There was the rehearsal on Saturday, and then a luncheon (in which I sat at the table with the two non-Catholic priests who were performing the ceremony, who were identified by all as the senile one and the gay one. The gay one also self-identified that way, but the senile one not so much.)There was a dinner that we almost missed on Saturday night with all the out of town family there, so I guess that totalled something like 18 with all of them and all of us locals. The groom was with us, and in fact, seemed to spend more time with our family than his. We love him.
Sunday morning we gathered in the biggest hotel room -- R had somehow won a huge room in the luck of the draw -- to begin the hair and make-up extravaganza. This turned out to be just our side as well, the groom's mom and family had arranged to do this all elswhere.
We sat around a lot as we watched each other taking turns.
It took hours and hours, starting at about 10 am and finishing up at 3, when the photographers were already there.
The bride's only stressful moment was when it turned out to be not a simple task to get that dress on.
And this is why. The back of this dress was gorgeous (as was the front, but the back was awesome.)
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There were pictures outside, and then the ceremony in this beautiful room:
And some bridesmaids. Mine are the two on the left. Also, great dresses!
A happy couple:
This is our family matriarch, Cousin E, who was my mother's first cousin and my father's second. She introduced them, New Year's Eve, 1942. Or rather, she set them up on a blind date. She had actually never met my father, who was her mother's cousin, but my mother, her father's niece, was like a sister to her. Got that? She's 88.
Dancing with their cousin, the bride's twin. First R, then K.
And at the end of the night, sitting in the floor in a giant poof of dress, my Wonderful Niece.
It was a superb wedding. She and her husband **giggle** had planned it to the last detail and everything went off perfectly. And if it didn't, nobody noticed.
Then there was brunch the next morning, hosted by the bride and groom, for all the out-of-towners and some others, and then we came home. And then last night, dinner for the immediate 15 family members still here. (We were on our on for that one. Really, it is remarkable how much we were all treated to above and beyond the wedding. I picked up the tab for the room service breakfast on Sunday for all of us doing the hair and make-up; it was the least I could do.)
Perhaps more wedding tales to come. (Oh, yes, cannot forget the ceremony. Remember, one of the priest was senile.) But that enough for tonight.
