the wedding

It's only obligatory that I mention a few things about the wedding since the few previous blog posts were about planning.  But after this, I'll be thrilled to have my normal life (void of wedding planning or anything wedding related) back, along with posting normal blog posts that are non-wedding related.


The good things:

-My now husband didn't back out
-The weather decided to stop storming at 1 PM and be sunny the rest of the day (considering we had an outdoor ceremony/photos, this was very crucial to our plan... as we had no backup plan)
-My biological parents didn't try to sabotage one another
-I didn't cry
-I actually had the most perfect single moment in my life thus far (I'll explain later)
-The bridal party really stepped up and made it fun, not to mention the toasts were great
-We got feedback that our food, cake, and music were all awesome (nobody wants to have their wedding remembered for having any of those be bad)
-Overall, it was a fantastic time

My mom also gave me a locket of my step-dad's hair to have pinned in my dress as I walked down the aisle, so he would figuratively still be doing so.  It was the only part of the day where I cried, but it was such a surprise and sweet gesture.


And now for the things that didn't quite go as planned/really took me by surprise:

My mother-in-law literally cried so much throughout the entire evening that one would easily confuse her for attending a funeral.  We brought up the wedding to her the other day (a few days later), and she started crying AGAIN.  What is she going to do if we decide to have children?  Burst into tears every time she sees them?  It'll be really awkward if we have a son and he brings home his first serious girlfriend to Thanksgiving dinner and grandma just starts sobbing because it's a "moment."  I understand crying a little during the ceremony, but through the cake cutting and garter toss?  I just don't understand.

The bridesmaid I kicked out of the wedding decided to try to barge in on us on our wedding night.  If you don't think that's rude on its own, keep reading.  She apparently had been partying too hard with other friends of hers (I have solid reason to believe hard drugs were involved) and missed the reception that she assured me she would go to, so she thought it would be perfectly acceptable to visit us at our hotel to say hi.  Luckily, I had stellar bridesmaids that basically told her "hell no" and showed her to the door.  It's funny (and sad) to think that a few weeks ago, we met up to discuss things- she said she really didn't want to lose me as a friend, then turned around and skipped my wedding for drugs that could seriously hurt her one day.  I guess some things I'll never understand, although I'm sure she'll concoct an elaborate excuse after she's done avoiding me.

We actually got a few presents (although we didn't do a registry).  Overall we were very impressed: the people who got us gifts were very thoughtful and original, and they were all things we needed or could use.  I can tell we are going to use our kitchen-aid mixer (with the pasta maker attachment), hand blender, wine accessories (and tons of wine), and recipe book (filled with family recipes) quite a bit.  One of our friends gave us a recipe/story of the Moscow Mule drink along with the ginger beer, vodka, and copper cups traditionally used for the vintage drink, and I thought it was a really cool idea.


And the single perfect moment...

The day didn't go as quickly as people told me it would, nor do I forget as much as they said I would.  The only truly surreal moment was just before stepping out to walk down the aisle.  My parents stepped out first, then stepped to the side so I would take my place between them before walking.  Everyone stood; I remember it being so silent except for the music (Vitamin String Quartet's cover of "Stairway to Heaven") and just standing there for a moment to take it all in, but that moment felt like an eternity.  As I was walking, I looked at my friends, family, the bridal party, my husband, and the officiant (my brother), and felt something I had never felt before: perfection.  I hadn't really put much thought into what that moment would be like, but I never figured I would be lucky enough to have a truly perfect moment in my lifetime.  Not to mention I had no idea that I could feel so much affection from all of our guests as they watched me walk down the aisle; it's difficult to describe, but I'm sure other brides can agree that there's no other feeling quite like it.