Houston Wedding

Oh hey blog, I've missed you! It's been a week since I last posted, but I've got some good stuff to share. 

It was a crazy busy long weekend, even short trips (and especially those that include time changes and daylight savings time changes) throw me off and seem to add more stress than relaxation sometimes. But I made it to Houston and back, and had a great time at my cousin David and new cousin Lauren's wedding. I would have to say that it was one of the best weddings I've been to, and the closest in some ways to the wedding I envision for us. My relatives asked me many times throughout the weekend if I was taking notes for my wedding, to which I dutifully responded, "Of course! Copious notes!" But seriously, I was taking quite a few mental notes, which I will now record here for future reference.

The best part of the wedding, in my opinion, and the aspect I most hope will occur in ours as well, was just the overall fun, happy atmosphere. Of course every wedding is happy, and most of the time everybody seems to have some fun, but these people had A LOT of fun. From the moment the dinner was served and the toasts complete, the band started playing, and it was a par-tay! Bride and groom were the first on the dance floor, and I'm pretty sure they never left. I heard a couple people tell Lauren they'd never seen a bride dance so much at her wedding. They were both out there, together at times, with their respective friends and relatives at others, and they were having a blast and making sure everyone else was too. It was difficult not to, with such a great band, the drinks flowing, and the occasional spurt of break-dancing taking place (including the groom throwing down a couple handstands at one point). The variety and style of music brought out all ages, and the interaction the singers kept up with the crowd was the cherry on top of an already over-the-top evening of entertainment. Here's the band's website if you happen to live in Texas/the Houston area and want to hire them: Fried Ice Cream Band. They really were awesome.

Another enjoyable part of the wedding for me, was getting to see an traditional Episcopal marriage ceremony. Believe it or not, I don't think I've ever been to a wedding in an Episcopal church (at least not that I can remember). It was nice to get to experience the service I plan to use for our wedding, and I was glad to see that they had one reading that was not from scripture, which is something we would like to do as well. It was a very beautiful ceremony, and the priest's homily was the best and most entertaining I've heard at a wedding. I'm not going to lie, it really irritates me when priests/pastors ramble on about all the rules of marriage and not entering into it lightly and all this other stuff that is a) not personal and b) not very upbeat, to say the least. Yes, marriage is a serious commitment. We know. But, a wedding is supposed to be a happy occasion, and I feel like if they made it as far as the day itself, and are getting married in a church (meaning they almost undoubtedly were required to go through some form of premarital counseling), you can probably spare us the lecture. The priest's remarks or homily during the ceremony, I feel, should be personalized, positive, and concise.

David & Lauren had done a "first look" with each other and almost all of their formal photographs except in the church & with the families before the ceremony, which made it quick and convenient to get right to the main event: the reception. Although I don't think I want to see Johnny until I'm walking down the aisle, I think it's possible to keep the photography to a minimum and well-organized, so that you can get your family & bridal party to cocktail hour, and yourselves to a few moments alone perhaps before the fun gets fully underway.

I was impressed how their photographers and coordinators were very on top of the order and execution of the evening's events. There was almost no down/drag time, except for one little snafu of a big line going into the reception signing the guest book - those of us in the line didn't know what the line was for - and no one was there to tell us we could just sign the guest book later, as it would be out the whole night. I would have liked to have gotten to cocktail hour a little sooner since we seemed to miss most of the passed hors d'œurves (rather than standing outside in a line not knowing what it was for). After that though, the cocktail hour flowed smoothly into the reception, the dances (first dance, father-daughter, and mother-son) took place, and we were seated for dinner. The parents-of-the-bride said a few words, the priest said grace, and the food appeared. As soon as the meal was complete, the toasts took place (including a great one by the father-of-the-bride, my favorite line playing off my cousin Andrew's best man toast: "It's a little disconcerting to hear that your lovely daughter is 'down for whatever'..." ... I guess you had to be there.) Then the cake was cut and it was on to dancing. It's not that things were rushed, but everything seemed to flow smoothly and efficiently, making it un-boring, and enjoyable to experience. I'm all about efficiency.

