Part 1 - Wedding preparation

I had planned to write about part one of the wedding event yesterday, but when we got home, sleep and enjoying my kids were foremost on my list. I had been away from the children since Friday, and I get antsy when I’m away from them for two hours, much less two days. So, yesterday, we played . . . and rested. Grandma and grandpa wore Eli and Georgia out so they were just as tired as I was.

But about that wedding . . .

The rehearsal was on Friday afternoon, and we checked into the hotel before heading to the chapel. I wanted to get Heather’s dress in the hotel room hanging up, rather than leave it in my car. I got the desk guy to tell me that Heather was on the same floor, but he wouldn’t tell me what room she was in. I called her, and she said she was in 1126. I was in 1104. Fabulous! I figured she was down the hall. I think we called each other about three times before leaving for the rehearsal. When I opened the door to leave, I looked up and discovered 1126 was the room across the hall. I asked Eric, “Did she say 1126?” I heard her voice scream, “Yes!” and the door flew open! How convenient!

I have been in several weddings, and the rehearsal never goes well. I actually thought this one was pretty good. The only problem is the chapel is extremely small, so instead of waiting in the vestibule to walk into the church, the bride and bridesmaids had to wait outside. First, it was 90 something. And second, that meant we couldn’t hear instructions. Not a good combination.

The groom was inside shouting directions at everyone. I was fully expecting him to metamorphosize into the bride at any moment the way he was working himself up into a tizzy. But everything appeared to go off fairly seamlessly, aside from me getting a nervous case of the giggles. After running through the entire thing three times, everyone had a general idea of what they were doing.

Eric’s job was to open the doors when we walked down the aisle. That wasn’t nearly as easy as he anticipated. He had to open and shut the doors for the groom’s mother, the bride’s mother, the bridesmaids, and then open it at “just the right moment” for Heather. He was stressed.

After the rehearsal, we went off to Buca di beppo and got buzzed on Chianti. We happened to be sitting across the table from three pregnant ladies, so Eric was afraid to speak. Other than that, we had a great time. Nothing like gorging on Italian food the night before trying to stuff yourself into a bridesmaid’s dress.

Eric and I decided to skip the proceeding bar crawl and headed back to the hotel to get some rest. Yes, when we’re away from the kids, we don’t party, we sleep. I’m sure every parent can truly understand that! At about 12:15, however, I was startled awake by tapping and hearing, “Neila! Hey! Neila! Are you awake?!” I thought to myself, if this is the voice of God, it sounds like Heather when she’s drunk.

She was outside my room, and wanted her dress. I handed off her dress and she wobbled back across the hall. Apparently, she wanted to show off her dress. Some of the girls came back to her room after stopping Jim and his best man Tony from base jumping off the top of the hotel. Landing in jail the night before the wedding might have put a damper on the festivities.

The next morning, Heather actually called and woke me up at 8:00 after she had been out partying. What is wrong with that picture?!

We got coffee and geared up for the day’s events. We had a little bit of free time since we already had our nails done due to the whole salon debacle. Amy showed up at the hotel, and the three of us went to lunch before Heather’s arrived, and before Cassandra showed up to do hair.

Amy and I headed down to Hall’s to get our make-up done while Heather was getting perfectly coifed. I told the make-up lady that I wanted the smoky eye thing going, but I didn’t want to look like a whore. She told me if I did, at least I would look like an expensive whore. Perfect! So, I got all dolled up and spent $40 on make-up before heading back to the room. Heather came down to get her make-up done in full hair and veil. She already looked gorgeous!

Cassandra was waiting for me in the room, and had me lean my head over the back of a chair so she could blow it dry. Lying down, having someone play with my hair? She’s lucky I didn’t fall asleep! When she was done, I looked in the mirror. Wow! I looked pretty! In full make-up and hair, I felt like I was in disguise. Hmmm . . . that could work to my advantage because if I tripped going down the aisle, maybe no one would recognize me!

We all strapped ourselves into bustiers, strapless bras, petticoats and girdle panties. Amy and I put on our dresses, and then stuffed Heather and her slip into hers. It was supposed to go over her head, but she refused any chance to possibly mess up her hair and make-up.

Then, the limo showed up, and off we went to the church.

To be continued . . .