moments to remember
Well, it's all over. I'm a married lady now. Doesn't feel too different so far, still awesome. :-) Thought I'd just post some thoughts on the weekend, before the details start slipping away. As you get older you realize the fleeting nature of things, and want to be sure to document those important moments.
Pre-weekend activities:
I took off the entire week before the wedding, James took off from Tuesday on. On Sunday, I flew down to OC and met dad to pick up the Prius, then drove back home. Monday, I stopped in at the office, got the car washed, went to the travel clinic for second Hep shot for honeymoon. On Tuesday, we continued building the stage/arbor. I painted, James constructed. Mom, Denise and Amelie got in around 8 on Tuesday night, they were staying at the Doubletree at the Berkeley Marina. I met up with them and went for a walk with Crickets.
Thursday:
We loaded up the truck, realized that not everything would fit. But Denise had reserved a truck, so they ended up bringing up the rest of the stuff. So around 1 pm, we were off. We stopped in Ukiah around 3:30 to pick up flowers at the florist's house for the parents' rooms. We got to Saratoga Springs around 4 and met with Judy about details that hadn't been discussed. We started settling in, then went to the Blue Wing at the Tallman for dinner. I had risotto cakes (yummy) and a salad. Our waitress was a little weird. When we wanted desserts with vanilla ice cream (apple pie a la mode and a sundae) and they were out, she insisted on running down to the market to pick up some. When we got back to SS we enjoyed the peaceful evening.
Friday:
The day started out quietly. Fran and Molly were the first to arrive, and we showed them around. Mom and Dad came shortly after, then DGA. Mom was in a rotten mood at first, but mellowed after we had unloaded and she was able to relax. Denise had to go to the store to get supplies for dinner. Making dinner and cleaning up = a bit of a nightmare, but at least we could really enjoy the fact that (after breakfast the next morning) all of our meals would be taken care of. James decided to get up early and hit the store for breakfast supplies the next morning while the ladies were doing yoga. We ended the evening with a campfire in the meadow, half-way waiting for Kirstin and Peter to arrive. They didn't come, we went to bed.
Saturday:
Dragged myself out of bed for yoga. It was the aunts, mom & D, Jessica & Mike, me, Bill & Leslie. Nice little group. We did hip openers. Mom & D have very tight shoulders - not a surprise, esp given the conversation the night before, when we were talking about how both of them hate to have their shoulders rubbed. Hmm. ;-) James had done a wonderful job with breakfast, it was a very nice spread. We spent the morning hanging out by the pool, arranging things a little bit (I can't remember any actual work being done, though), etc. Around lunch time, I set Jeff up as check-in guy, then we headed out for waterskiing (a little late). We ended up getting to the boat place at 2, getting out on the lake around 2:30. It was Kirstin & Peter, Mike & Jessica, Krista, Molly & us. Molly went first, then Krista (her first time waterskiing), then me, James, and Mike gave it a try. K, P & J declined. Kirstin was a wicked boat driver. :-) We headed in around 4:30, handed off the boat to Ben, Em & Schuyler. Went back to SS, took a shower and got cleaned up, then started setting up for the BBQ.
Sat BBQ:
Was disappointed the string of lights for the lanterns were only 1 ft apart, not 2 as requested, so the lanterns that we had bought were too big, and the string wasn't as long as we'd hoped (17 feet vs 32). But the lights that we put up seemed to do the job, people enjoyed hanging out in the meadow with the tunes (provided by my iPod) rockin. We were going to do the bonfire in the big bonfire pit, but decided to do a smaller one in the meadow since moving the group would be too difficult. S'mores were made. Aunt Ann and Bonnie seemed to enjoy my playlist - lots of classics. Everyone enjoyed Carson's dancing. Amelie enjoyed having other kids around, but maybe resented not being the center of attention. She came out later in her penguin pjs to show Uncle James. Up pretty late, but not too bad.
Sunday:
Again dragged self out of bed for yoga. Much bigger crowd - 21 people. A couple of people gave up their mats for less experienced folks, very nice. We did a couple of partner poses and some backbends - concentrating on shoulders / heart openers. Felt very nice and mellow at the end. Breakfast, then some coordinating. Recruited folks to help mom with table set up, she told them they'd start at 1. I was worried about the late start, but didn't argue - maybe should have. Mom ended up working til the last minute, I didn't see her til just before the ceremony. James was also going to wait til later to finish the stage, but I convinced him to do it ASAP.