So to recap, the speeches & toasts were all great (except for one uncle at the end...although his joke about always fighting naked saved an otherwise awkward, long speech...haha). The food was great, and served efficiently (meaning it was actually hot - often not the case at weddings). The drinks were aplenty and easy to come by at multiple bar stations. As I've already mentioned, the band rocked. The reception hall, the Cohen House at Rice University, was a great venue and of course, the flowers and other decorations were gorgeous. I especially liked the way they incorporated candles into the centerpieces. I don't think we'll be able to afford quite as many large, lavish floral arrangements (also not our style), but I loved the different shapes and sizes of vases they had with candles floating in water. These were situated around the flower arrangements (which varied in height from table to table) and the entire centerpieces were encircled with small votives. I LOVE candles, and they actually removed the flowers at a certain point and just left the candle arrangements and votives on the table (which I took some pics of). I think it would be a very chic and afforable way to fill out centerpieces or even subsitute for flowers on some tables. Lauren looked absolutely beautiful, and her bridesmaids looked great too (she told me the dresses were from Priscilla of Boston, under $200, loved them!), and as I already mentioned, everyone, of all ages, seemed to have a fabulous time. So really, hardly a bad word to say about it!

I may have overused the word "great" a bit in this post, but it really was a great wedding. I won't go into all the details of the other events of the weekend, but I definitely formed some opinions and got some ideas about how I'd like to do our wedding weekend and the most important things to keep in mind when planning this whole thing. I'm really happy for my cousin David that he found such a great (gorgeous!) girl - and you know, one who's "down for whatever" - to spend his life with. It really is moving to experience the marriage of two such awesome people, who so clearly love and were meant for each other. And, since I don't have siblings myself, I like to think of them as the next generation on my side of the family, who hopefully Johnny & I will get to know and spend more time with in the future.

I have to say I did feel a bit overwhelmed experiencing this great, fun, and well-organized wedding, because it just seems like there is so much to do. There are times when I think about our wedding plans, and how we basically know what we want for all the major things - venue, caterer, florist, music, photography - and it seems like okay, this isn't so bad. Then there are times when I start thinking about all the details, and all the minute personal touches I'd love to add. I start listing everything in my brain (usually while trying to fall asleep at night) ... the save-the-dates, invitations and all the inserts that go along, the favors, the linens, every plate, glass, fork, and knife we have to rent (not to mention tables and chairs), the alcohol, the bartenders (do they come with the caterer?), the website, blocking hotel rooms, planning transportation for out-of-towners, organizing events like bridesmaid luncheons and rehearsals and, well I could go on and on. You see how at this point that could all seem very overwhelming? Now add into the mix that we plan to move at least twice between now and the day we get married. We need to save money, not only for the wedding and honeymoon, but you know the rest of our lives. Just breathe... right? Sleep, well, I guess I'll worry about how to sleep, after all this gets done.

At this point, I feel like what I need to do it start making lists and spreadsheets and compartmentalizing what to do now, and what I can't, or don't need to worry about until later. I hope that more sun, longer days, and warmer temps will help my mood. And once we get this first move out of the way, and start working toward the financial and savings goals we have, I will feel a lot better. I hate... hate hate HATE just talking about stuff like this. I just want to do it. Now. It's so hard for me, once my mind has been made up about something to be patient. I especially can't stand it if I feel like time and money is being wasted by not taking the action right away. That's how I'm kind of feeling right now, and to add to the stress, when we tell people about our plans, we get a lot of the dreaded advice and opinions on the matter. Not that I don't care about what the people we care about think... but sometimes I feel like every time someone else voices their opinion, J & I have to go through the whole discussion on why we're doing this and what the goals are over again. It's just getting a little tiresome for me. There comes a point where you have to stop over analyzing and just go with your gut. If it doesn't work out the way you planned, you just correct course, make a different decision, and try again. It's really the best anyone can do. You don't know until you try something whether it's going to work, but if you don't try, you're just stuck in a rut and never moving forward.

I only took pictures at David & Lauren's ceremony, but my parents may have a few more. I will post some when I get a chance, and in the mean time, in honor of a gorgeous weekend in Houston (temps in the 70's and sunshine almost the entire time), Happy (almost) Spring! Here's to longer days, warmer temperatures, and more sunshine. This morning I found Rudy lying on the stairs in a strange place - the one place he had found a sliver of sunlight coming through the window. He's ready for spring too! :)