"An elegant little wedding....." said my brother-in-law, whose own daughter married less than a month before ours.
Planned by my daughter in only three months, (with minimal interruption and only a few minor suggestions from me, although she may disagree on the number....lol) it all went off without a hitch. Not even one. Unless you count my sore foot.*
Even the rehearsal went well, considering we had not met anyone in the groom's family (except his two sons) before 4pm that day. They live in another state, and it was not possible for us to travel to see them, due to our other previously planned travel in the few months before the wedding. We enjoyed trying to get to know them, although with 24 people at the rehearsal dinner, it was hard to converse. I am hard of hearing (even when I wear my aids) so it is hard for me to hear, especially when the acoustics are bad. Winston's restaurant has great food, but they play music that is too loud for people who are hearing-challenged. I keep thinking that I've already written about this, and if so, bear with me again.
The only problem with a morning wedding is that you have to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready. We had five other family members staying here, so I urged some of them to take their showers on Friday night. I wasn't sure our water heater could stand up to seven showers in one hour and I didn't want to test it.
I couldn't sleep that night, so I awoke at 6:00am, wanting so very badly to slam the snooze button and go back to sleep. I didn't dare, so I got up to make sausage and English muffins for everyone. I wish I had been industrious enough to make a sausage and egg casserole I could have popped into the oven that morning. But Betty Crocker, I'm not. Somehow we all managed to leave the house by 9:00 am, getting to the church by our deadline of 9:30, which was a miracle. Everyone else in the wedding party and family got there on time too, which made me very happy!
Our baby chose not to have any bridesmaids. She has been in 9-10 weddings, and she decided not to make anyone go through that with her....lol Our four granddaughters preceded her down the aisle. Ranging in age from almost 13 to 17 1/2, they were adorable in their orange dresses (two wore solid orange and two wore an orange print.) I made green cymbidium wrist corsages on pearl bracelets for each of them, for me and the groom's mom, and pin-on corsages for the bride and groom's sisters, and boutonnieres for all the guys. My grandsons escorted their mom down the aisle and my son escorted me.
After the family was seated and the doors opened to reveal my husband and our daughter, beginning their walk down the aisle, there wasn't a dry eye in our family rows. As I mentioned before, we didn't know if he would be able to walk her down the aisle and it meant so much to her that he would. I teared up immediately and had to look away, knowing that if I continued to watch I would be sobbing in short order. She was very happy that he was able to do it with no problems, and he was very pleased with himself, as we all were.
The next hurdle was for him to remember to say "her mother and I do" when the minister asked "who gives this woman." A quick jab of my elbow to the right and a whisper of the words in his ear were enough of a prompt and he said them loudly and clearly. I think I heard a deep sigh.....his duties were done (all but the toast at the reception.)
As I mentioned in the post about the wedding vendors, the minister/officiant was clearly a "find" and he gave one of the best wedding homilies I've ever heard. A newlywed himself (four months), he nevertheless said all the right things and said them very well. I loved it, and my daughter decided she ought to have had a videographer!
We left, after family photos, to go to the reception at Caffe Luna, only 3 blocks away. Despite the fact that the cafe has four rooms (they were old stores, side by side, that got joined to make the restaurant), it works well for a reception of about 100 people. The acoustics are no better there than they were the night before, but we made do. The food was excellent and plentiful and the wine and beer flowed as long as anyone wanted any. The champagne toast was short and sweet and the father of the bride didn't mention anything in his speech that the bride had told him not to - and I can assure you her list was very long!!
The bride chose to have cupcakes rather than a full cake (a current trend) and they were delicious! She didn't do a cake cutting, although they also had a small cake to keep.
She opted to have people write on smooth rocks (with laundry pens) rather than a guest book. We displayed them in two identical trays and I didn't get any photos of them (so I hope the others and the pro photographer did.) They turned out well, and now I have to spray them with polyurethane so that the writing doesn't fade. I'm waiting for the humidity to go down; the last few days have been like a steam bath round here. Once I get that done, I will photograph them so you can see how it turned out. I wrote on a few rocks ahead of time to place in the tray so people could get the idea. We also had a framed sign that told what to do. The rocks will be displayed in a tall glass cylinder in their home. I've just decided I'm going to take one of the leftover rocks and write on it "I'm sorry." I think at some point during their marriage, they might need that one. I sure did/do.
