I spent Thursday making fudge. Not just a little bit, but a lot. Why? Tommy and Jenni (my brother and his fiance) told me that they would like to give fudge as wedding favors for the guests and would I be willing to make it. Jenni loves the fudge I make. So much so, she almost made herself sick on it. I said sure! No problem. I would be glad to. I must have been insane. It's the only explanation I have for agreeing. Initially, they were expecting about 125 to 150 guests. Wanted 3 different kinds of fudge (chocolate, peanut butter, rocky road), one piece of each in a small organza bag. I can do that. By the time of the wedding the count was up to 225 people. 15 pounds of sugar, 5 pounds of chocolate, 3 pounds of peanut butter, 1 pounds of nuts, and over 3 pounds of marshmallows (and they're all air!) later, I was finished.
Friday. The day wasn't that bad. I was able to work out in the morning and kind of relax. Then comes the evening. Got to Tommy and Jenni's about 4 4PM and was going to start filling the little bags with fudge. Then I realized I needed to run to the cleaners before they closed to pick up clothes, including 2 bride's maid dressed. Back to Tommy and Jenni's. Now, I have to say that I think Jenni picked great attendants. They were there when they needed to be and did everything they could. Helped out as much as possible. Didn't complain or make a big deal out of anything. Wanted everything to roll as smoothly as possible. Tommy's guys, on the othe hand. Jenni, Shannon, Mirriah, Jenni's Aunt Debbie, and I stuffed the little bags of fudge. Tommy even helped out. We were finished in less than an hour. Anne called a little later and Jenni's neighbor Julie stopped by to help, but we were finished. No problem. I went over the wedding programs with Tommy and Charlene, the wedding director, and Tommy spent time formatting and then figuring out what to do about printing. While we did fudge, Tommy's guys were supposed to carve pumpkins with an H to be used for table toppers. The only one of his guys to show up was Bryan Curtis with his wife. Another groomsman, Mark, called, but by the time he was going to get there, it was after midnight and he was told not to worry about coming out. My other brother, John wanted to hang out in NoVa with his friend. Big help he turned out to be. We cleaned out and carved 18 pumpkins. It took hours. I left at 2 AM. Sleep at 3.
Saturday morning. Didn't have anything scheduled until 11:30. Didn't have to arrive at Tommy and Jenni's until then to go to brunch at Jenni's mom's house. Did I get to sleep until then? Of course not! I've gotten back into working out at the gym, and I didn't want to risk breaking the routine I'm trying to establish. Up at 8:30 to get the programs printed first thing in the morning. Got an INCREDIBLE deal from Office Max on color copies. Took the programs to be printed. Went to the gym while waiting for the programs. Picked up the programs and headed to Costco to get a few things my mom wanted me to buy for the rehersal dinner later that night (more about that to come). Dropped off the plates, flowers, and fruit at my mom's and headed to Jenni and Tommy's place to meet up with the other bride's maids and headed out to brunch. I was a very nice spread. Tons of food. Jenni gave out her gifts. They were robes. So soft and warm. We were all tempted to wear them for the rest of the day.
Next stop. Nail salon for pedicures and manicures. A few of us were ticklish. Mirriah, for example. Generally speaking, pedicures are really relaxing. Get to soak your feet in warm water, sit in a massage chair, and just do very little. Unless you're ticklish. Then it's almost torture!
Even the bride couldn't resist the tickle factor!
After the manicures and pedicures, we headed back to Tommy and Jenni's to get ready for dinner at my mom's. That was nice. There was a miscommunication, and my mother didn't seem to have invited anyone, but a lot of Jenni's family was able to make it. Lots of food, again. I was seriously wondering if I would be able to get into my dress on the day of the wedding.
During the dinner, Jenni and Lilly changed into their hambuks. Lilly wore the one she had for her 1st birthday. It now fits. My mom bought one for Jenni and wanted her to wear it. My mom and dad were teaching Jenni the right way to bow in her hambuk and Lilly, at almost 2, was copying them. She's showing how well she can bow, too! All the festivities at my mom's ended around midnight. Got to sleep after 2 AM. Another long day finished.
