Before the Big Day

As promised, here are more details about the wedding!

The wedding and reception were both at my parents’ house, so that’s where we had the rehearsal dinner, too. All of this took place the day before the wedding. I really enjoyed:

• The relaxed atmosphere
• My father (who wanted to practice walking with me several times)
• The fact that our different groups of friends got along so well
• Mike’s brothers making a special effort to be there, despite the fact that I forgot to tell them they were in the ceremony!
• Laughing so hard that my stomach hurt
• Teasing my friend Eleise about her love life (poor girl! It was romance by public committee all weekend!)
• Watching my brother play in the sand-pile with Mike’s nephew

The minute I woke up on August 2^nd, I just felt so happy. Everything was a joy, even before the festivities began! Some of my favorite “getting ready” moments included:

• Mike calling me while I was at the hair salon, to see if I needed the earrings I’d left at home
• The fact that Mike was at the house, dressed and ready, at 11:00am (ceremony started at 4:00pm)
• Our fabulous photographer chatting with all of our loved ones
• My aunts fixing a minor wedding gown issue (none of us really sew, so it was sheer slapstick)
• Aunt Bunny loaning me the back of her earring
• My friend Shannon doing my makeup
• Bru, Shannon’s delightful husband, fixing the cake topper groom so that he had Mike’s facial hair.
• Watching our different groups of friends sit out in lawn chairs, laughing and talking (and theoretically directing parking).
• Taking family pictures—especially when the triplets got loose, and everyone took a turn at baby-wrangling the boys!
• Maren, Eleise, and Theresa keeping me company before the ceremony.
• Mike sneaking the GISP back to where I was hiding in my childhood bedroom.
• Getting to see Russ before the ceremony, too!