I started getting ready around 2. Heather was there to take pictures, but helped out by recruiting Margo to help with touching up my nail polish and getting Aunt Kathy to iron my dress. I wound my hair up into curls and bunched it on top of my head while I did my makeup - which makes for some pretty silly pictures. Had a bit of a crisis trying to decide what to do with my hair as the moments were ticking away, but decided to do it half pulled back, as I basically planned.
James, meanwhile, had to get ready in the main lodge, then was stressing about the bar situation. When he came in to get his stuff I heard his voice and got a little thrill - we had seen each other a bunch that morning, but now were not "allowed" to see each other til the big moment. That was kinda fun.
Once I was ready, I realized that I hadn't given James his card. I wrote it while Molly went off to get the cart, and gave it to dad to give to him, with instructions to photograph his reaction. I knew he'd love it. What a wonderful guy he is. Sniff. ;-)
Jeff came with the cart and we got in. I brought the mirror up with me - it worked well as a shield from any curious eyes, too. Once up there, we sent Greg down to let folks know we were ready. Eventually, the people started coming up. Harry came into the girls tent - he was quite in love with Amelie, I think. She did look darn cute. We took a couple of pictures with dad. Then I heard James outside running down the bell procedure again with Scott & Molly. Jen went out and we were ready to get started. They realized that the moms were there, waiting to be told what to do. James mentioned that they had seats reserved for them at the front, an d Jen offered to precede them down the aisle, which gave them a place in the procession, which is what they wanted.
So, the ceremony. What to say. It was great. Beautiful setting. James was so perfect. His vows were AMAZING. I felt completely unworthy of him. I wished my vows were better. I ad-libbed a bit. Crickets was so excited to see us, she wanted to jump all over us. Good plan to only have her up there for a short while. The ring exchange was a little awkward. Could have practiced that bit, I guess. And then, YAY! We scooted off, and Crick came running after, jumping up on me for joy. Cute little rascal! We ducked into the tent and enjoyed a few moments of (relative) calm and togetherness. Phil and May had to leave, though - they had ducked in there, probably to avert a baby melt-down. I was sad to hear Renee and Zach had missed the ceremony due to similar baby melt-down issue. Jetlag must be hard on a two year old!
Well, that's enough for now. I will continue this later.
Pre-weekend activities:
I took off the entire week before the wedding, James took off from Tuesday on. On Sunday, I flew down to OC and met dad to pick up the Prius, then drove back home. Monday, I stopped in at the office, got the car washed, went to the travel clinic for second Hep shot for honeymoon. On Tuesday, we continued building the stage/arbor. I painted, James constructed. Mom, Denise and Amelie got in around 8 on Tuesday night, they were staying at the Doubletree at the Berkeley Marina. I met up with them and went for a walk with Crickets.
Thursday:
We loaded up the truck, realized that not everything would fit. But Denise had reserved a truck, so they ended up bringing up the rest of the stuff. So around 1 pm, we were off. We stopped in Ukiah around 3:30 to pick up flowers at the florist's house for the parents' rooms. We got to Saratoga Springs around 4 and met with Judy about details that hadn't been discussed. We started settling in, then went to the Blue Wing at the Tallman for dinner. I had risotto cakes (yummy) and a salad. Our waitress was a little weird. When we wanted desserts with vanilla ice cream (apple pie a la mode and a sundae) and they were out, she insisted on running down to the market to pick up some. When we got back to SS we enjoyed the peaceful evening.
Friday:
The day started out quietly. Fran and Molly were the first to arrive, and we showed them around. Mom and Dad came shortly after, then DGA. Mom was in a rotten mood at first, but mellowed after we had unloaded and she was able to relax. Denise had to go to the store to get supplies for dinner. Making dinner and cleaning up = a bit of a nightmare, but at least we could really enjoy the fact that (after breakfast the next morning) all of our meals would be taken care of. James decided to get up early and hit the store for breakfast supplies the next morning while the ladies were doing yoga. We ended the evening with a campfire in the meadow, half-way waiting for Kirstin and Peter to arrive. They didn't come, we went to bed.