Sunday. The big day. Wedding day. I arrived at Tommy and Jenni's a little before 7 AM to wait for the wedding party to arrive. We all went over to Tuckahoe Plantation for the wedding rehersal. There by 8 AM. It was cold and awfully early in the morning. I know I wasn't exactly the brightest there. I crashed on Tommy's couch while I was waiting for everyone to get to their place. We ran through the ceremony once before I had to leave. It was my job to get back to the house and wait for Melissa, the hair stylist. I needed to make sure that someone was there when she arrived. Dayna, the make-up artist arrived early, too. Good thing I slipped out. While we waited for the wedding party to get back to the house, Melissa and I cleaned a place in the kitchen and she put my hair up in rollers, getting me started. Once the girls arrived, I went to Krispy Kreme donuts to pick up 12 dozen glazed for the groom's cake. It was something, me standing there with a head full of rollers in a busy donut shop, waiting for a load of glazed. When I got back, people were in the process of getting their hair or make-up done. Shannon's hair was finished, Mirriah's make-up was done, and Jenni was getting her hair done. Dayna put me in her chair and did my make-up.
The biggest surprise was Anne. Every time I've ever seen her, she's usually wearing a t-shirt and yoga pants. She agreed to have her make-up done, and she looked amazing.
After Jenni and I had our hair and make-up finished, we headed over to the Tuckahoe to get ready. Mirriah, Shannon, and Anne would arrive as soon as they were finished. I helped get Jenni into her gown and veil and Cathy and Nana got Funny Face into her gown. They were so beautiful.Melissa did an incredible job, and managed to do 5 'dos on her own. Poor Anne! She was the last one to get her hair done, and we were running out of time. She was the last to arrive, and my dad was yelling at her to hurry up the whole way as she was coming up to the house. She got inside, and we hardly gave her a chance to breathe. We were all on top of her and had her undressed and into her gown in less than 5 minutes. Poor thing was freaking out, but she calmed down. She said she could see all of us in the window watching her and making her nervous.
After Anne was ready, we headed out for everything to begin. Brian Broadway performed the ceremony. He did a beautiful job. Jenni was crying even before she got to the alter. You could see the tears on her face as she was coming down the aisle. The only thing that kept me from crying was watching a bug crawling over Brian's jacket. It crawled all the way up just below his collar and then back down before coming to rest at his elbow. Tommy, Jenni, and all of the bride's maids were watching this little bug. The groom's men missed out.
After the ceremony was the party. The food was wonderful. The reception lasted for about 4 hours. It didn't feel nearly that long. I talked to Amy Curtis. I haven't seen her in years and I'd missed her so much. She thought I didn't want to see her, and I thought she didn't want to see me. I hope we'll get together before too long and talk. Spent time talking with Alice. A little bit with Susan. Heather was there. She really didn't know anyone there, and she stuck with me for a little while. She looked like she had a pretty good time. Tommy was well buzzed by the end of the night. Jin was hung over during the ceremony from a wedding he was in the previous night and continued to drink at the open bar. He was blitzed. John wasn't exactly sober, either. Apparently, Tommy had to get him dressed and to bed when we all got back to my parents' house. Jenni was throwing up in the yard. Mirriah and I managed to get her into the bathroom where she continued to empty her stomach. I eventually took Mirriah back to Tommy's house so she could get some sleep, and I got Tommy and Jenni to the Jefferson for them to spend the night. Got home at 1 AM. Sleep at 2.
Now, we get to today, Monday, October 9. Was it an easy day? Of course not! Picked up Mirriah and we left at 8 to meet Tommy and Jenni for breakfast at LeMaire. It was great, but I wish we'd had a little more time to enjoy it. Mirriah's brother picked her up, and I took Tommy and Jenni to the airport. Spending their honeymoon in Hawaii. I hope they're able to find hotels for their stay. Got home about 11 and was back in bed before 12. Didn't get out of bed until 4. I love sleep.
More pictures as I get them, and I will post them along with the ones I have. I'll update with the site!
No comments:
Post a Comment