Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Wedding Weekend



I have said it before and I'll say it again: my friends make the most beautiful brides.

AG tied the knot over the weekend, and barring one 20-minute long best man speech at the rehearsal, I think everything went according to plan.

The rehearsal dinner could have been a reception itself, it was beautifully done by the groom's family. His friends were rife with funny stories about him from army and West Point days- New York, Korea, Germany, Iraq... and Ft. Worth, where he grew up. My friends have been quick with the age-related jokes since AG started dating him (he is, after all, 6+ years older than all of us) and I think the toasts showed that they have lived a lot more of life than we have. The groom's father gave a toast welcoming everyone, thanking them for coming in for the wedding and recognizing all the men in the room who have fought to protect our country and our freedoms. I/everyone may have teared up a bit.

The best man's speech at the rehearsal dinner, as I alluded to, was a whopping 20 minutes long. 20. Minutes. They should have served popcorn and dimmed the lights. It was a three-part monologue that incorporated a cuban-inspired fedora, America's founding fathers and even AG's aunt, the matchmaker.

Saturday morning we returned from the bridal luncheon to the cottage where all the girls in the wedding were staying, and startled a bird that had somehow invited his way into our cottage. MK's first question was "what kind of bird is it?" I think I responded with "WHO CARES?!"

MK and I were the first ones inside, followed minutes later by SR, KR and AV, so we we gave them the FYI about the visitor when they walked in. KR threw it a piece of banana bread and watched it carefully for a reaction, thinking it was possibly dead, since who in the world would pass up banana bread? Meanwhile SR found a maintenance worker, we'll call her Helga, who came in to the cottage, got the bird riled up, causing it to fly around the living area and threatened to attack one of us.

Pandemonium ensued.

KR had skirted into one of the bedrooms and watched as the rest of us, paralyzed by fear, screamed like 14-year-olds at a Jonas Brothers concert while Helga chased down the bird. It landed on the fireplace and she picked it up with her bare hands, pretended to throw it at SR and cackled before carrying it outside. All in a days' work. We were all out of breath and once heart rates slowed down we laughed to the point of tears. One of the biggest concerns immediately following was whether or not the bowl of peanut M&Ms had been compromised by the flight of the bird. We made the executive decision that they were fine, and carried on with the hours of "getting ready" that are built into wedding weekends.
If technology ever comes back into my life in full-force, you'll get to see my cute pink dress and stylish up-do worn that evening. I warned that it would probably start falling the second that it started getting "a little bit louder now" during "Shout", but it held up surprisingly well.
Getting to the church, KR and MK took off running from my car in bridesmaids dresses and heels, not wanting to risk extra exposure in the 106 degree heat and yelling "every man for himself!" on their way into the church.

He and she said "I do" at 7 p.m., AG became AS, rings were exchanged and dinner and dancing ensued.

My parents were in attendance at this blessed event- I had about four minutes of non-whirlwind to sit and chat with them at the reception, and while walking them out through the foyer to the valet, stopped dead in my tracks when I heard an Usher song start playing, did an about-face and flocked back to the dance floor with my friends. The DJ was great, and my friends and I hardly sat down the entire night. Correction: we sat down long enough to eat what we garnered from the mashed potato bar.

I typically forget to bring a bathing suit but remembered this of all weekends, and as fate would have it, the cottage we stayed in was right next to the adjoining country club's pool. I was all for a post-midnight dip, so at around 1 a.m. AV, ND and I headed out to the pool.

We floated and chatted- conversations after weddings are always interesting- and I made the observation that AG became the first of our friends to meet and marry someone post-college. I was actually wrong, because KB did it too, but most all couple friends of mine who got together in college are either married, engaged or broke up around graduation. I know two more college couples getting married this fall, but after those two weddings we might actually be seeing a lull in matrimonial activity for a while.

The morning after the wedding I found a trail of clothes, starting with my ruffly pink dress, ending in my heels and making a detour to the bathroom to find my bathing suit. They may not have shot glasses at wedding receptions, but when did that ever stop my friends from doing anything?

Don't answer that.

We were watching TV Sunday morning, eating cinnamon rolls, strawberries, M&M's and Oreos (there was fruit, lay off), and as luck would have it, we heard another bird coming down the chimney. My friends recoiled at the noise and I moved the grate in front of the fireplace so that it was flush against the opening. Sure enough, an bird identical to the one from Saturday dropped down into the fireplace, which was quickly renamed the petting zoo, and watched him for a while until he escaped and had to be ushered outside with paper plates by KR's sister.

Birds don't eat cinnamon rolls either, in case you were wondering.

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes
All that you want it to
Your dreams stay big
Your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold.
And while you're out there getting where you getting to
I hope you know somebody love you
And wants the same things to
Yeah this, is my wish...

-Rascal Flatts, "My Wish"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

what?! that is great. sounds like something that would happen at my wedding. damn birds!

that dress is to die for. love it!!

Andhari said...

"We were watching TV Sunday morning, eating cinnamon rolls, strawberries, M&M's and Oreos (there was fruit, lay off)"

LOL you're awesome, and I've been craving oreos like crazy.

ps. your friend looks totally fabulous in that dress!

The Professional Bridesmaid said...

Beautiful dress. The best line "They should have served popcorn and dimmed the lights." lol

RM said...

literally laughing outloud during the bird scene...is it weird that I picture Helga as a relative to Hagrid?