Monday, May 25, 2009

Finally a married woman!

(This entry was begun on 5/24/09, and completed on 6/15/09.  Not having Internet besides on one's phone for a couple of weeks will do that to a blog, I suppose.)

Robert and I were married at
2 p.m., St Michael's Catholic Church, on May 23, 2009. :)  We had a full Mass to celebrate our sacrament of matrimony, and everything was as perfect as we could have hoped for.  I don't think I can fully recount the day at the moment (and, frankly, I have just arrived at my honeymoon location and am simply waiting for Robert to free up the shower so I can take mine), but I will hit some key moments.

1. Sleeplessness: I went to sleep around 12:30 a.m. completely convinced that my garters would slip down my leg and embarrass me during the Mass.  My sister, also my maid of honor, who was sharing the room with me that night, was able to mumble some encouraging words as we slipped into sleep.  I awoke around 3:45 with killer stomach acid.  I wanted to die...or vomit, but neither was an option.  I didn't even have Pepcid, which is usually my saving grace.  Instead, I laid in bed until around 5:50, which was close enough to 6:15 (when the alarm was scheduled to wake me up), and then I took my shower and got ready for the day.  I then met up with my bridesmaids, mom, aunt, and grandmother for breakfast.  It was wonderful...except, of course, I didn't hardly eat anything because of the bad stomach issue.

2. Hair: we made it to the hair place a couple of minutes late, I think--I didn't have a watch on, but I'm sure we were a little behind.  It was fine, though, of course and they took care of all of us in a ridiculously timely fashion.  As I sat in my chair, I noticed a wave of nausea wash over me...but I never did vomit.  I think I would have actually felt better if I could have.  At least I might have been able to get rid of some of the acid.  All the girls' hair looked wonderful.  I chose not to predetermine their hairstyles because I knew it would be better if they chose for themselves.  Most women have a very delicate relationship with their hair, and I certainly didn't want to disturb that! ;)

3. Wedding: here's where I'll speed up some.  It was a blur to me anyway.  We had awoken to rain on Friday and Saturday.  I had gotten over my disappointment to the rain already, and all I cared about was seeing Robert and getting down that aisle so I could stand next to him.  We took pictures (which, once I get them, if I can, I will attempt to put on the blog at some point), and we had some crazy times with those, actually.  Because the girls' dresses couldn't get wet, our photographer stood out in the drizzle and whenever it let up, she'd wave us to come outside, snap a few photos, and then we'd dash back underneath the overhang.  This lasted around an hour or so.  By the time the ceremony was starting, I was feeling excited and anxious to get started.  Time slowed down and dragged on by...I couldn't stand it.  My dad escorted me to the vestibule, and we waited in a corner, hidden from everyone's view.  When he adjusted my blusher over my face, I felt myself start to cry, so I said, "Daddy.  Tell me a joke."  He did...but I can't remember it now.  I just know it made me laugh and I stopped crying.  As soon as the doors started to open, though, the only words I could muster were "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God."  I must have stopped mumbling by the time I made it into the church itself because by then the only thing I could think of was how amazing Robert looked, and how happy I was that we had finally made it to the altar.  The ceremony was beautiful (I'm told).  When my friends who weren't there ask me how the wedding and reception were, my response is to ask someone they know who went.  Robert and I couldn't even remember if we had flowers at the altar like we had ordered, and if they were purple, like we had ordered.  I think we did, and I think they were.  I don't have a memory of it, though.

4. Reception: although the DJ mixed up the names of two of our bridal party attendants, and mixed up the order of events (I'm sure no one else noticed but me and my mom), the reception went off without a hitch and was generally just perfect.  I am told that everyone had a great time, which is a relief because I certainly wasn't paying any attention to anyone else's good time.  It's amazing what happens when one is married--you might be the most socially attuned person in real life, but be the bride in a wedding, and nobody else hits your radar except your new husband and yourself.  We did get to see most of our guests, I think (I hope), and I am so grateful to them all for coming.  I was blown away by seeing all of our plans transform themselves from ideas into tangible realities.  It was truly stunning.

5. Sunday breakfast: we invited our out-of-town guests to join us for breakfast on Sunday morning.  Robert and I, of course, took our sweet time getting there (plus his overnight bag did not arrive to him until around 8:45 or so).  But once we did arrive, we were greeted by a round of applause and a couple of catcalls and whistles.  It was actually pretty hilarious, so I feigned innocence and merely asked, "...what...?"  We dished ourselves up a plate of food and attempted to sit down probably no fewer than fifteen times, but every time I brought a fork to my mouth, I was interrupted by a guest leaving or wanting to have one more picture or something.  After about an hour of this, I turned around and saw that my plate (of now cold food) had been bussed.  Tears nearly filled my eyes.  I scouted out my husband and said, "They took my food!"  He gave me a little hug and said, "It's okay baby.  I told them to give you a plate of fresh, hot food.  We're going to take it with us."  I looked around and realized that the only people left were Robert, me, both sets of parents, and my grandparents.  My mom and dad invited us up to their room so we could eat without interruption as well as open the gifts we received the night before.  Once we were finished there, we headed over to my apartment to grab my suitcase and then off to Robert's parents' home for his suitcase and to be driven to the airport by his mom.

I'll wrap up here because this begins the honeymoon, which is an entirely different entry unto itself.

Oh, and everyone asks me every single day about pictures.  Let me say this as finally as I possibly can for everyone:

I am at your mercy!  Obviously, I did not have my camera with me at my own wedding.  So I do not have any pictures at this moment.  If you have pictures, please give them to me so I can share them with friends and family.  I am just as anxious as (perhaps more than) all of you for want of these pictures.  I would love to see what my wedding looked like.  Our photographer is working diligently at editing and finishing all the photos she took.  They will be up in a couple of weeks, and once they are, I will share the access information with everyone.