The MoBster Diaries

Friday, October 31, 2008

The Dancing

Something scary for Halloween, I thought.

We had a super disc jockey at the wedding reception who really kept things moving. He played too many country songs in a row for my taste, but the bride was fine with that, country music fan that she is. Anyway, here are some of the dancing highlights (or lowlights, depending on your point of view).

Bride and Groom's first dance. I don't know the song. Bride will have to send me the title and I'll add it to the post when I get it. I'm sure it was Sarah Evans or somebody like that.

"Rocky Top" had to be played for all the University of Tennessee fans in attendance. Cousin really got into the clogging spirit on this one.

"Shout." Always a favorite. As you can see, folks really got into the spirit of the song. Took MoB a while to get up after the "little bit softer now" part, though.

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia." New Jersey Kathy was horrified to witness that her son Cousin Brian knew all the words to the song. Since when did he go country?

"The Macarena." As I mentioned earlier, Bride swore there'd be no Macarena or Electric Slide, but she had no control over this one. It was requested by Groom's niece.

"New York, New York." Yeah, we did a kickline. How could we not?

The great thing was that people across the age spectrum were out on that dance floor - little kids, teenagers, young folks, old folks. Something for everyone!

The last song played was the Beatle's "All You Need is Love." Everyone was totally spent by the time we ended the evening.

If MoB could dance like that two or three times a weeks, she wouldn't need Weight Watchers!

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Dress

When you pay the bucks for a custom wedding gown, you not only get a work of art, you get a masterful piece of construction. The dress saga started last October, as MoBster fans may recall, as we searched for just the right one. The final fitting was three days before the wedding.

While the gown is utterly gorgeous (just check out the beading on the waistband and sash), the way it works is completely amazing. No, you don't just put it on. The internal foundation can be adjusted to ensure a perfect fit, in case Bride either puts on or takes off a few pounds over the final days. And those little button loops need a crochet hook to close over those lovely covered buttons down the back.

The bottom of the sash hooks together in a couple of places so that it lays just right on the train. And three practically invisible snaps hold the edge of the veil on the train - one of the last-minute additions, which worked beautifully.

But getting Bride down the aisle and through the ceremony is only stage 1 of the dress adjustments. I mean, the veil and long train have to go away so that Bride can party at the reception, right? So after carefully unlatching the veil from the train (and Bride's head), MoB and a couple of bridesmaids begin the bustling process.

First, the long sashes are looped and snapped into place. Then, we have to climb under the back of the dress and find five little buttons and ribbons (color-coded, by the way) to bustle up the train and make the dress the same length all the way around. This process takes a few minutes (and three people) to make the dress look just as beautiful bustled as it looked with train and veil.

Every centimeter of the wedding gown was beautifully constructed, inside and out. Anne Barge did a most splendid job, creating wearable art and a keepsake to be cherished forever.

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

Friday, October 24, 2008

A Week Ago Today: The Day Before (Part 2)

We managed to make it to the church a little early for the rehearsal. It was still pouring rain. We were met by Mimi, one of the two Wedding Guild members who would be helping ensure the ceremony would go off as smoothly as possible. The wedding party drifted in, and the rehearsal got underway.

I’ve always found wedding rehearsals confusing. They’re not done in order of how things will happen during the actual service, and everyone sort of muddles through it. The flower girls and ring bearers were running up and down the aisles – an (almost) empty church is just too great a temptation. I mean, I’d’ve run around, too, but MoBs aren’t supposed to be that crazy the night before the Big Day. At any rate, I really didn’t worry about it last week. I knew that Mimi and Lynne and priests Harry and Elizabeth would guide us through what we were supposed to do during the real ceremony, so I just went with the rehearsal flow, as it were.

Once we’d been put through our paces, sort of, we headed over to Figo and the rehearsal dinner. Figo is a very popular Italian dive kind of restaurant. The rehearsal dinner was put together hurriedly (during the week of the wedding, no less) since Groom’s parents live in Texas and California. Figo came through for us, though, giving us a large room to ourselves and a great selection of pasta, et. al., to enjoy. It was fun, easy-going, and gave us a chance to get the families together.

The highlight of the rehearsal dinner was a hilarious video put together by Bride’s aunt and uncle (MoB’s sis and brother-in-law). Figo is technologically-challenged, so we were never able to hear the sound, and it had to be shown on a white tablecloth draped on a wooden wall. Nevertheless, all the baby and growing-up shots of Bride and Groom more than made up for the lack of projection gizmos. I’m still trying to decide whether or not to YouTube it and put it here for your enjoyment. Guess I need Bride and Groom’s permission for that. We’ll see.

