i have to say, in my completely unbiased opinion, my sister's wedding was one of the classiest, most beautiful, and FUN weddings i've ever been to, complete with bar brawl at the end of the night! what could be more exciting than that?! seriously, it was a gorgeous day, perfect weather, short and sweet ceremony (not a dry eye in the house, not even mine!), delicious food (raw bar and chocolate dessert fountain), open bar, close family and friends... don't think she could've asked for anything better.
the weekend went by so quickly... started with mani/pedis for the bride and the bridesmaids, my first pedicure ever! for those of you who know how much i love my feet, my never having had a pedicure is pretty amazing! then it was off to the rehearsal at 4:30pm, followed by dinner at fortune palace for family and out-of-town guests. think we went to the airport every day last week to pick people up, flying in from all over the place! the 10-course chinese meal was fabulous, and the slideshow was definitely good for quite a few laughs, including at my expense (my sister insisted on putting in the most embarassing picture of me ever taken in my life). we finally got out of the restaurant near midnight and headed to downtown raleigh for some drinks, although most people -- including the bridal party -- turned in early because we had a big day ahead of us...
the wedding morning started out pretty leisurely... we ordered room service and sat around chatting, waiting for the hairdresser/makeup artist to get to the carolina inn. it was fun spending those last few hours with my sister and just cherishing that time together... don't know when we'll be hanging out just by ourselves again! once tracy got there to start doing our hair and makeup, it was pretty much non-stop for the next 6 hours... moms and aunts and cousins and friends running in and out, me speeding to the airport to pick up mark, the photographer snapping away... then all of a sudden all the guests have been seated and it's time to go downstairs!! being the unemotional person that i am, i didn't take along any tissues, although my mom and sister have already started tearing up...
let me just say right now, thank god for wedding coordinators because i'm not sure what we would've done without nancy! somehow she got us all down to the salon, handed us our bouquets, and readied us to walk down the aisle. it was very surreal, taking my place up front and realizing "wow, this is my sister's wedding..." and as soon as she came through the doors at the back of the courtyard, i couldn't help but start crying! apparently she had a hard time too and had to stop walking for almost a full minute in order to compose herself, during which time i got things under control too. the rest of the ceremony was a bit of a blur, between re-tying the flower girl's shoe and reading from elizabeth barrett browning and seeing familiar faces in the crowd and remembering my dad... lots of emotion and love in the air, of course!
the family!
after the formalities, time to party! the cocktail hour was in full swing by the time we finished up the photo session, and i parked myself in front of the raw seafood bar for shrimp, oysters, and mussels... yum! got to catch up with some old friends, people i hadn't seen in a long time, and got that long-awaited first drink too. after a little while, we were herded into the old well room for dinner and dancing, which lasted until midnight! in between, there was the first dance (scott and gloria danced to "when you say nothing at all" by allison krauss), the father-daughter/mother-son dance, the toasts, cake-cutting ceremony (after gloria changed into a gorgeous red chi pao), and song requests: gasolina, bon jovi, madonna, all the good stuff, plus some oldies for the parents!
all in all, i think most of the guests had a great time, and i couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate my sister's marriage! she was definitely the belle of the ball, and i can't remember her ever being happier than she was on that day. and although it feels like scott's been part of the family for ages, it's nice to have him officially as my brother-in-law now. still getting used to the fact that my sister is married, but for now, better her than me!