We had a photo booth at the reception; one of the type where you get 4 pictures in a strip. That was in lieu of favors, and it was a big hit, especially with the children. The people running it had props, such a hats, boas, funny sunglasses, etc., and people took full use of them. The photos were given to each person, and also a photo album of all of the pix was given to the bride and groom. Mr. kenju and I never did make it to the booth (too busy talking and greeting people.) We did manage to eat, however, and the food was delicious! It really was a lot of fun meeting the groom's family and talking a bit. They all seem so nice and I would enjoy getting to know them. Too bad we don't live closer together. Also nice was getting to see some of my daughter's friends who live all over; DC, Boston and other places I can't remember. Our best old friends (who introduced us) couldn't come, and that made me sad, but we had other people there who meant a lot to us, so it turned out well.
* The only problem: I had a pedicure and manicure on Friday morning and the tech got a bit rough with my feet, and she left me with an open tear about the size of a pencil eraser on my left heel. It only hurt a little bit while she was doing it, but I didn't realize until I got home that it was bleeding. I had to put pain-killing meds on it and bandage it - but that only helped a little bit. On Sat. morning, I took pain killer, salved my foot and bandaged it again, and it was okay for a while. By the end of the reception it was throbbing. As of tonight (Thursday) it still hurts. I don't think I'll go back to that same woman again.
I have not received any more photos via email yet, but when I do, I'll post them.
The only problem with a morning wedding is that you have to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready. We had five other family members staying here, so I urged some of them to take their showers on Friday night. I wasn't sure our water heater could stand up to seven showers in one hour and I didn't want to test it.
I couldn't sleep that night, so I awoke at 6:00am, wanting so very badly to slam the snooze button and go back to sleep. I didn't dare, so I got up to make sausage and English muffins for everyone. I wish I had been industrious enough to make a sausage and egg casserole I could have popped into the oven that morning. But Betty Crocker, I'm not. Somehow we all managed to leave the house by 9:00 am, getting to the church by our deadline of 9:30, which was a miracle. Everyone else in the wedding party and family got there on time too, which made me very happy!
Our baby chose not to have any bridesmaids. She has been in 9-10 weddings, and she decided not to make anyone go through that with her....lol Our four granddaughters preceded her down the aisle. Ranging in age from almost 13 to 17 1/2, they were adorable in their orange dresses (two wore solid orange and two wore an orange print.) I made green cymbidium wrist corsages on pearl bracelets for each of them, for me and the groom's mom, and pin-on corsages for the bride and groom's sisters, and boutonnieres for all the guys. My grandsons escorted their mom down the aisle and my son escorted me.
After the family was seated and the doors opened to reveal my husband and our daughter, beginning their walk down the aisle, there wasn't a dry eye in our family rows. As I mentioned before, we didn't know if he would be able to walk her down the aisle and it meant so much to her that he would. I teared up immediately and had to look away, knowing that if I continued to watch I would be sobbing in short order. She was very happy that he was able to do it with no problems, and he was very pleased with himself, as we all were.
The next hurdle was for him to remember to say "her mother and I do" when the minister asked "who gives this woman." A quick jab of my elbow to the right and a whisper of the words in his ear were enough of a prompt and he said them loudly and clearly. I think I heard a deep sigh.....his duties were done (all but the toast at the reception.)
As I mentioned in the post about the wedding vendors, the minister/officiant was clearly a "find" and he gave one of the best wedding homilies I've ever heard. A newlywed himself (four months), he nevertheless said all the right things and said them very well. I loved it, and my daughter decided she ought to have had a videographer!
We left, after family photos, to go to the reception at Caffe Luna, only 3 blocks away. Despite the fact that the cafe has four rooms (they were old stores, side by side, that got joined to make the restaurant), it works well for a reception of about 100 people. The acoustics are no better there than they were the night before, but we made do. The food was excellent and plentiful and the wine and beer flowed as long as anyone wanted any. The champagne toast was short and sweet and the father of the bride didn't mention anything in his speech that the bride had told him not to - and I can assure you her list was very long!!
The bride chose to have cupcakes rather than a full cake (a current trend) and they were delicious! She didn't do a cake cutting, although they also had a small cake to keep.