After we finished off the rehearsal dinner, we headed back to Twelve, where the Brennan clan had gathered in the hotel lounge. Most of the clan came from New Jersey, but Kentucky, Florida, and Missouri were well-represented, too. So Bride and Groom got a chance to enjoy a little quality time with cousins, aunts, and uncles of the Brennan persuasion. MoB had a wee gin and tonic as she laughed it up with the clan.

MoB, however, had given a solemn oath to Bride to have her in bed no later than midnight, so I hustled her outta the party and up to our room at 10:30. The hour-and-a-half between 10:30 and midnight was the last time MoB and Bride had to themselves before the wedding. We didn't do or talk about anything special. We just had an ordinary window of time before hitting the hay.

Sleep came easily to both of us. The Big Day didn't keep us from Dreamland on that last night.

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

A Week Ago Today: The Day Before (Part 1)

The day before the wedding was a fast-paced blur. Bride, Maid of Honor, and MoB checked into hotel Twelve Centennial Park the afternoon before to give us a place to begin all the preparations and to give Groom the house to himself (and the 4 dogs) for the last (?) time. We were up early, had a little breakfast, made ourselves presentable, and headed out to fulfill the list of day-before duties. It was pouring rain.

The first big agenda item was the bridesmaids’ luncheon. We picked up the special cake at Rhodes Bakery before heading over to the restaurant, Mosaic on Maple Drive in Buckhead. It couldn’t have been more ideal for this special celebration. We had a room to ourselves (right behind the bar area – how convenient!) and a terrific prix fixe menu with choices of salad or soup and a delicious selection of special sandwiches. MoB chose a calamari salad and a fried green tomato sandwich. Yum!

Bride distributed gifts to her attendants before lunch – earrings, bracelets, and pashminas for the adult bridesmaids and silver bracelets for the junior bridesmaid and flower girls. After lunch, everyone pulled the “fortune” charms from the cake. MoB ordered them from McKinley online if you’re interested, and they included: a heart, a rocking chair, a telephone, a hope chest, a four leaf clover, a money bag, a horseshoe, an airplane, and wreath. A lovely tradition that I was glad we were able to do.

After we finished up at Mosaic, four of us high-tailed it to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. We deserved a little pampering, after all the craziness of the past two weeks. Then we had just enough time to get back to the hotel to change into our rehearsal clothes and get to the church for the 5pm rehearsal.

It was still pouring rain.

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Bridal Hair

After swearing all along that she'd wear her hair down for her wedding, Bride did a trial run several weeks ago and opted for an up-do. One of her bridesmaids gave her great advice about doing this, since Bride would've fiddled with her hair all day long if it hadn't been off her neck. And I'm sure she appreciated having it up with all the wild dancing at the reception.

Bride, bridesmaids, and MoB took advantage of the hair and makeup services on the day of the wedding. It was quite an ambitious schedule that started at 9am. The makeup artist and hair fixer-upper arrived at our hotel room and rotated through 11 of us, including the junior bridesmaid, stepmom, and grandmother. It was quite an operation, but we all got out in time to head for the church and begin the photo session before the wedding.

Bride's hair was stunning. The bridesmaids wore low up-do's and looked great. I was moderately happy with my hair. It did stay in place all day, so I can't complain. And having my makeup done was fun, even the addition of false eyelashes (which take a little time to get used to, but look great).

Not having to worry about getting our hair and makeup right really helped us make it through the day (and night). I highly recommend it.

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

Monday, October 20, 2008

October 18: The Big Day

MoB is pleased to announce that the Big Day went as smoothly as could be expected. Our families and friends gathered in our beautiful church for a lovely, heartfelt wedding service.

No one passed out, passed the bottle, or passed gas - at least not during the ceremony.

The flowers were beautiful (though the Bride's bouquet weighed about 82 pounds) and the grand organ music splendid. And thanks to All Saints' Wedding Guild members Mimi and Lynn, everything was perfectly choreographed.

The ring bearers (who didn't actually bear the rings) and the flower girls (who did actually carry flowers) got down the aisle without running full-tilt as they had done at the rehearsal.

Bride, MoB, and FoB were calm, cool, and relatively collected as we made the Big Walk.

The reception food was fabulous and the tables looked lovely (thanks to Jessica, Cindy, Kerry, and Elizabeth + Kate's wedding planners who set most of it up).

