Bridesmaid Dress O'Death, part II

I apologize again for the 2-part deal. If you missed yesterday, here it is.
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Now that we're all caught up to the end of the day before the wedding, here's the rest:

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I honestly don't recall how early we arose on the wedding morning. I had all girly-stuff scheduled starting at 8:30 a.m. ...For a 1pm wedding. In all my wedding experience, this has never been done. Four hours seemed like a long time for hair and makeup.


BWAHahahaha! ...what do I know...



OJ + bubbles = health drink!

 The four of us (bride, MOH, 2 bridesmaids) arrived at the salon on time and were greeted by two ladies ...and a sidebar full of strawberries, chocolate dip, sweet cream cheese dip, and the makings for Mimosas.


Best wedding-party I've ever been a part of!

(Love starting the party early!)

The next three hours are a glorious blur of getting hair done, make-up done, broken up with chatting, laughing, drinking Mimosas - made by yours truly because I have experience with these things - and taking pictures.


Remember how shocked I was at the expanse of time allowed? Well, the bride and MOH were having their hair "sewn" into a style. Time-consuming.



...you can't really see the giant plastic needle here...



...so I had her hold it up to get a better view.



The photographer was due at their hotel at 11:30 for candid photos of the "prep". We were late, but it didn't matter because there were photos of the flowers and of the guys to be had, too. Besides, we reasoned, if we really ran late, what would they do, start without the bride? I was in powerful company.

Oh, my Travel Companion? He went off to find some crazy adventure of his own that morning. I'd see him at the ceremony.

I think he saw this brewery from the ground,
that I was looking at through the salon window.

Back at their hotel, I was reunited with the dress that fit me well three weeks earlier.
...
Yes the dress fit, but only with assistance from the MOH, my new gal-pal, to get it zipped. It was tight. To put it nicely.

"Poured into it" would be another suitable phrase.
"Breathing room optional" also comes to mind.

After a wide variety of "casual" photos, we were on our way to the church.

I'm the one in the middle. Yes! For Real! It's me!

The ceremony.

In addition to being a bridesmaid, I was doing a reading. At the rehearsal the night before, the crazy coordinator told me I had to read slower, because the space was echo-ey. Well, during the ceremony I was forced to slow down because my dress was strangling me. I might have been wearing an anaconda. Believe me, it cracked me up (or would have, if I could breathe enough to laugh).

 That reading from Song of Solomon was so poignant! (Did I see tears in the groom's eyes?)
So heartfelt!
So expressive!
...because I couldn't breathe. Haha!

After the ceremony, my Travel Companion and I were separated again. I ran off with the wedding party for the "real" photos on the rocky New Hampshire coast. It was hilarious, actually. The day was gray and windy, and the New England rocky coast was, um, yeah... Try staying vertical and looking put together in ...what, 25-30 mile winds? And on 3" heels? A balancing act on the rocks.


We knew how much time we had, but again, the bride and groom were with us! Besides, the open bar and hors dourves started immediately after the ceremony, so the guests were happy at the country club. (And my Travel Companion was getting a head start on me.)


Shore photos done, and off towards the reception. Here, the bride and groom had more outdoor photos to take, so the rest of the party were escorted to a large board room where champagne and hors dourves awaited us. Nice.

Mmm...cake

Eventually, we were led to the reception hall, where the wise bride and groom did NOT do one of those obnoxious receiving lines, and let the wedding party actually dine with their dates. The band was great; the food was great...more pictures. My Travel Companion is forever immortalized in their wedding photos because the bride wanted a "Delaware photo". (The MOH was another friend of hers from her days in Delaware, and another friend or two were there.)



Before leaving the reception, I was told that "a group of us" were going out for drinks later. My Travel Companion and I were invited to join them, and agreed. Back at the hotel, the anaconda-dress released me from its grip. I changed into jeans as exhaustion hit.


Dude. 4am Friday running until almost 11pm that night. Dressed, breakfasted and at the salon by 8:30 Saturday, and planning to leave the hotel at 4am Sunday morning! Oy vey.
Did I say exhaustion? I felt like a zombie (walking dead, you know).  


BUT...I wouldn't see the bride and groom for a long time, and may never see my other new friends again. So we napped briefly before hitting the town again at 10pm.

One drink. That was my promise. And I kept to it.
One drink... but now it was for the time factor, not the dress.
One drink, but it was the showing up that counted. I know if I hadn't gone I'd wish I had.

It had a zing to it.

That left us about 3 hours to crash before getting up and moving.
We crashed.
We got up and moving.
We made our flight. THIS TIME on Delta. Things couldn't have run more smoothly, and the staff couldn't have been nicer.

When I thanked the steward as we disembarked, the bemused man tilted his head and asked "For what? You slept through the flight!"

Sleep. Blessed sleep.

...I'm tired just reading this, aren't you?

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As I re-read these two posts, I realize I've made myself out to be quite the lush.

Ah well, think what you like. I've lived with that reputation for a long time. Unfortunately, I just can't share everything that happened!