2016

The Wedding Week

post signatureWow! It's been a whirlwind. I had every intention of slipping a blog post in, but there just wasn't time. I was up early on Saturday and sat down to start a post, but Elizabeth came down. I wanted to spend that quiet one on one time with her instead.

Anyway, I'm going to break up the wedding posts in to three: Getting Ready; The Ceremony; The Reception.

Getting  Ready
I'm going to start with Friday. This was my most stressful day. We had to deliver the gift bags to 8 different hotels. At the last minute, I decided to let our families pick theirs up here since they were going to be here that night. Down to 6 deliveries.

Sandy, Elizabeth and I left at 7:30 a.m.  I knew we would hit some rush hour traffic, but we had to be finished with the deliveries by 9 so that I could pick my sister, Janice up from the airport. Then Mindy called. She was excited, so we picked her up too.

We had the bridesmaids luncheon at the club. I invited Mindy's new mother-in-law, sister-in-law and 3 sisters to join all of us. Mindy presented me with this cute Kate Spade box:
It's silver, so the top kept reflecting everything. The engraving reads, "Thanks for making sure everything was tied up in a bow! Love, Mindy" So sweet and unexpected.

After lunch, the girls went for manicures while Janice and I went home to prepare food. I invited our families to come here---even though we wouldn't be here. There just isn't a good place for so many people to congregate at the hotels. We had tons of food, but I forgot to have someone take a picture of the table. 

We were at the rehearsal dinner. It was very nice---at Amerigos where the food is always good.
From left: Butch, Barb, Mindy, Justin, Laurie and Paul. Laurie said that since the Eads Family were game players, she planned a couple of games. The first one was trivia. Turns out, I know Justin better than I know Mindy!! The second game was the "shoe" game. Justin said he wondered why his mom told him to be sure to wear clean socks with no holes. I guess even when you are 36, your mom will still remind you of that sort of thing!! They each took a shoe from the other. Then Emily, Mindy's new sister-in-law, asked a series of questions. Mindy and Justin were sitting back to back. They answered the question by raising the shoe of who the question pertained to. For example---who is the grumpiest in the morning or who is the first to say I'm sorry. They were spot on with each other.

We got home about 8:45 to nearly 50 people in the house---(I'm from a large family):
 Scarlet, Evie and Travis were playing in the rec room while...
 most of the adults were in the kitchen, family room and living room.

Janice took her job of "being in charge" seriously.  My sisters already had all the food put away and the dining room cleaned up. Janice said it was too much pressure! Being single, she's never prepared or served food for that many people. We won't even talk about the drinks. Let's just say, 3 big bags of ice were not enough.

I had forewarned everybody that we were kicking them out at 11. They were good sports and everyone left when they were supposed to.
 I posted this picture on Facebook: "And just like that, breakfast for the family thanks to good friends. Banana bread---thanks Madelyn. Sour dough bread---thanks, Karolyn."

Mindy's hair dresser---or maybe they call them hair stylist these days---arrived at 9:30. I thought I took pictures of all the girls, but apparently I just got these.




 Melanie with Mindy. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the back.
Mindy went for a trial run a couple weeks ago. This is a closer view of the "do."
The flowers arrived around 1 p.m. This is the bridal bouquet---tiny orchids.  So many people commented on how stunning it looked agains her dress. Mindy didn't want anything that would be remotely stuffy. She's not really a traditional kind of gal!

We had a great time just hanging out. We thought we had plenty of time. Suddenly, it was a huge rush to get everyone ready and out the door by 2:30. I had not practiced buttoning the 50 tiny buttons up the back of Mindy's dress! OMGosh! I was a nervous wreck. The bridal shop suggested using a crochet hook. There was a bit of a learning curve, but I finally got the hang of it. I was so afraid I was going to pop one off.

It got a little tense. I was snapping at Butch, Stephanie, the girls---just about everybody!!! Anyway, we got out the door and made it to the chapel in time. We wanted to take ALL of the pictures before the ceremony. The day couldn't have been more beautiful---sunny and nearly 70 degrees.

6 comments:

  1. What a special post this is. I think the "getting ready" is just as much fun to remember as the main event..who doesn't love a behind the scenes glimpse?

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  2. So exciting. I LOVE a great time spent with family and friends, so seeing the photos of your full house made my heart swell. I love that you are breaking the posts up like this, Barbara. Can't wait to read the next entry!

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  3. Hi Barbara, what an exciting time for your family. I'm sure everything will be beautiful. Enjoy this special time in with your family, can't wait to see more.
    Sending blessings,
    Marlene

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  4. Hi Barbara, what an exciting time for your family. I'm sure everything will be beautiful. Enjoy this special time in with your family, can't wait to see more.
    Sending blessings,
    Marlene

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  5. Well it looks like you had things much more under control than you give yourself credit for. Looking forward with much anticipation to your other posts.

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  6. Oh how lovely wedding photographs. I really love the decent and simple wedding themes. In this summer I will also tie the knot at one of the domestic wedding venues NYC. I will be having intimate wedding and we will be inviting only our family members to share our big day.

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