We started the processional at precisely 3:59 pm. Sarah was determined that the wedding be on time, because her soloist had to leave immediately following the service to go to another performance. My biggest fear, leading up to it, was of course getting that damn candle lit! First Jay’s parents entered, and sat, and then Ben ushered me in and then Brenda and I went up to light the candles. Success! I gave a triumphant little nod and wink to Ray because he was teasing me about the candle because he knew I was quite paranoid about it! Then the groomsmen and bridesmaids started entering at the same time coming up the 2 aisles. Jay and the minister were at the front waiting. The violinist and pianist were wonderful!! Made it so much more special.

Then we all stood, the little flower girl and ring bearer came in together holding hands, and then Sarah and her Dad started making their way down the aisle. I immediately got teary, but “got a grip” quickly. Hubby said he was fine until he looked at me, and he had to quickly look another direction! Finally everyone was all in place, the congregation seated, and the ceremony began. Rev. “Snowy” was great! It was short, and sweet, and lighthearted. Vows, and rings exchanged, while Sarah and Jay were signing the registry and lighting the unity candle, Kjel began to sing “When You Say You Love Me”. This 19 year old kid was amazing!! It was so moving, and powerful. He’d just close his eyes and sing, and then at the powerful parts, he’d open his eyes, and look over at Sarah and Jay. His performance, accompanied by the piano and violin, was truly one of the highlights of the day for me! Everyone was simply raving about him. I definitely got all emotional during his song, and I looked at Jay, who had remained fairly composed, and he was really getting choked up, hearing his friend sing to them like that.

Then, they were announced as married, and Ben hit the boom box, and they all walked out to “Crazy little thing Called Love” by Michael Buble. That helped ease the weepiness of the day!! Plenty of hugs and kisses, and we all met behind the church for family pictures and wound up part one of the day. I must mention thought that the girl’s flowers, and the bouquets at the church were outstanding! Just gorgeous! When Sarah first saw it, she was a little worried, because it was very large. Then she just said, well I’m tall… I can pull this off, and she did! There were also many compliments on the flowers.

We had a couple of hours to go check into our room, have showers, and an ice cold beer. By this time, Ben and Jess were there. They were staying in the motor home and decided to just keep it in the parking lot rather than go down to the campground. By the time got changed, it was time to go down to the dining room for the rehearsal dinner. It was a very good meal and nearly everyone showed up. I think someone forgot to invite an usher though. We didn’t dilly-dally long, and then headed up to the church to rehearse. It all went smoothly. Sarah knew pretty much how she wanted things to go, and the minister totally had his act together, so we ran through the processional 3 times, so the little ones would know what they were dong, and that was it! The best part as we got to hear the pianist and violinist play. They were fabulous!Three Flights Up by Yellowcard is the song Sarah had chosen for us mothers and the wedding party to enter to. They did a great job. It was beautiful.

We dragged our weary bodies back to the inn, where there was no tv, no wifi to steal, and we couldn’t even get signals on our cell phones! GAH! There wasn’t even anything to read!! Talk about torture!! Little house on the prairie or what! We had to read newspapers, and do the puzzles in them until we got tired enough to fall asleep!

We left Friday morning at 6:00 am for Rosebud. The motorhome had been loaded up the previous day, so we just piled in, and left. What a long, NOISY ride! We were transporting all the pillars for the wedding and they clanked and banged all the way there! To top it off, the last 5-6 miles before the Rosebud turnoff were under construction, so it was like travelling on a goat trail! That stuff made so much racket that we just had to laugh, it was so bad! I had been texting Sarah with our progress throughout the morning, so she knew where we were. She met us at the church. She and Brenda (Jay’s Mom) had done quite a bit of the decorating of the church on Thursday night. They had hung all the pew bows, swagged all the fabric up on the walls, and started to do the unity candle table, and guest book table. Hubby and Sarah busied themselves putting up the arch, and went about doing the finishing touches on the tables. We didn’t have much to do, but it still took almost 2 hours until we were satisfied.

