Well, Jon and I got married on Sunday, Sept 14th.
There are so many details that it is hard to narrow it down into one post, but I will try.
The day started out with me waking up after a wonderful sleep to the sound of pouring rain and birds. The rain did not bother me, and I laid in bed thinking about how calm and peaceful it all seemed to be. Somewhere, my brain said hey, stupid, shouldn't you be up by now? I rolled over to look at the alarm clock (which I had set for 7) in my deluxe honeymoon suite and saw that it said 7:30. Yikes. I jumped out of bed and into the shower and proceeded to do my morning ablutions in about 10 minutes flat.
By 7:45, we were more or less on our way to the salon for a morning of hair.
Question - can you get cancer from hairspray? If so, I am in trouble.
Anyway, all the ladies were at the salon til a bit after 11. They did our make-up for free, which I am incredibly glad I let them do. From what I have seen, I look fairly decent in the pictures, so I guess the make up helped a bit.
As I said, it was pouring... so a few people put in a call to Nan, whose prayers stopped the rain and gave us cloudy skies for the rest of the day. When we got back to the hotel, my flowers were there. They were
gorgeous. I would highly recommend
Katherine's Garden for any of your flower needs. I basically sent her a picture of a bouquet I like and let her do whatever else she wanted. Every single flower / arrangement was
stunning. She rocks.
Around 12:30, I put my dress on, which I had gotten from
Anne Bailey's. The ladies at the dress shop were very helpful and I would not have gotten the dress that I did if someone had not picked it out for me! Just the same, as soon as I put the dress on, I started getting nervous. REALLY nervous. And it was not like an Oh My God What Am I Doing?! nervous... but a... I Am Standing In Line For A Rollercoaster And I Feel Like I Have To Poop kind of nervous. I just wanted to GO. And I mean get the ceremony underway, not the other go.
We hopped on the
trolley around 1:20 or so. Tait did NOT want to get on the trolley without his car seat (how safe of him!) and so we had to leave him behind and call for Christian to turn around and come get him. Meanwhile, I am tapping my feet, anxious to get started.
We got to
First Parish around 1:40. By this time, I was feeling REALLY not well. I attribute it to nerves AND to the fact that my dress was perhaps a size smaller than it should have been. It was so tight around my ribcage that I was having trouble taking those deep singer breaths that come naturally to me. It was strange to breathe "with my shoulders" instead of "in my stomach". Not fun! Everyone looked beautiful and stuff, but I just wanted the show to get on the road, I did not CARE who was and was not there, I wanted to START!
I believe that the ceremony started on time... and a lot of people said my nerves would melt away after that. Well, as it turned out, the nerves did, but I still felt awful... which meant the dress was just way too tight. :( Bummer. I had not been able to really eat or drink all day (nerves) and afterwards I was unable to eat the delicious dinner (dress). Lovely! It was better standing up though, and I definitely was still insanely happy.
The ceremony was awesome. Just totally awesome. I cried. Lots of people cried. It was great! Jon misted up, but no tears. I swear, I will get him crying some day. I would love to tell you more, because the ceremony was everything I ever hoped for... but that will have to be a different post.
Afterwards, we went to
Nubble Light to get pictures. The skies were really grey, and I think the pictures are going to be amazing. :)
Our photographer,
Deb Cram, totally rocked. She was ALL OVER THE PLACE and I could not believe how fast she was with her camera. She would have it up, take 10 pictures, and put it down again before you even realized she was shooting. She is very cool with a great outgoing and friendly personality. I would recommend her to anyone. I mean, we will see what the pics look like... but I trust her absolutely, she has wonderful vision.
Our reception was at
Clay Hill Farm. Rachel and Jen there took
phenomenal care of us. The food was some of the best food I have EVER had. And for those of you that know me, know that I eat a lot of good food and really grew up going to nice restaurants. For dinner, we had surf and turf - filet and lobster-stuffed haddock. The hors d'oeuvres were amazing too... scallops wrapped in bacon, Flo's hot dogs, chicken skewers, and the BEST LOBSTER BISQUE I HAVE EVER TASTED. Like... like the bowel kind of lobster bisque. The place was a food wasteland - everyone SCARFED the food and said it was exquisite! Rachel and Jen were so helpful with everything, they really took the time to explain each procedure to us and to help us feel comfortable with how the reception would run. They were GREAT. The service was great, and it was worth every penny... which, by the way, were a lot fewer than what I would have spent in PA for a similar reception.