The music was fun and we all danced until we dropped.

Well, that's the short version. As I write, the couple is on a plane to Grand Cayman for the honeymoon. I'm on my way back to New York in a couple of hours and will fill in the particulars of the Bridesmaids' Luncheon, Rehearsal, and the Wedding Day over the next week or so.

Pictures are pouring in. Here are a few to whet your appetite. What a day!

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Bow-tying and birch branches

So many list items got checked off yesterday, as Cindy, Jessica, and Kerry offered willing hands and loving hearts to help complete most of the last-minute details.

Vases - tall and short - were washed and polished. Creative Jessica filled the tall ones with green apples and birch branches, so all they'll need is to have water added once they get to the reception venue. The shorter ones are filled with smooth stones and floating candles (again, waiting for water to be added). Other vases are prepped and ready to hold the bridesmaids' bouquets.

Fortunately, the wedding programs arrived yesterday (we were told they might not arrive until Thursday or Friday - yikes!), so we got an assembly line going to put them together and tie them with ivory or chocolate ribbon. The programs are lovely.

And friend Elizabeth delivered her perfectly hand-printed placecards that we divvied up according to the seating chart. That should make the wedding planners' job of setting up the tables a little easier, we think. Elizabeth even did special cards for Bride and Groom. And she brought a coffee-cake for us to share as we finished our work. This MoB is in deep debt to her for all she's done.

It is amazing what a handful of women can accomplish in such a short amount of time. Even Baby Sarah kept us amused modeling ribbons and bows from the wedding gifts. A giant thank you to everyone!

Three more days!

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Placecards: The Perfect Hand

I know, I know. I swore we wouldn't fiddle with seating charts and such for the reception. I've always felt folks should just sit where they want, with whom they want. Well, our wedding planners convinced us that it really would work better to tell guests where to sit for any number of reasons, one of which being that people tend to move stuff around and the wait staff has to replace tableware two or three times. OK. We gave in.

I think we did a good job of putting families and friends together. We weren't going to be the types to use this as a "oooh, let's let all these strangers get to know each other" moment. So, the chart is done.

Then we went out and bought the placecards and pewter pens to fill in the names. Just one more damn thing to do, right? Both Bride and MoB have passable handwriting, so it was no big deal. But when an offer came from good friend Elizabeth to do the placecards for us, well, we jumped at the opportunity. Elizabeth has a distinctive, perfect printing style. You know who the card is from before opening because of her handwriting.

She came by the house on Sunday to drop off the wedding gift and asked if there was anything at all she could do to help. Kate and I glanced at each other, then said, "Well, if you're offering . . . " Since we had the list, the placecards, and pens on hand, we were able to hand them off to her.

What a wonderful, wonderful friend to make the offer and complete this very important job. Good souls are surrounding us as we head swiftly toward the Big Day. Thank you, Elizabeth!

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Living on Xanax and Candy Corn

Five days to go!

I got to Atlanta last Thursday, and it's been all go since then. Major catastrophes averted, Bride and MoB are slogging through all the nit-picky details that must be handled. Well, not must, really. Should, is a better word. Anything that doesn't get done from this point on isn't really a deal-breaker.

We finally nailed down a place for the Rehearsal Dinner, which was the biggest thing hanging over our heads. (I know, I know - we were really late on this one.) Since Groom's parents live out of state, it was hard for them to know where to go and who to contact. But - yea! - we settled everything yesterday, so we can feed the rehearsed-out wedding party Friday evening.

And remember the bubbles? Bride and MoB spent a relaxing evening or two in front of the television swathing them in cornflower blue or ivory tulle and tying them up with chocolate ribbon. They look great. We put them into simple fruit baskets for distribution; fancier baskets just looked too precious, and we wanted to keep it simple.

I've just revised the to-do list. It's down to three pages. But every item has a game-plan, so we feel like we're on top of things. Despite an outbreak of coughs-and-colds, we're plowing through, keeping in good spirits, and truly excited about the Big Day.

The calming powers of a little Xanax and a handful of candy corn cannot be over-stated.

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Trauma update

Reception's back on. We're all drained, having spent the night devising Plans B, C, and D to cover the feeding of the 100.

And are we paranoid? About whatever other little weirdness can happen within the next week or so? You bet yo' life! Poor Bride and Groom. And MoB. Glad we have some little happy pills handy. We just want to go to bed and sleep off this little sociopathic episode.

I'll try to make the next post something cheerier.

Bookmark and Share
posted by MaryB at | 0 Comments