Another big adventure this past weekend: Rock and I got hitched. We had been talking it over for a while and it finally seemed like a good time for it (anytime when you’re not in school for 10 hours a day and studying your weekends away was bound to be a good time).
In true Rock fashion, instead of a bachelor and bachelorette party, we organized a trip to Funspot, NH for the day before the wedding. Rock, Clip, DIJFYS, Woodelf, and myself embarked on the three hour long journey on May 7th (yay for taking the day off from work!), picking up Subie and my family (sister, mother, brother, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, family friend) along the way. At Funspot, we were also joined by Whitebread and Moxsox. I don’t think my family was quite prepared for Funspot as I had been hopelessly unable to convey to them what this place was going to be like, or to explain to them how, very possibly, the three hour long journey (six hour long when you figure you gotta leave and go home at some point) would just not be worth it for them. I think they were a tad hesitant at first, a little unsettled by the decaying 80’s consoles, but eventually they picked up steam. They tried skeeball, Cat Alleys, air hockey, Nascar racing…I was so proud. I wasn’t quite as worried for the rest of the party folk since I figured they would be just fine on their own. Indeed, once I hit my limit right around 7 pm, Subie, my mom, my mom’s friend, and I hightailed it out and left everyone else to fend for themselves. My brother and sister and their SO’s followed soon after, but the rest of the guys were up there till 9:30 pm. So I guess that worked out for them.
Subie and I were dead tired however, especially around the time we were finally rolling into Northampton around 10:30 p.m. I was trying my hardest to stay awake so she could have company while she drove, but I was delirious from sleep towards the end. So delirious in fact that I didn’t realize I had forgotten to bring my own keys to get inside my apartment until we rolled into the parking lot. Rock had them…two hours north. A couple of frantic phone calls back and forth and I managed to locate the on-call maintenance guy who handles off-hour emergencies. Luckily we only had to wait out in the cold for about 20 minutes before the maintenance guy, as close to a knight in shining armor as I’m likely to see (no offense, Rock), showed up and let me in. Bless him.
The next day (The Big Day, or so the wedding blogs told me) started out easily enough but pretty soon, probably around the third call from Rock while I was at the hairdresser (as he’s trying to get last minute instructions for what things he has to pick up), it started to get hectic. Of course, it’s raining as I’m walking from the hairdresser to the car. A tad more soaked than I would have liked, I make it to the VFW where Rock and Subie have started setting up. I have to pat myself on the back for suggesting to my family that they show up around noon to help me finish setting up. I was pretty certain we would be done by then but their help was actually desperately needed. Once they showed up, we were able to head to Rock’s parent’s house to get ready and leave the rest of the party setup in their capable hands.
I guess when you have one HUGE thought running in your mind all day, you tend to forget little things, like my makeup…my contact lenses…Rock’s shoes…Yeah, I couldn’t see straight during the ceremony because I was not going to go up there in glasses, and I had a last minute stop at the CVS to get some makeup and borrow some from Subie and Rock’s Mom, and Moxsox got a pleading request to hit up the Walmart on his way to the party to get some shoes. THANK YOU!
Once that was straightened out, it was finally time for the big event. I still feel pretty bad that I wasn’t there to greet guests, I was so sure everyone would show up late :) But everyone was already there when we finally rolled up at 2 p.m. Pretty soon after that, we got the ceremony going.
Whitebread was amazing, she played The Legend of Zelda theme as Rock and I walked down the aisle. The people that didn’t recognize it (like my family, bless them) didn’t understand why half the room was laughing as we walked…she did an amazing job, it sounded perfect and I’m only sorry I forgot to ask her for an encore later. It pretty much made my day to have someone playing a fiddle at my wedding.
The ceremony, if you want to read it, can be found here. Subie was our officiant. The first decision Rock and I made, something we agreed upon without doubt or misgivings, was that we didn’t want a stranger to speak at our wedding. We wanted someone we loved and respected, and the choice was obvious. We are both so grateful to Subie for all her help that weekend, and for speaking for us (and you may not remember, but we still owe you gas money!). I was pretty nervous during the whole ceremony so I pretty much just remember that it was quick (about ten minutes, it was perfect!), that I gave Rock the wrong hand for the ring, and that I leaned in to give him a hug instead of a kiss.
After that, everyone got to mingle, eat yummy Atkins food, eat yummy Atkins cake, and listen to my horrible music selection (seems Shuffle will always pick the most annoying songs to play). Lucy, Rock's aunt, made a ton of amazing chocolate cookies. There were about six different kinds and they were all awesome. The rest of the time flew by, I felt like I barely got to talk to everyone. But we’re both so grateful to all those that came. Some of my friends can attest that I was a bit nervous and skeptical about my wedding, but I had more fun than I ever expected, and it’s obviously due to all the friends that were there.
The title to this post came from the huge surprise that our guests arranged for us. The last thing I expected was a “Just married!” decorated car. The backseat full of balloons, the Optimus Prime piñata tied to the hood, the streamers and balloons hanging from the car…it was fantastic! No less than three people almost gave the game away by coming up to us and going on about the Transformers’ car, but neither of us had any idea what they were talking about. It’s a good thing we were so preoccupied with everything else, I guess.
Afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. P hosted a bunch of us at their place. I was dead tired by then and did not partake in the fun as much as I should have, but it was something else to see my brother and brother-in-law playing the accordion, and my sister and sister-in-law Wii bowling for half an hour. And it was also something else to see Rock go hoarse from talking so much with everyone. Poor guy, now he definitely worked the socializing front much better than I did.
Well, that was an extremely long post and this is a good place to end :) It was a fun day. I can’t wait to host the first year anniversary party.