Our DJ,
John Dionne, did a fantastic job also. We gave him a few bizarre requests - the orchestrated Zelda theme to be played during dinner... Cantaloop to walk in to.... Movin Right Along by Fozzie and Kermit as our last song of the evening... and he found them ALL. We also gave him a general idea of the type of music we wanted (classic motown dance songs) and he did a super job of putting together a play list. He did not play anything on our do not play list... and although he did not get around to all of our special requests, he hit most of them... and we DID end the reception a half hour early, so it is really not completely his fault. He was really nice and said he had a great time too... that on a Sunday evening, usually people just eat and run, but he commented that EVERYONE was dancing and EVERYONE was actually still there when we closed the reception - no one wanted to leave!
After the ceremony, most people went back to the
Admiral's Inn. They were kind enough to keep their bar open, and apparently much debauchery happened there! Ken and his staff were VERY kind and worked hard to figure out details with us. We rented out the entire White Rose Inn, which is part of their complex, for the wedding party. The rooms were nice and clean, and it was great to have the whole place to ourselves. They were especially kind in keeping the bar open for us two nights in a row and making sure that each guest, when they checked in, knew what was in the area for them to do and see. I really felt like a lot of people who came to the wedding got to tour around York and Ogunquit and see things. The weather was gorgeous on Friday, Sat, and Monday (of course not on Sunday!) and so hopefully people really got a chance to make a vacation out of it.
I think that is all for the shout-outs!
Overall, the day was the most perfect day I have ever had in my life. I loved
every single second, even when I felt like poop. Or like pooping. :) I was so happy to have everyone there to help us celebrate. The only problem with weddings is that as the bride and groom, you miss out on a lot of fun. I mean, we had fun too and were included in a lot of fun... but I know that there are so many stories and details and things we missed.
I want to hear them all!!!!
Anyway, it was the best wedding I have ever been to... even JOSH was dancing. He said it was in his top 3. :) I feel special!!!!
I have to especially thank the people on my side.... Josh, my otha brotha, who really helped it all hit home when I saw how proud and beaming he was over the whole event... Paige, who was super excited for us and went out of her way to help even when not feeling hot or when having family things to do!... Jenn, who had great ideas on a lot of the little details and was extremely helpful over the entire weekend when there were things to do... Les, who did so much planning to make it all special leading up to and during the event and really went out of her way on so many things!... and of course, my bro, Chris, who had a great speech and was really supportive and excited the entire time. There is nothing like having family by your side. Of course, I also want to thank Michelle, who was always there to talk to when I was stressed, and is a baking wonder. Gwen, who took the details of Tait and Mattea off my hands, thankfully!!! And Sus, who LOVES weddings and was just extremely happy for us. She planned a fantastic bach party for me. It is also very very necessary to thank Lauren, who helped out with so many things behind the scenes and, like M, was always there to talk to and vent to and was so supportive in the past few months. Mary helped out a lot too and was great at being friendly and outgoing and thinking of things that I would not have thought of! My singers, Gooch, Jamie, Amy, Jen, and Jeremy were AWESOME and thank you to them for planning so many singing surprises... even if I was put on the spot to sing Buttercup. :) I had a lot of fun. Thanks also to Pam for being a HUGE part of my weekend... she is more sister than cousin, and she really made everyone feel so welcome. Thanks also for her and my bro decorating our honeymoon suite... even if it was 100 degrees in there!!!!!!
I am sure there are a million more people to thank....
Really, everyone made our day AWESOME.
Also, I never ever ever EVER want to get married again. Never. I loved every minute, but it was exhausting. Plus, I definitely intend to be with Jon for the rest of my life... Just do not go looking for any re-commitment ceremonies any time soon. :)
THANK YOU!
