The WEDDING! Chronicles

Well, I'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath to hear the details of our trip to TX for my best friend's wedding. I've alluded to it in several previous posts, because we've been in planning/ prep mode for many months. This will be a long one! Here goes:

Wednesday morning we took off. We left around 9am and got to Aaron's parents house around 8ish in the evening. The kids did pretty well on the drive. As long as we keep Elmo in the DVD player, and keep them fed...they do well.

Thursday, I had planned to go to Houston to help Veronica with last minute preparations, but she ended up pulling out her whip and getting (I'm guessing) Daniel and her family to help her finish the favors, hotel welcome boxes, gifts, and programs. Wow! What a lot of work...and I totally got out of it. Thanks guys! So, we all had a day in Victoria to try to chill. We went to visit G'ma at Homewood that morning, and picked up Dragon Palace for lunch. Alec napped, but Emma wouldn't. I ended up taking her to run some errands with me and she slept the entire time, whether in the car or while being carried around. We got to spend some nice time with Aaron's two brothers that still live at home, Andrew and Alex...and of course, his parents, and grandma. It was a yucky, cold, rainy day...however. Not the fresh breath of warmth that I was hoping for after all of the Arctic blasts that we've gotten in NWA this winter.

Now, let me comment now on the fact that my children were somewhat difficult for the duration of this trip. They are nearing two years old. They were off their schedule a LOT, as eating and sleeping times were rearranged somewhat. Not to mention they were stuck in the car for nearly 24 hours total on this trip. And...there were lots of times that they had to do without Mommy (and away from their home and their things). This is pretty rough on them, because a) they're going through a pretty clingy Mommy phase right now AND b) I am their 24/7 caretaker at home...so what else would you expect? There were MANY screaming fits on this trip. Aaron, his family, and I all had to hear it. I told Aaron before the trip that all I wanted for Valentine's Day was for him to still love me after it was all over. And I was hoping that Wanda wouldn't disown me, either...since they'd be the ones (and Jeff too) picking up the slack while I was involved in my various Matron of Honor/bridal party things.

Friday, we left after breakfast to go to Houston. I had to be at V's Bachelorette Party/ Lingerie Shower by noon. Since we couldn't check into the hotel until 3pm, Aaron and Wanda took the kids to Chick-Fil-A to eat and play until we were done with the party. It was one of the coolest Bach. Parties ever. We had it at a Nail Bar and everyone could choose manis/pedis or both. We had mimosas and finger food and were pampered and V was showered with lots of lovely lingerie. We had a wonderful time! Her sister did a phenomenal job of planning this. It was a great way to begin all of the festivities.

Afterward, we ran to Crate and Barrel to get the wedding gift, and then onto the Magnolia hotel to check-in. It was valet only in downtown Houston, which meant that we had to unload half of a house worth of the stuff that you travel with when you have two toddlers all at once (and for a formal occasion, which means lots of hanging stuff too). I'm pretty sure the bellmen were completely stunned by the amount of luggage! We and our luggage all finally made it up to the room. It was a very very lovely hotel, but probably not the most convenient for traveling with tots. It's just a little easier to have constant access to your vehicle, and to have a fridge and microwave in your room. This place was perfect for couples on leisure or for business travelers. We did have a mini-bar fridge, but it said that it wasn't cold enough for perishables. We went ahead and put the kids milk and juice sippies in there anyway, though. (Stay tuned-more on this later.) But, luckily I was able to use Veronica's bridal suite microwave. All of the food that I brought for the kids was the microwavable Gerber graduates, Chef Boyardee, or Mac and Cheese, veggies, etc. I asked guest services if I could use the house microwave in the club room, but they wouldn't allow outside food to be heated up for liability reasons. Like I said, though...V had a microwave in her room that I could use to prepare the kids food...so it was all good.

Friday evening was the rehearsal and dinner. Originally, my kids were supposed to walk down the aisle during the processional, bring the arras (coins) to the priests (there were two- twins!), and then walk out during the recessional. I knew they wouldn't sit still and quiet in pews during the mass...so one plan was for Aaron and Wanda to keep them busy in the foyer or courtyard during the "off times," but they were so loud and unhappy without me, that we decided that they would make a processional appearance and then Aaron and Wanda would take them back to the hotel. We made it through the rehearsal, and onto the rehearsal dinner at Pappadeaux, hosted by Daniel's parents. It was a lovely dinner. The food was wonderful, and of course the company was wonderful. We were able to see so many people that we hadn't seen in a long time. Remember, V and I go back 22 years. And Aaron has been around for 14 of those years. So, it was like a nice, big, family reunion. The kids were antsy and hungry, but they did well when we held them. They finally conked out, and all was quiet. Veronica and Daniel distributed a TON of gifts to the bridal party and all of the people who helped them with the wedding. I won an AWESOME t-shirt for a little challenge we had going. (Pictures to come!) Daniel's parents showed a fantastic slide presentation with pictures of Daniel and V through the years. It brought laughs and tears. All in all, a really fun and wonderful evening. And when we got to the hotel the kids went right down for bed...no protesting! :-)