From there we went down the highway to Standard, and started with the task of decorating the hall. Jay was there, his Mom and Dad, and 2 sisters. One of Sarah’s bridesmaids was there, and another met us there later in the day. Some of Jay’s aunts and uncles came and helped too for a couple of hours, so off and on through the day we had quite a bit of help. We unloaded the motor home, and then we got going. It actually went very well. The most difficult part was putting the pillars together, and then swagging the fabric. Fortunately Sarah, and hubby and Lisa tackled that, so I kept busy with fine tuning things.

One thing that caught us a bit off guard, was that the tables were so narrow. This meant that we had probably made and bought almost twice as much bling and things as was needed, so that ended up being quite a waste. Fortunately, these weren’t expensive things.

This is the swag that was causing some grief to get up properly, but when it was all said and done, in the dim candlelight at night with it all lit up, and the girl’s bouquets placed in the bouquet holders, it all looked very beautiful and sparkly!

The pillars, and glasses, and linens, and pedestals, and candle holders are packed. The wine is packed (36 bottles), the wedding gown is hung, the archway is packed, all the wedding attire is put away too. Other than to throw in the suitcase and my laptop, I think we’re ready to go. I just have to pack my makeup and hair stuff in the morning.We’re leaving at 5:45 am. Should be to the church by 9:00 am, and we’ll finish decorating (putting the arch up and decorating it.) and bringing in the pedestals for the flowers. They’re doing the rest of the church decorating tonight. So once we finish the church, we’ll be off to Standard to do the hall. That will be a much bigger job! We have to set up and place all the tables, and set them with linens and tableware and then put all the centerpieces and bling out!

Will be a very busy day, and then we have the rehearsal dinner at 7:00, and the rehearsal following that. I’m getting excited now!  I talked to Sarah several times today, and she’s pretty excited too!

Father of the Bride

This is the music that hubby and Sarah will be doing the Father/Daughter dance to.

It’s perfect!  Ben mixed it at the radio station when he was last at work.  I can not wait to see them do it!  Hubby is a great dancer! (however a little “rusty” these days)

Exactly one week from now, we will probably be just finishing desert at Sarah and Jay’s wedding reception.  ACCCKKKKK! I’m excited, yet somewhat freaked out at the same time!  Today, I finished up the slide show, and am now burning the copies.  I spent months working on the original slide show, and a week ago decided I could do better, so I redid the whole thing.  Work was good this week.  We had the year end party on Tuesday, and it went really well.  We had perfect weather, and my video made many of the moms cry - mission accomplished.  They loved it! The next 3 days were spent cleaning, and organizing for next year.  Cindy and I worked our butts off!  My “replacement” did diddly squat!

On a sad note, a co-worker was diagnosed with breast cancer this week.  She is having a masectomy on Thursday.  Can you believe they send her home the very next day??  Her husband is currently in the hospital and not doing very well.   He had a hernia that got all infected, so he had to have major surgery to clean all that up, and there was no ideas as to when he will get home.  Hearing of his wife’s diagnosis is certainly not going to help his recovery I’m sure!

The next thing I have to do for this wedding is do something to “fancify” the wine goblets for the head table.  I have an idea, but I have to see if it’s doable.  If anyone has an idea, by all means, let me know!  Then I have to do 7 more pew bows.  The last thing after that, is to set up the archway, and decide how to decorate it, take pictures, and then put all the items together and pack them up. We get the motor home on Tuesday, so I’ll be loading it up with clothes, etc.  Wednesday we will pack up the last of the wedding supplies, and meet Sarah who will have Jay’s truck, to load up all the rental items.  Then it’s off to Standard until Sunday.  Ben & Jess will be staying out here at the house looking after Miles and our cats.  They will come down for the rehearsal on Friday night.

I’ve totally gotten used to my gel nails, and I LOVE them.  I’m sure I’m hooked.  I got them filled on Wednesday, and Tuesday, I’ll have her give them a once over, and I’m getting my haircut.  I’ve also been tanning, and have a pretty good base colour now. My chest is just a nice colour, but damn my calves are stubborn about tanning!!!  That was the body part where I most wanted some colour!  I only have one more opportunity to go to the tanning salon before I leave, but if the weather is nice, I’ll try to stick my legs out a bit.

