weekend of wedding fabulousness: part TWO - WE WED!

I went to bed on Friday night feeling excited and anxious, and had a horrible sleep. Sarah slept over (Steve stayed with Best Man Dan and Milka) - she dozed off talking and I stayed awake… and stayed awake… and stayed awake. It felt like one of those sleepless nights, but I woke up feeling excited and ready, even though I knew that I’d have to try to fit a nap in at some point before the early afternoon. The four of us (Moms, Pops, Sarah and I) had a light breakfast, and Sarah and I drove over to Overbury where Steve’s parents were hosting a campus-wide breakfast. I delivered the seating plan and a few other essentials, and ran into Steve on my way back to Bob and Marg’s. Zero sleeps! Today was the big event, and I was so happy to see him – happy we weren’t doing the whole can’t see each before the ceremony thing; I would have been even more nervous and anxious, and seeing him and being together was the perfect start to the day. We mingled with people, had some juice and then it was down to business. We had meetings (albeit informal) with MC Rod and the sound guy Troy, so off we went to sort out some business. After figuring a few things out with Steve’s cousin, I left my husband-to-be to figure out the sound/tech stuff and headed back to Mom and Pop’s for a nap – I had an hour. I didn’t manage to actually sleep, but lying in bed and having some quiet time – alone and restful – up in our room was exactly what I needed. Steve had made his way over for a swim, shower and wedding-day-shave, and it was so lovely to have him come wake me up and lay with me for a moment. We somehow managed, throughout the weekend, to find time to have moments (is this cheese?) for ourselves, and I think this, in part, helped the whole thing last – there was no time flying by, and I’m grateful for that. Anyways, we planned the rest of the afternoon. I had lunch and drove back over to the resort where I met up with Karin and pretty-haired Claire, and brought them back over to the Osberg cabin to help with the dress, my overnight bag etc. etc. There were a few more trips back and forth, but somewhere in there Steve and I had a moment and said goodbye (goodbye singledom!), my dress was hung in the dressing room in the main house, and I was dropped off at the sister’s cabin for hair and makeup prep time with Rachael. It was all happening…

The four of us (Linds, Sarah, Karin, Claire) got ready, and Rachael made us look beautiful. There was a lot of activity: people ironing dresses, opening presents, donning earrings and jewelry, popping champagne, making mimosas, and makeup and hair magic being worked; it was never too much, but the time just seemed to vanish. Before we knew it, it was 3:00 – eek. My family had written a poem about/for me, and before we left for the main house to get dressed, Mom and the three sisters read it to me. It was so sweet and so lovely – there were some tears and hugs and we all hoped that that would be the end of that. I think I’ve cried at almost every wedding I’ve been to, and I had this fear that I’d totally lose it walking down the aisle with my dad, or saying my vows in front of so many people. I was trying to keep the floodgates closed, but wanted, as the same time, to be true to whatever emotion was there. So, I (or we – all five of us) decided to focus on being happy (not necessarily emotional), and having fun, and it worked – I wasn’t a blubbering fool! None of us were. Wait… I’m getting ahead of myself. We walked over to the house – it was a gorgeous day, have I mentioned that? – and waited for some time to pass before we got into our dresses. We were in the main room of the old farmhouse, and the large window looked out onto the back lawn and the chairs and the pergola and the aisle, and we could see all of the activity, all of the guests mulling and sitting and waiting. We were all a touch warm, and waited until the last possible moment to get dressed. The bridesmaids donned their gear and then helped me into my dress, which Sarah, with some extreme effort and exertion (there were grunts), managed to get closed and done up. I felt packed in there – it was tight and I was almost instantly sweating under the SEVEN layers of dress. But, like the man I was about to marry, it was the dress of my dreams – I loved it. There were a few in-the-room photographs, and then it was almost time. We saw Bob the Commissioner poke his head up, and then it all started. The guests sat down and the Steve and his groomsmen walked up from the beach. The moms and dads readied themselves at the top of the stairs, and Fred started on the guitar (our processional was an acoustic version of Colbie Caillait’s “Realize”) and it began. I was suddenly nervous, but the girls and I were giggling about something someone had said about the flowers (which were amazing-beautiful), and my butterflies simmered down. Bob and Marg, Mom and Dad, Claire, Karin, Sarah and Linds were down the aisle, and it was my turn – I was so excited and… I’m not sure what else – a bit nervous, but more happy and excited than anything else. Steve looked amazing, and I hardly noticed all of the guests staring and smiling. I was on my way up there and it was all happening – it was happening!

The ceremony was beautiful – short and sweet, and we both managed to keep it together. Steve shed a tear or two when he hugged his best friend Dan-O, and I couldn’t help but let a few out when I put the ring on Steve’s finger (I had to shove and wiggle it on there). There was a dab-dab of some tears when we signed the register, and that was about it. We were pronounced husband and wife and we kissed and hugged and I’m not sure if I’ve ever been so happy – we were married!! Yay… we’re married! We walked back down the aisle and away for pictures, and had a few moments alone before pics pics pics. I don’t have tooooo much to say about the pictures section of the event except that we LOVED our photographer Devon (of Vancouver Island based Tall Tree Photography – check it out!) and really had a great time with the creative shots we did down at the beach. We (Steve and I and Devon) totally clicked, and things just worked between us. She emailed me on Sunday (Subject: Good Morning Married Lady! – so sweet!) with a few pics, and aren’t they just LOVELY?! I’m so excited to see the rest… yay. After pictures we made a grand (not) entrance (unannounced) and joined the party. I had a deliciously cold Corona, and almost teared up again hugging my most fabulous friends: Linds and Griff and Clifford and Jayme… and everyone. People had their cameras going like mad, and I was exercising my permasmile – we mingled and from one person to the next said hi and took photographs and posed and then hugged and mingled some more. I’m not too sure what I should say about the rest of the night other than IT WAS AWESOME! Dinner was fabulous, dessert was fabulous (even though I only had a tiny wee bite of cake and two mouthfuls of Lindsey’s nanaimo bar) – it was all fabulous. Our MC did an amazing job – way more than either of us expected. He wowed the crowd with a power point presentation complete with Deep Thoughts by Steve (/Jack Handy), a conversation with Archie on Skype, and some helpful tips on what men really mean when they say things like “You look great” or “We’re not lost I know exactly where I’m going”. Steve had put together a slide show and that was fabulous too, as was the mad dance party that got going around 10:00. It was an amazing party – it TOTALLY rocked! I think people had tons of fun – I know I did, and I know Steve did… it was awesome. After the bar closed we kept the par-tay going at the beach (I went swimming with Clifford and Lisa-doggers), and then at Dad’s House. There was enough beer to sink a ship, and we rounded out the evening with a sing-along and some leftover chips. A good group of us stayed until just after five, until the energy of the guitarists and guests (and hosts) started dying down. It was an awesome party – from beginning to end… and the best part? We got married!!


TOP 6 THINGS ABOUT THIS WEDDING:
1. Marrying Steve
2. Getting to spend so much time with our family and friends – they are THE BEST!
3. Getting to wear the most beautiful wedding dress in the world – I still love love love love it…
4. That it lasted for 4+ days: Wednesday through Sunday we had get-togethers and dinner and afternoon parties with our friends and family – four parties are better than one.
5. The weather: sunshine all around!
6. Our wedding parties – like our friends and family – so so SOLID! Thanks Dan and Rob and Dan and Linds and Sarah and Karin and Claire!!!


Here are a few pics from our fabulous photographer... more to come later!