Wednesday, June 25, 2008

And... exhale

After days of crazy overfilled house, Saturday night and Sunday morning were actually nice and quiet. Only my sister spent the night before the wedding here-- everyone else was at the hotel. Sunday morning, while JD went to get bagels, and before the crowd descended, we even had some time to lazy about our bed, just the girls.
 

 
For all of you lovers of shiny, here's some more.

 
Soon the house was buzzing-- the hair lady, the photographer, bridesmaids, parents, aunt and uncle, my friend Natalie who was doing makeup for everyone in need. Miraculously, even though it was pretty crazy, it all also went pretty smoothly. Cream cheese ended up on bagels, not wedding attire. Coffee was administered strictly orally, and none of it got applied topically-- a minor miracle, considering sheer number of people roaming around my decidedly not-huge house and the amount of said beverage brewed for the occasion. Hair and makeup for seven people was being done in a fairly optimal order and in time.

And then the limo didn't come. For real. Calling the number on the reservation or the number on the company's website yielded no answer. The bride, unlike our mother, however, reacted in the most reasonable manner. All she wanted to know was which car was going to take her and her dress to the temple.

So we all got there, my sister got into her dress, some pictures were taken. I got myself into the bridesmaid dress that still zipped (can you believe it?-- most excellent choice of style back in December, and of size back in February). Then it turned out that our cantor's wife's water broke about 30 minutes before the start of the ceremony. Luckily our ritual director has pipes that some cantors elsewhere likely envy, and even more luckily he was puttering around his office that afternoon and was, therefore, available. He lives close enough by that even with going home to change he was still back in time. I feel compelled to point out that twelve years less one day before the events in question my own wedding got underway much later than scheduled, even though our limos came on time and there were no last minute clergy substitutions. So color me impressed.

 
Even more shiny for you-- my girls in ivory.

The limos came after the ceremony, thanks to the aunt of the groom who put in ridiculous amount of time calling, and calling, and calling until she got someone on the phone.

 
I went a bit special effects-happy there. You like?

 
This is Mozart the mouse, a gift to Monkey from one of the wedding guests. She hardly parted with him since making his acquaintance on Friday.

 
New cousins. Watching them at the wedding, you would never have believed that the first time they met was Friday. In fact Elizabeth was the one trusted to hold Mozart through the ceremony.

The party rocked all the way to midnight when the bus for the hotel left, the band stopped playing, and the custodians came to take apart the room setup. As the catering was from the Old Country catering business, we had so much food to take home with us that for a while there we were unsure that we would fit into the cars we had with us, and then, upon getting home had to spend about an hour finding room for all that food.

Monday our friends came over to help put a dent in our supplies and to celebrate our own twelfth anniversary. Yesterday the newlyweds took off for their honeymoon and my parents went home, taking Monkey with them. I planned to mark the occasion by staying at work late to catch up on some neglected projects. Instead I got hit with some relatively frequent contractions, necessitating a trip to the hospital. Turned out they were just annoying and not at all productive. Fetal fibronectin was negative, and contractions I got while on the monitor were much milder and much rarer than what sent me in in the first place. So today I am mostly hanging on the couch, and so far so good. Tomorrow I am going back to work with the hopes that yesterday's performance was due to the excitement of the past week, and not to sitting in my work chair.

But dudes... My baby sister is married. Married, I tell you.

18 comments:

k@lakly said...

I love the pix, the shiny ones too eventho I am not a shiny person, in more ways than one:)
I am glad you are ok, the contractions line had me wondering if your post was headed in an entirely different direction. Keep resting and brewing that little one, I am counting on you to give me hope, but no presure.
Big congrats on your baby sister's wedding, don't worry, even with a hubby in tow, she'll always be your lil sis.

Tash said...

Congratulations to her . . . and you!

Two sets of limos showed up at Mr. ABF's cousin's wedding (a Brooklyn Italian affair) and a fight ensued between limo drivers, groom, and groomsmen. He said it was something out of a movie.

Lovely photos, Julia. Really lovely.

Phantom Scribbler said...

The pictures of Monkey are adorable! Mazel tov to you and your whole family.

Relieved to hear that the contractions eased up.

janis said...

Lovely, lovely, lovely pix, thanks for sharing. And yes, rest up! xoxo

Meghan said...

Sounds like a wonderful wedding, your pictures are just fantastic. Glad those contractions settled down...hoping it stays that way

Magpie said...

sounds lovely - and the photos are great.

baby - stay put!!

Betty M said...

I love the one of Monkey and her cousin!
Congratulations to your sister.

Snickollet said...

Wonderful! Looks like a great time was had by all.

Thank you for sharing.

moplans said...

ooooh I love the shiny.
what a lovely story.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely LOVE the pics especially the feet and hands...two of my favorite things to draw!
The wedding sounds lucky impressive and amazing!! and I'm glad the contractions were nothing whew...hope you got enough rest.

christina(apronstrings) said...

oh, i love the pics. so sweet. i loved playing with my cousins. i still do! i am glad that all went off without too much of a hitch.

ZM said...

Happy anniversary! And congratulations to your sister. So glad that the Toddles didn't manage to get a good grip on that veil - I was just waiting for something to go RRRRRIP!

Amelie said...

Sounds like it was a lovely wedding. Congratulations to your sister, and to you! Hope the contractions disappear and don't return for weeks and weeks.

c. said...

Fabulous! Congratulations to your sister and her man. Have they gone somewhere particularly hot? Love the pics and all that is shiny.

Glad to hear the trip to the hospital turned up nothing. You must be beside yourself in anxiety some days. Hopefully the next few weeks see a little less unwanted excitement.

Rosepetal said...

Happy belated 12th annivesary - sorry about the contractions scare but glad it checked out okay.

And congratulations to your sister and her new husband. I guess on the day the bride has to remain zen as there is nothing else she can do. I was stressed organising my wedding until the day itself when I finally accepted that it wasn't me who was going to see to the details!

Thanks for your recent comment on my blog as well.

EmmaL said...

I love the pictures! And happy anniversary!

kate said...

So far so good! I am glad the wedding went so well, and love the pictures!

Anonymous said...

Great shots, Julia. I am glad the wedding went well!