So, our anniversary party was actually a little backyard wedding. Yeah, Mark and I finally did it up legally with some friends and family looking on. We've been busy putting the house and yard back together since the weekend but I did write a little post for a bridal advice site that I've been hanging out on for a while. Thought I'd share it with y'all. Btw, it's hot and sunny 'round here and we still have lots of booze leftover so, if you're in the hood, pop by!!
My last day in the office before the wedding was July 31. All that week, I kept thinking that I should be making updates here but honestly, the week flew by in a blur.
Then, last week, when were running full steam ahead to get everything done and sorted, the time again flew and the next thing I knew, it was Thursday, August 6 and we were getting wed!
Over that weekend before the wedding (which was a long weekend in our neck of the woods), we slowly worked away at our chore list. I had made a spreadsheet which was divided up into tasks, some of them mine, some Mark’s and some for us to do together. I then divided them up into days and times so they were pretty evenly spread out over the days leading up to August 6th. We never really felt stressed out as I allowed us lots of down time in between things we needed to do.
Which each day that passed, as we crossed things off of that to-do list, I relaxed more. I must say, neither of us was worried about actually getting married but both us wanted the house and yard to look nice, and for the food to be great. I think we accomplished all of those things in the end.
On Wednesday, I went for a manicure and pedicure with my friend Annette (who was standing up with me) and my mum. I had never had a pedicure before and was shocked at how awesome it was. I was also shocked at how relaxed it made me, too relaxed actually. I wasn't able to get much done immediately after our appointment. Fortunately, Annette took me out for lunch so we both avoided our chores/errands for a little while longer.
My nails turned out beautifully. I had them done (fingers and toes the same) in a gorgeous shade of opal-y fuchsia which matched some of the pink in my dress. Even today, my fingers have just started to chip but my toes are still awesomely perfect. I must say too that I did a good job of protecting my nails with rubber gloves in the weeks leading up to the wedding. The person at the salon who did my manicure commented on how nice they were.
While I was at the salon, Mark was at home waiting for the delivery of our tables and chairs. When we got back to the house, they still hadn't arrived. Our 2 p.m. delivery didn't arrive until 5:30 p.m. To say that Mark was super pissed is a huge understatement. The 3.5 hours spent waiting around, trying to keep the dogs amused so they wouldn’t go ballistic when the stuff arrived, could have been a smidgen more relaxed. He just didn’t need the aggravation, I was annoyed too but I was already into my “go with flow” mentality which has served me so well at events I’ve worked at in the past.
While he was still angry, he started setting up the yard. The little canopies we bought had been put up on Tuesday so he placed the chairs in rows and we left the patio tables around the perimeter of the yard. Our plan was to move them under the tented area once the ceremony was over but they never ended up moving. When he had stuff set up, I took him out for pizza (we weren’t doing a big rehearsal dinner because we didn’t need to rehearse) and he was chilled out by the time we got home.
The actual day was awesome. All week long, the weather channel had been changing their minds about what the weather was going to do. It had been hot and super humid earlier in the week and, given that we were having our ceremony outside, we really didn't want it to rain. Fortunately for us, the humidity broke the day before and we had a gorgeous day.
The morning of our wedding was spent setting up tables in the house for the buffet, cleaning and picking up our catering stuff/ice and getting beer. I stayed home to finish cleaning the bathrooms and setting out the stuff on the various tables. Mark and our friend Tom went to Costco to pick up the last of the food (cakes, meat trays, veggie & fruit trays, etc.) and the beer. We had three food stations: sweet table in the living room, appetizer table in the hallway (in front of our fish tanks), main course dishes in the kitchen. It all looked and tasted great and we had plenty leftover (we were afraid we’d run out so we over-did-it I think). Fortunately, friends who are in renovation hell and who are without a kitchen took a bunch of meat and buns with them, we sent other friends home with desserts and pockets full of chocolate bars and ring-pops. We called the meal theme “picnic style” but really, it was more guilty pleasure/comfort food. Literally there was something for everyone!
Our ceremony was fun. We both cracked a lot of jokes and given that we had a smallish group (40 in total including us) it was sort of interactive. I’ll post the ceremony separately if anyone is interested in it. It seemed to literally take 2 minutes, and I felt like I was in a swirl while it was happening. I expected to be nervous and self-conscious but I was neither. Afterwards, there were lots of hugs and a few snaps (we didn’t have a professional photographer but are starting to collect photos from guests/family members which I’ll put up on flickr after I’ve sorted through them). Next was food and partying. We had a lot of fun and I think that our guests did too.
Sitting here, almost a week after the fact, it is hard to believe that it’s over but it is. We got some very lovely gifts (which I was not at all expecting). My Aunt and my mother arrived and asked where the gift table was and I stared at them both like they had 2 heads. It never occurred to us that folks would want to give us gifts. I was overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness that went into the gifts and still cannot believe how generous folks were to us. I’m happy to report that the thank you cards are almost done (have about 6 left to do) and the ones which are completed have been posted already.
One more point before I end this. Our dogs were awesome. Our Eskie, Sam was pretty barky when folks were arriving (as he is usually) but they were both very well behaved during the ceremony and I’m sure that they scored some contraband food during the party. In the days leading up to the wedding, they knew something was up and that stuff was happening at the house so they were a little off of their routines. All things considered, they did very well and I’m really thrilled that we could have them participate in our wedding with us!
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