Saturday:
Dragged myself out of bed for yoga. It was the aunts, mom & D, Jessica & Mike, me, Bill & Leslie. Nice little group. We did hip openers. Mom & D have very tight shoulders - not a surprise, esp given the conversation the night before, when we were talking about how both of them hate to have their shoulders rubbed. Hmm. ;-) James had done a wonderful job with breakfast, it was a very nice spread. We spent the morning hanging out by the pool, arranging things a little bit (I can't remember any actual work being done, though), etc. Around lunch time, I set Jeff up as check-in guy, then we headed out for waterskiing (a little late). We ended up getting to the boat place at 2, getting out on the lake around 2:30. It was Kirstin & Peter, Mike & Jessica, Krista, Molly & us. Molly went first, then Krista (her first time waterskiing), then me, James, and Mike gave it a try. K, P & J declined. Kirstin was a wicked boat driver. :-) We headed in around 4:30, handed off the boat to Ben, Em & Schuyler. Went back to SS, took a shower and got cleaned up, then started setting up for the BBQ.
Sat BBQ:
Was disappointed the string of lights for the lanterns were only 1 ft apart, not 2 as requested, so the lanterns that we had bought were too big, and the string wasn't as long as we'd hoped (17 feet vs 32). But the lights that we put up seemed to do the job, people enjoyed hanging out in the meadow with the tunes (provided by my iPod) rockin. We were going to do the bonfire in the big bonfire pit, but decided to do a smaller one in the meadow since moving the group would be too difficult. S'mores were made. Aunt Ann and Bonnie seemed to enjoy my playlist - lots of classics. Everyone enjoyed Carson's dancing. Amelie enjoyed having other kids around, but maybe resented not being the center of attention. She came out later in her penguin pjs to show Uncle James. Up pretty late, but not too bad.
Sunday:
Again dragged self out of bed for yoga. Much bigger crowd - 21 people. A couple of people gave up their mats for less experienced folks, very nice. We did a couple of partner poses and some backbends - concentrating on shoulders / heart openers. Felt very nice and mellow at the end. Breakfast, then some coordinating. Recruited folks to help mom with table set up, she told them they'd start at 1. I was worried about the late start, but didn't argue - maybe should have. Mom ended up working til the last minute, I didn't see her til just before the ceremony. James was also going to wait til later to finish the stage, but I convinced him to do it ASAP.
I started getting ready around 2. Heather was there to take pictures, but helped out by recruiting Margo to help with touching up my nail polish and getting Aunt Kathy to iron my dress. I wound my hair up into curls and bunched it on top of my head while I did my makeup - which makes for some pretty silly pictures. Had a bit of a crisis trying to decide what to do with my hair as the moments were ticking away, but decided to do it half pulled back, as I basically planned.
James, meanwhile, had to get ready in the main lodge, then was stressing about the bar situation. When he came in to get his stuff I heard his voice and got a little thrill - we had seen each other a bunch that morning, but now were not "allowed" to see each other til the big moment. That was kinda fun.
Once I was ready, I realized that I hadn't given James his card. I wrote it while Molly went off to get the cart, and gave it to dad to give to him, with instructions to photograph his reaction. I knew he'd love it. What a wonderful guy he is. Sniff. ;-)
Jeff came with the cart and we got in. I brought the mirror up with me - it worked well as a shield from any curious eyes, too. Once up there, we sent Greg down to let folks know we were ready. Eventually, the people started coming up. Harry came into the girls tent - he was quite in love with Amelie, I think. She did look darn cute. We took a couple of pictures with dad. Then I heard James outside running down the bell procedure again with Scott & Molly. Jen went out and we were ready to get started. They realized that the moms were there, waiting to be told what to do. James mentioned that they had seats reserved for them at the front, an d Jen offered to precede them down the aisle, which gave them a place in the procession, which is what they wanted.
So, the ceremony. What to say. It was great. Beautiful setting. James was so perfect. His vows were AMAZING. I felt completely unworthy of him. I wished my vows were better. I ad-libbed a bit. Crickets was so excited to see us, she wanted to jump all over us. Good plan to only have her up there for a short while. The ring exchange was a little awkward. Could have practiced that bit, I guess. And then, YAY! We scooted off, and Crick came running after, jumping up on me for joy. Cute little rascal! We ducked into the tent and enjoyed a few moments of (relative) calm and togetherness. Phil and May had to leave, though - they had ducked in there, probably to avert a baby melt-down. I was sad to hear Renee and Zach had missed the ceremony due to similar baby melt-down issue. Jetlag must be hard on a two year old!
Well, that's enough for now. I will continue this later.
posted by marnie at 9:54 AM
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