She opted to have people write on smooth rocks (with laundry pens) rather than a guest book. We displayed them in two identical trays and I didn't get any photos of them (so I hope the others and the pro photographer did.) They turned out well, and now I have to spray them with polyurethane so that the writing doesn't fade. I'm waiting for the humidity to go down; the last few days have been like a steam bath round here. Once I get that done, I will photograph them so you can see how it turned out. I wrote on a few rocks ahead of time to place in the tray so people could get the idea. We also had a framed sign that told what to do. The rocks will be displayed in a tall glass cylinder in their home. I've just decided I'm going to take one of the leftover rocks and write on it "I'm sorry." I think at some point during their marriage, they might need that one. I sure did/do.
We had a photo booth at the reception; one of the type where you get 4 pictures in a strip. That was in lieu of favors, and it was a big hit, especially with the children. The people running it had props, such a hats, boas, funny sunglasses, etc., and people took full use of them. The photos were given to each person, and also a photo album of all of the pix was given to the bride and groom. Mr. kenju and I never did make it to the booth (too busy talking and greeting people.) We did manage to eat, however, and the food was delicious! It really was a lot of fun meeting the groom's family and talking a bit. They all seem so nice and I would enjoy getting to know them. Too bad we don't live closer together. Also nice was getting to see some of my daughter's friends who live all over; DC, Boston and other places I can't remember. Our best old friends (who introduced us) couldn't come, and that made me sad, but we had other people there who meant a lot to us, so it turned out well.
* The only problem: I had a pedicure and manicure on Friday morning and the tech got a bit rough with my feet, and she left me with an open tear about the size of a pencil eraser on my left heel. It only hurt a little bit while she was doing it, but I didn't realize until I got home that it was bleeding. I had to put pain-killing meds on it and bandage it - but that only helped a little bit. On Sat. morning, I took pain killer, salved my foot and bandaged it again, and it was okay for a while. By the end of the reception it was throbbing. As of tonight (Thursday) it still hurts. I don't think I'll go back to that same woman again.
I have not received any more photos via email yet, but when I do, I'll post them.
9 comments:
I love this post. The wedding sounds wonderful and I really felt your emotion (and mine) about your husband and your daughter walking down the aisle. She had her own ideas which all seemed to work perfectly (the 'bridesmaids' sounded adorable, the cupcakes), and I think the photo booth is such a marvelous modern touch for weddings. I know you have mixed emotions about it all being over, but hope that you, like your husband, can breath a happy sigh of relief that it went off with only one hitch: the marriage! <3
Judy,
I got all teary eyed when you told us about your feelings when you saw Mr. Kenju and your daughter walking down that aisle.
You sure know how to describe things...I feel like I was there!
Your post touched me so much. Your girl planned a great wedding. I am passing your rocks idea along to a friend; her girl is getting married next year.
Judy....I "refreshed" and NOW I can comment! HOORAY!
The Wedding sounded absolutely perfect! And particularly the moment when Mr. Kenju walked your daughter down the aisle...So Very Memorable and So Very Moving, too...! Your daughter must be quite a fantastic organizer--taking after her Mom, I think--to have pulled this all together in three months and have it come off without a hitch! BRAVA to her and to you, too, my dear!
A Happy Day and such Wonderful Memories!
Well the daughter-apple didn't fall far from the mother-tree. Talk about a couple of creative gals! What a neat wedding. We're planning a family reunion soon and I'm thinking that renting a photo booth would be a great idea. Never heard of such a thing. Loving every post you do on this wedding!
Wonderful post, I truly enjoyed reading it (until I got to the pedicure...sorry about that!! I would go back to that woman just to show her what she did to you).
Such precise descriptions, what fun ideas with the rocks and the photo booth!!
With the exception of the pedicure it sounds wonderful, especially with Jims participation ... I know he must have been overjoyed to be able to do it.
Oh Judy, it sounds just the perfect wedding! I would have cried buckets if I'd been there - and I don't know anybody!! You have described everything so perfectly, I'm wondering if the photos could be any better!
Now take it easy for a bit! (And do visit my blog - I have actually got around to doing another one!)
Sounds delightful! We didn't get a chance to meet our son's in-laws until the wedding day and with so many people and many of their guests they hadn't seen for a long time and others the same for us, we didn't really have a chance to know them then.
Can appreciate the challenges anyone with hearing aides has in groups, but glad you seem to know how to cope with all that.
Am sure it must have been a most emotional moment when Mr. Kenju walked with daughter down the aisle -- wonderful -- a treasured time.
So sorry you had the foot problem and hope it heals soon.
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