Saturday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel...and I got to spend some time with my babies because I knew I wouldn't get much time with them once all of the girls started hair and makeup and all that jazz. I was able to help feed them lunch and get them settled down for their nap before heading up to the bridal suite for hair stuff. I did Courtney's (bridesmaid) hair, and then Laura and I started working on mine. Well, I was stupid and had washed my hair that morning with the hotel shampoo and conditioner, and it was TOO clean. It wouldn't hold curl for anything. My original hair plan went completely out the window. Laura was a saint as we put a ton of product in my hair to dirty it up and then she helped me get it all curled. I ended up piling it up in an updo as usual. It looked fine. It just took waaaaaaay too long. If I'd known that would need to be the plan at the beginning, I wouldn't have wasted an hour trying to make the "down do" work. At this point, I started panicking because I still had to get everything together to take to the church (all of Emma's things because she couldn't ride in the car in her big dress) and get Alec ready and get the kids fed, (which g'ma and g'pa totally helped with). I didn't have makeup yet and wasn't dressed. So, I did all of that in the next hour amongst two unhappy children (because I couldn't hold or play with them).

I made it downstairs after checking my bag for Emma's accessories, Alec's accessories, extra hair stuff, arras (checked for these 4 times- my life hung in the balance if I didn't make it to the church with these!) The bridesmaids got on the trolley for the church, and we started taking pictures in the courtyard (cold!). Aaron and Wanda brought the kids at 6. Now, entering the courtyard was the first time that ANYONE got to see Veronica's dress. Apparently, seeing it required like secret service clearance or something. But, of course...she was stunning! I knew she would be. She looked exactly as I've always imagined she would look on her wedding day...absolutely gorgeous! We took pictures and then I got Emma dressed when she and the others arrived. Alec was already in his short tux. We tried to take a few pictures with V and the twins, but they really weren't digging the whole "sit still and pose" thing. At least the other flower girl was VERY cooperative, and V got some really cute pictures with her.

Things started to get crazy with my kids here. They either both wanted me to hold them, both wanted to run around freely, and both wanted to play wildly with toys in one of the "holding rooms." I couldn't let them destroy anything or themselves...so there was a LOT of screaming at this point. When we walked over to the foyer of the church to line up for processional, my children both screamed their heads off. They wanted to be anywhere but where they were, and they wanted to run around. So, we held them kicking and screaming during the entire processional. When it was time for me to walk, Aaron and I were going to just each carry one of them...but they were both screaming bloody murder for Mommy. So, another bridesmaid carried my bouquet, Aaron carried the arras behind us, and I walked down the aisle with a child on each hip. Amazingly enough, as soon as we stepped through the doorway to walk down the long aisle, they were silent. I silently thanked God, and we proceeded down the aisle in complete peace...until I had to hand both of the children to their dad, and he and Wanda whisked them away out of the church. Then they went back to kicking and screaming. Apparently, once they were in the car with the dvd player, they were fine. They were fine going with g'ma and g'pa at the hotel, they behaved well when Aaron left them to come be my date for the rest of the night, and went down for bed without issue.

At this point, I was able to actually relax and enjoy the proceedings as the most beautiful bride came down the aisle to meet her groom, who was overcome with emotion...which made me cry too! The ceremony went very well. It was sacred and beautiful, and full of joy! We finished pictures afterward, and went to the fabulous reception at the Crystal Ballroom at the Rice. It was just a stunning ballroom, so beautifully decorated. Aaron and I were able to have a really smashing time with some of our favorite friends that we hardly ever get to see. I gave a toast for the bride and groom, and helped collect for the dollar dance. We ate, danced, and had an absolute blast! At 1am, we showered the bride and groom with rose petals from the balcony of the hotel as they were leaving the building...and the night was over.

We left town at 11am on Sunday, after breakfast, and after resolving a little issue with the list of charges, and returned home at 8:30 that night. You see, we moved everything out of the minibar to put the kids sippies in there, and apparently, the minibar has a sensor. So just moving things, causes your room to be charged for said item. So, we ended up with $160 worth of minibar charges on our statement. I was able to get it taken care of without issue, though. We are glad to be back home...but it will certainly be a weekend we'll never forget! And we owe Aaron's mom and dad a MAJOR debt of gratitude for helping us out this weekend! Thanks, you guys! We appreciate you more than you will ever know!!!