The Wedding

Ryan and Brian are married. The wedding was beautiful. Ryan has been planning it for a year and clearly it took that long. She obviously has Richard's knack for organizing events because every detail was thought through and taken care of. I have never seen a more perfectly pulled-off wedding with so many components. It all ran very smoothly. Here are some of the cool things I can remember.
When we got to our hotel room there was a welcome package she had put together with snacks, maps, and instructions for our part of the wedding ie. picture taking time slot, what we needed to do, rehearsal dinner time and location, etc.
At the rehearsal dinner she had gift baskets made for everyone in the wedding party with fun gifts like blankets, picture frames, jewelry, sweat suits for getting ready in the next day, etc. Ellie got a dress for her American Girl-Just Like Me doll that matched her flower girl dress. Amazing and adorable!
A photo booth at the wedding with a table full of plastic frames so you could take your pictures home. (My girls had a heyday with this.)
The guest sign-in book was a hard cover book with "baby-book"-thick pages full of photo shoot pictures of them. They are as beautiful as models, so why not act like them. It was pretty cool.
The reception was a fully catered dinner buffet and the food was fabulous with something for everyone including plenty of fruit and veggie items for the calorie conscious.
Cake was beautiful and delicious. One layer was german chocolate cake and another was strawberry cheesecake. Sorry, no picture.
Everyone knew where to sit thanks to the poster sized seating schedule by the door to the reception hall. Just find your name and go to that table.
She made the table cloths and center pieces which were so beautiful that the owners of the reception hall asked to buy them from her.
And this doesn't even scratch the surface of all the amazing attention to detail that was put into this. Way to go Ryan!

All of Richard's kids were there and looking great. The weather was perfect. Truly a perfect day.

And now for the bad news. I sometimes get edema (swelling from the knees down) when I travel. And this lovely trip was no exception. So here I was trying to stuff my Miss Piggy feet into my fabulous new shoes. I really wasn't thinking swollen feet when I purchased them and I was really struggling. Pregnancy memories. . . Aaaaaahhhhhhgggg! THE PAIN.
Also, I think I was the only one trying to make due with my own hair and lashes. A new haircut and color just doesn't have the same appeal when you're standing next to a sea of women who have a new cut, color, weave, and lash extensions. Inferiority complex strikes again!
And worst of all, I put my chair down on Lauren's toe and smashed it. I thought it was broken. She was in so much pain. Luckily the swelling went down and she was able to walk on it the next day. I felt so bad. Poor thing. It seems like she is always the recipient of accident and injury. But all's well that ends well. So. . .all's well!