Wedding day run-through continued

Note - I sincerely apologize for my gramatical errors.

Hmmm so where did I leave off....

4:1o-ish pm: Ralph and I are taking pictures. The limo arrives and my brothers come in the lobby only to see me stretched out on the chaise lounge taking bridal portraits. I try and look serene. Ralph and I leave to take pictures in a dirty stairwell, while the limo and my family wait.

4:30-ish pm: I leave in the limo with my family. Shockingly, it is only very lightly sprinkling. Meanwhile, Ralph and my big brother Dave drive together in our sexy getaway car.....



4:35 pm: In the limo, I down our water bottle and eat a melting chocolate energy bar thanks to Janet. I can't believe that I did not get chocolate on my dress. I still have a terrible migrane. Phone calls go back and forth about whether we take pictures at the dock behind our venue or not.



4:45 pm: We arrive at the dock behind our venue to take more pics only 15 minuutes late. I get out and the rain and crazy wind make me change my mind. I get back in the limo and we are driven to the venue entrance. We arrive to see our new ceremony space. I think it looks just fine given our situation. I later learn that Ralph was so terribly disappointed with it. There is lots of talk about still trying to move it outside between me, Ralph, Esther, our DOC, and staff at the venue. I put all the desicions on Ralph's head, since my brain left like it was going to explode.

5:00 pm: We take family portraits. I can't believe that Ralph and I forgot to make a list of pictures we wanted. Our photographer does really well considering our oversight. All our family was on time and fully coorporates - I have a great time seeing everyone looking so cute and happy. I think my eyes stayed open during the picture-taking.

5:30-ish pm: Ralph and I try and take some outdoor portraits. We run into a zillion people coming to another wedding right across the way from us. They are surprised to see a bride that they don't recognize. It is still drizzling so we take some pics under covered areas, except when Ralph wasn't looking I posed for one in some great foliage getting slightly wet in the process. As we begin our return to the VIP room, we run into some of our early arriving guests. They are pretty surprised to see us.

5:45-6:15 pm: I hang out in the VIP room; I am standing not sitting, as the families come and in out. Head is absolutely killing me. My mom is trying to make thank you cards and divvy up tips. I sip on some Sprite and Coke. Why is there no water around????? Bass music is pulsating through the room, and I ask Ralph to take care of it. He does and gets them to also tone down the steel drums from the wedding I ran into (I had no idea). I cannot belive that all 3 events are going on at the same time in the same location, as they promised that it would never happen, but tell myself to save the angry for later. I do exactly that.

6:30 pm: Showtime! I walk in, or more like stumble. My footing was really off especially with both my parents by my sides. Our officiant signals for us to slow down, since the aisle is ridiculously short in our new space. My feet are KILLING me for standing up in the VIP room for so long. What was I thinking? I manage to cry gracefully (I think) , but facing our friends and family and not completely bawling out of such happiness was really hard. As we say our vows, I remember to bend my knees so I don't faint or anything. I try hard to listen to what our officiant says. But I am so distracted by Ralph and being ridiclously happy to remember it all. I snatch my ring by accident - whoops. I put Ralph's ring on him exactly how I was instructed NOT to do. We have no problem kissing each other, which was a problem at the rehearsal. Then we disappear to the VIP room.

7:00 pm: Picture time in the park. But first we go down another dirty staircase. It is still too windy for the dock. We take pictures on some bridges and by some waterfalls. A server offers us some appetizers, and I force one down, but I still feel ill. We walk into the mulch to take some shots under a huge Banyon tree (Ralph can't believe I can do this in heels and in a wedding dress). We go to our original ceremony site and cocktail site for some pics.

7:49 pm: My veil taken is off and we return just to catch the end of the cocktail hour. We are greeted by a claps and cheers. I couldn't be more happy. Flavia gets Ralph a beer and gets me some water (begrudgingly, I might add). I eat another appetizer or two, but I just feel too ill to eat. I hope the water kicks in to help my headache.

Okay, all the rest in one more post.