My Trip: Day 3

Day 3 was the day we had all been waiting for: wedding day!

 

Before I begin I wanted to revisit the souveniers I bought in Concord the day before.  I'd like to keep track of these things for when I forget in 20 years.

 

I bought a Christmas ornament,

 

and this book for the kids.

OK.  Moving forward.

 

I had a fantastic night of sleep at my cousin's house on Thursday night.  Right before 8:00 I woke up to the sound of a baby crying.  It was like I was at home.

 

Alex made breakfast for me while Tionna and baby Ellie took a morning nap (it had been a very early morning for them while I was still sleeping) and then we all played inside and outside.  And by "we all played" I mean Alex and Xander played and the girls watched.

 

This is their backyard!

 

That afternoon we went out for a yummy pizza lunch. 

I left from the restaurant, went through the same toll booth for the 4th time in 26 hours and then arrived at the hotel in Nashua.  I had two hours until I had to be at the church and it was VERY hard to not climb into this bed and sleep the rest of the afternoon away.  But there was no time for that.  I had a wedding to attend!

I had some hair issues and just barely made it in time.  There was time for a selfie in the car though.  I never take selfies.  It's actually kind of hard.

 

Let's get this marriage started!

Megan and I brought up the bread and wine during the ceremony.  We had pre-agreed that she and her pregnant belly would bring up the wine, because it was funnier.  And these things are nothing if not an opportunity for humor. 

 

We were very impressed with ourselves that our footsteps were coordinated.

 

 

Then it was time for the reception.

 

Cathy and Mike love to travel so they had a travel theme for the reception.  This was on the table where you found your "ticket" for the reception.

Each table had a different city designation with framed collages of pictures of Cathy and Mike in that city.  I sat at the Chicago table. 

I actually won this centerpiece later on in the night but had to give it away to someone else, because, really......how was I supposed to get this back to Arizona?

Cathy personally baked an individual loaf of bread for each wedding guest.  EACH. AND. EVERY. WEDDING. GUEST.

 

Additionally these bags had a bunch of different chocolates in them and each one had a personalized tag or sticker on them.  Oh, and don't let me forget the hand made, individually pressed and individually wrapped chocolate bars that said "thank you".

 

The wedding party enters.

Their first dance.  They danced to the EXACT SAME SONG that Michael and I danced to for our first song 12 years 7 months and 3 days prior.  I got a little teary eyed about it.

Then dinner started.

 

The first course was a chilled strawberry soup.  It was like eating the world's best strawberry milkshake in a bowl. 

There was a salad course and then the main course.  I got the prime rib and it was fantastic.

The cake (duh!).  I took this picture right before they whisked it away to cut it.

And then the best moment of the whole evening.  We got our reunion picture.  This is everyone that lived in Engelhardt Hall the fall of 1999.

 

Starting on the left.  Vinny (he lived on the first floor.  I haven't seen him since 2010), Jess (she lived on the 3rd floor down the hall a bit from me.  She married Vinny! I haven't seen her since 2010), Cathy (she lived on the the 3rd floor next door to Jess.  I saw her last year in 2013), me (I lived on the 3rd floor in room 321), Chris (he lived on the 3rd floor across the hall from me.  I haven't seen him since 2005), Megan (she was my roommate in 321.  I saw her the day before the wedding, ha ha!, but hadn't seen her since 2005), Courtney (who I didn't know when I went to school there but who lived, I think, on the 1st floor), Melissa (another one I didn't know when I went to school there) and Joyce (who was Cathy's roommate and Megan's roommate after I left at the end of the semester).

 

How totally amazing is it that we are all still friends 15 years later?

This is the last in a set of comparison pictures from the shower, the bachelorette party, the rehearsal and the wedding.  They are all in the same spots in all of the pictures.

And just because I am a serious blogger, I tracked down the other pictures in collage form from Megan's facebook.  Can somebody nominate me for a dedicated blogger award?

 

Later in the evening there was a fantastic ice cream sundae bar.

 

After that little delight I started dancing and didn't take any more pictures.  I had decided early on that since I had traveled 2,700 miles for this wedding I was going to stay until the very bitter end.  It just seemed silly to go back to my room before it was all done.  So I was there when the lights came on in the ballroom at 12:30.  I went back to my room for a minute and realized that one of my hair crystals was missing.  In what can only be described as a hair miracle, the DJ actually had it.  The groom had  kicked it on the dance floor and then picked it up and gave it to the DJ.  Seriously.  Hair miracle.

 

Once that was back in my hair I headed to the after party in the maid of honor's room.  I decided to skip the jello shots but had a nice crisp apple ale to end the night.  And that night ended at 1:30 am when I headed to my room mere minutes before Cathy and Mike headed to theirs.  So I did it!  I lasted the entire wedding!