We take “possession” of the hall on Thursday, so we technically have 3 full days to turn it into a pink paradise!  That’s a great relief to me!  That’s really the biggest task we’ve taken on, and that’s doing all the decorating ourselves.  We also have to do the church, but we’re not doing a great deal there.  We’re putting up some sparkling pink organza to spice up a very plain backdrop in the church, having 2 large bouquets set on some brushed nickel pillars, the pew bows, and “possibly” the arch.  We’ll decide that when we get there.  It’s supposed to be MAJOR hot next Saturday, and that has been one of my biggest fears!  How the hell am I supposed to wear a 3 piece suit in that kind of heat?  I sweat and roasted all winter!!!  This is why I’m taking a simple black and pink dress to change into after pictures.  I want to be comfortable for the reception and dance.  I’m not sure if I’ll change for dinner, or for the dance.  I can guarantee you there will be no air conditioning there!!!

Surprisingly, I’ve accomplished quite a few things today. I got all the wedding service programs printed. They just need to be folded. I got the table number cards printed, and the placecards for the 3 tables we’re using them on. I also designed and printed up the CD covers and labels. So, things are going good. I’m also doing laundry while I work. Hopefully tomorrow I can start burning the slide show copies.

I also bought a digital photo frame that I thought would be fun to have at the guest book table at the reception. I plan to load it with digital pictures taken at the wedding for people to view.

Jay has a little niece, who is nearly 2 years old. She will have a baby sister next month! So Sarah named the 2 of them “honorary flowergirls”, and bought them these matching dresses. They’re absolutely adorable! They’re very soft and comfy feeling too. Not stiff and scratchy like some of the fussy dresses. We replaced the flower that is shown with a softer pink one that matches the decorations and things much better. It was a great improvement.

She bought them from EBay, and they arrived SO quickly!! I can’t wait to see them in them!

3 days in, and I already blew it! I’m not sure why I can’t remember to post! I should start posting on my lunch break or something! Although, every move we make on the computers is monitored, and I most certainly do NOT want work knowing about any of my blogs!

Sunday, the kids all came out for dinner, Jay surprised Sarah by coming up to spend the weekend with her, so she was delighted! Jess is also here, so the 4 of them went dress shopping on Saturday. Can you imagine my son dress shopping??!! Well maybe you can, because you don’t know him, but I do, and it just makes me snicker! Jess did find a dress, so that was a good thing, and Sarah bought Ben a new tie for his twice worn suit, which he will wear for the wedding. She bought him a grey and pink argyle patterned tie. He is the usher and MC. All he needs is a new shirt, and new shoes, and he’s set. My suit is as far as Richmond, B.C. I’m so freaking nervous about it fitting, that I could barf! Anything else I’ve ordered has not fit. The sizes vary so much that it’s rather nerve-wracking. I did use measurements, and made sure that I ordered it a little big, because it can be altered. If it’s too small, the chances of me finally getting off my fat ass, and going on a diet, are slim to ZIP!

I decorated Sarah’s card box Sunday afternoon, and then made another 3 pew bows, and then had to quit because I ran out of ribbon, so I began working on the centerpiece that will be on top of the lighted archway, which will go behind the cake table at the reception. All in all, it was a productive afternoon!

I’m off now for 10 days of Spring Break.  I can’t begin to tell you how much this thrills me!  The plan is to do some house cleaning and organizing, but more than that, I want to get a lot of the wedding decorations finished.  Sarah came out today, and we got all the candle holders decorated, I made the memory candle for my Dad, we spiffed up the unity candle holders, and candles, we printed and put the votive wrappers on, and added rhinestones.  Now I’m thinking about doing some more of the pew bows.  We’ve got half of them finished.

I also wasted a whole bunch of time trying to get hubby’s laptop to arise from the dead.  Usually I’m pretty good at fixing these things, but this one would hang and not finish booting up.  I restored a backup from 2 days ago, and still nothing.  I decided I’d have to reformat, so I attempted that… only it wouldn’t work, and it started making all kinds of crackling, spitting noises.  That can’t be good!  I did get Ben’s old clunker working again, so hubby is attempting to use that for the time being.  I hesitate to even take in his, because after making all those noises, it can’t be salvaged I’m thinking.  It’s always something.

Jess is here visiting, and will be going home on Tuesday.  Ben seems very happy to see her again.