belly-poppin' biegnets

It's over. Handsome and I survived one of the most bizarre experiences of our lives...the idea of actually getting hitched was odd enough, but publicly doing the I-do-I-do and planning a party for 80 people is something that I cannot say we survived without a few scars. If there hadn't been a honeymoon to wisk me away, I may still be decked out in a very dirty bride's dress, hiding out in my guest bedroom while smoking and continually drinking champagne in an attempt to recover. The honeymoon was the saving grace, reminding both Handsome and I why we decided to get married in the first place.

The morning of the wedding started out with a very hungover Handsome (my Uncles spontaneously decided to throw Handsome another bachelor party, and headed down to The Block for the strip joints and kept him in booze until 3 AM). Of course I wasn't prepared or packed or really with it much, so I was furiously grabbing wedding items at random and dumping them into shopping bags for transportation. The MOH and I went for our hair appts, and $150 later, we were driving to her apt, absolutely raging about the stupid hairdo that the stylist gave me. It was a horrid, helmet looking style. Rather than have me walk down the aisle looking like a Harley enthusiast, we downed a glass of wine and risked re-styling it ourselves. Luckily, it worked out well enough. Ah, and then the panic attack set in for me, literally. My poor MOH had no idea what to do with me, and her mother insisted that I take a Valium, despite the bambino, to calm down. I complied, and things were a little more smooth sailing from there.

The ceremony was really beautiful...what did I hire that cello trio for? I don't remember ever HEARING them. I am sure that they did perform but I can't recall. The officiant showed up three minutes before we were to begin, and although he was a nice fellow, he addressed me during the ceremony with the wrong name. It was pretty funny, actually. My dress immediately turned black on the bottoms from the dirt on the walkway. The photographer seemed to be tripping on a weird booze-induced creative streak and we could not escape her. The seating arrangements were completely screwed up, the band set up in the wrong location, our first dance was timed all wrong, and my mother-in-law actually asked my two girlfriends who are a couple to stop dancing together since there were children in the room.

HOWEVER.

Tons went wrong, but so much went right.

Handsome looked so handsome that my heart ached...he actually DANCED with me, which until the reception, was not something that he could do. My entire family was there, and I felt so blessed to look out from both the ceremony and the head table to see them all enjoying our celebration. My MOH gave one hell of a tear-jerking speech that will go down in history. The band ROCKED (long live the Swingin' Swamis)! My mother and I shared some very special time together, which will forever warm my heart. The cats didn't pee on anything in our absence. My friend from LA actually made it! And really, everyone had a great time.

I had no idea we could throw such a great party.

The wedding itself was beautiful - almost perfect.