Weddings and Pirates and Plague, oh my!

[holly_evolving]

So, as you may be aware, cosmic_hiccup got married to Jake this past weekend. It was awesome and tiring.

left work at 4PM. rushed home. packed up, kissed Shinn, booked it. realized while driving down the GSP that I brought the wrong directions. Called gorillaman96, who got me to the church on time. Well, early, as a matter of fact. The rehearsal started at 7:30, and I got there at 6:45. Drove over to the Holiday Inn to visit at the rehearsal suite, then headed over to the church with the group. Rehearsed. Went to dinner. Back to the hotel, then over to Gerry and Alison's to sleep after some popcorn and Man vs. Wild. Bear Grills is a demigod.

Woke up at 6:30 AM. Got up at 7, showered, put on strapless bra ALL BY MYSELF! Go me! Went to salon. Then mall. Then Becca's mom's house. Did pictures.

More events will be edited in later. NyQuil is kicking in.

Saturday cont'd: Many photos of Becca hugging trees in her gown. Long long train; we had to hold it while she walked. Limo arrived; driver dubbed "the bridal party handler"--he knew the right way to do EVERYTHING, and took a lot of guesswork off us. We decided that we should hire him to take care of us full-time. Arrived at church, set up,

WEDDING!

Service was very nice, everyone was beautiful, flowers were gorgeous. Daisies interspersed with big sunflowers & blue irises. My cold decided that in church was the opportune moment to attempt to blow up my head. Managed to only cough while a baby fussed. Combination of meditation (sorry if I looked like I was zoning out!) and a tissue from Becca's mom averted the crisis. More importantly, "I do's" were said, rings exchanged, no one tripped. Becca & Jake are married!

Mingled during receiving line. Bridal Party Handler tapped me to round up the party for the exit from the church, followed by more pictures. Then into the limo. I have to say, Korbel champagne doesn't suck. And I hate most champagnes. Toasts were made, fun was had, and we arrived at the reception.

Hung out in the bridal suite for a while, cooling down, munching hors d'oeuvres, sipping drinks. I suspect I may be hypoglycemic, so I stuck to juice and got plenty of fruit. We wandered out into the cocktail hour, and who do I find but Pat McGowan! He was one of my favorite kids in college; one of the ones I really tried to take care of. Hugs abounded. Everyone was ushered into the hall, and we did our grand entrance. Dances were had and dinner was yummy. I LOVE mashed sweet potatos.

PARTY! Danced for almost six hours solid. fatherdog is completely uninhibited on the dance floor; it's like watching a child. Some of Becca's first students (all growed up!) played a set before the DJ started up. Now, most weddings have a skanky bridesmaid. Not this wedding! No, sir, we had a skankin' bridesmaid (that would be me)! Also, the Den members who made it massed for a photo op.

BEST. WEDDING. EVAR.

Bouquet & garter tossing led to cheerful embarrassing of Sean and Melissa (I SWEAR I had NOTHING to do with it *wink*). Cake was cut, rockette dancing ensued. Becca and Jake looked wonderful, and Becca received many compliments on choosing bridesmaid dresses that were in no way awful. Thank you, Becca!

fatherdog helped me change (our dresses were more complicated than Becca's) and then drove me to my car at Becca's mom's house. Poor thing, after all that partying he was sick. :( Sent him on home and headed off to the hotel. Hospitality suite was packed to over capacity and LOUD. The Jacobsens and O'Briens can really party! Wandered off with Ken and talked a long time. He's a very intense person. I really hope he finds whatever he's looking for, but I don't think he will till he learns to relax and take life as it comes. Wandered off again to catch up with the Den. Absorbed some conversation, then back to Gerry and Alison's. The gamers had all just left (my timing is impeccable!) and so I went pretty much straight to sleep.

Back to Becca's mom's for brunch. Dropped off presents, chatted some more. Then over to Sean's.

Hung out a bit with Sean & Amanda. Played with kitties and a (rare!) good-natured Dalmatian. Chilled for an hour or so, Sean gave me some cough medicine to augment the decongestant I'd already taken. Then over to gorillaman96's.

Attempted to play with Panzer, but it was too hot. Went out for Rita's. Eric took pity on me and gave me cough drops, tissues, and tea. Spent an hour there, then headed home.

HORRIBLE PARKWAY TRAFFIC!

Threw on some fairy/gypsy garb & raced over to the Broad Street IHOP in Bloomfield for Pirates and Pancakes. Sang an entirely different set from my usual (my upper range is GONE for a few more days yet). Crowd seemed to like me. No amount of illness can keep me from being LOUD.

Then I went home, took the aforementioned NyQuil, and passed the hell out.

Highlights: WEDDING! PARTY! Catching up with old friends and making old acquaintances into new ones. Getting my dance on. 2 fabulous dinners in a row. Meeting the person who introduced Rebecca's parents; I am so glad to help carry on that tradition in the next generation. Hospitality--never let it be said that those who haven't gotten much don't know how to give it. Singing my heart (and voice) out for a good cause.

"It all started with a praying mantis..."

Comments

[junipers-rose.livejournal.com]

You sounded wonderful, love.

[holly-evolving.livejournal.com]

You helped!