Maiwage (Part 2)

The one thing I will suggest to any bride-to-be, having now experienced the whole wonderful/horrible process first hand, is to stay hydrated. That's right, hydrated. Throughout dinner and the following reception, guests kept me pleasantly occupied in non-stop conversation, which lead to horrible dry mouth. But every time I tried to make my way to the bar for a drink, someone would stop me to talk. Next thing I knew, thirty minutes had passed and I was four people deep and no closer to the bar.

My solution was to politely ask whichever family member was closest to get me a glass of water. Ten minutes later, I was still thirsty and could see said family member across the room eating cake and talking to some other guest. This happened no less then six times that night... twice by my own Mother. When Hoop and I got to the hotel room later that night, I was so thirsty, I stuck my head under the bathroom faucet like a dog. It's really not a complaint though. Weddings are hairy for everyone involved. Which is why all weddings should include alcohol.

Some other points of interest: While reading my vows, I noticed that my heels were sinking into the grass and my mind instantly created a mental movie of me falling backwards, shoes still planted firmly in the ground. I had to bite on my tongue to keep from giggling. When the ceremony was over, I looked down and saw no less than twelve holes in the ground where I had sunk in and pulled myself out again. After the ceremony, Hoop's slightly eccentric uncle (also our photographer) told us to go around back to wait for him. Then he went inside and promptly forgot about us.

Hoop and I tossed around the idea of running away and starting our honeymoon early. It's probably good that we didn't. What good is a reception without the happy couple? Some time in the night, my family snuck away with the disposable cameras to take pictures of my female relations pretending to use the urinals in the Men's bathroom. None of the culprits were under the age of 40. The DJ, who continued to call herself "DJ Harm0ny" despite the fact that we all knew her name was Cheryl, kept reminding guests to sign the guest-photo like it was a Target blue light special.

One of the most memorable moments of the night for me though, was when Nash/Chris' five year old son stopped in front of us and said in complete awe, "You look so beautiful!" Somewhere, Hoop's uncle has a picture of me hugging him, and on my wrist is the memorial bracelet Hoop and I bought for the wedding party in remembrance of Chris. Each bracelet reads, "Forever in our hearts - Christopher H." You can say what you want about where we go when we die. But I swear to you, I felt him that night. It was like he was smiling down on us.

Tomorrow: The Bachelorette Party!