Wedding Bells Are Ringing

Friday morning, my sister and her fiancé tied the knot.  They had a simple wedding ceremony at the courthouse.  It was a sunny day, and the judge married them outside in a small, grassy corner of the lot.  It was beautiful and quick (my favorite kind of ceremony), and that evening they threw a kickin’ party with family and friends.  Everyone had a wonderful time, and the bride and groom could not have seemed happier.

That’s the overall summary of the day, and it’s true and accurate.  It would be interesting, though, to see the whole day, before and after the festivities, through the eyes of each guest.  I only know my version, and while I want to reiterate that I had a wonderful time (I know you will eventually read this, Em) the summary just doesn’t cover it.

To start, I didn’t get enough sleep.  I had been baking and frosting cupcakes most of the day before.  My brother came over and hung out with the kids so that I could focus, but it still just took a long time.  I think I frosted the last one around 9:00 pm, and was too wired to go to sleep just yet.  I regret that decision, because I was awakened at 4:00am with a crying toddler and a howling dog.  Going back to sleep was nearly impossible, and I probably only grabbed 30 minutes or less before we had to wake up and get ready to go.

I was tired, and some other things weren’t going the way I thought they would.  I’m not going to go into it in more detail, but let’s just say that my husband and I were not getting along.  We got lost on our way up to the hotel.  In fact, this weekend, we got lost almost every time we got into the car.  Sometimes it was bad directions, misleading road signs, sometimes I read the directions wrong, but if we had to get somewhere, we got lost.  Ed and I are not good together when we are lost and there is a time crunch.  Voices were raised, and I think at one point I even yelled, “Look, we don’t have to like each other, but if we’re going to pretend to be happy one day, it’s going to be today!” 

Things got better after the ceremony.  Both families and the best man and his date went out to lunch (the one place we didn’t get lost going to, mainly because it was a straight shot from the courthouse and we passed it on our way there).  My family had eaten almost nothing until then; my boys had a granola bar and Ed bought some Pizza Combos at a gas station (a choice that more than irked me at the time, since I was very hungry but the smell of them makes my stomach turn, at least at 9:00 in the morning).  After lunch, the idea was that we would all go back to my mom’s hotel room, and Ed, me, and the boys would take a nap.  Only one of us got a nap.  It wasn’t me; it wasn’t the boys.  My husband has the gift of being able to sleep anywhere, anytime.  I lay in bed, watching cartoons with the boys, and shot jealous, resentful looks his way.  After all, I’m the pregnant one, I’m the one who didn’t sleep the night before, and I’m the one who will be driving an hour and a half home after he had taken advantage of the open bar.  I needed sleep!

There was nothing that could be done though, so I tried soaking in the tub.  I think the designers at the Sheraton must have figured that most of the people who would be bathing are size 6 women, and made the tub only as wide as the berth of their hips.  After a very, very quick soak, I went down to set up the cupcakes at the candy bar.  My sister loves candy, always has, so that’s what she had in lieu of wedding favors at the table.   Everything was looking good, and I started to rally.  While I had been helping out downstairs, Ed took the kids to get something to eat, and brought me back something as well.  By the time we headed to the party, he and I were friends again, for real.

The rest of the evening was just fun.  Ed and I took turns shepherding our kids away from the dance floor during the vow exchange and the important dances.  Apparently I don’t need to buy any more toys; I just need to invest in 150 square feet of parquet flooring.  They tore it up.  I can understand the reasons people have for not inviting kids to a wedding, but I love it so much more when there are a few little ones rocking out on the dance floor.  Some of my favorite wedding memories have been of dancing with partners under the age of 7.

As for what happened for us after the festivities: nothing.  We left early and drove home.  Ed had some coffee so he could stay up with me on the drive, and when we got home he carried the kids up to their rooms and let the dogs out.  Then we slept.  Our falling action was rather dull, but I’m sure some of the other guests have much more interesting after stories to tell.