Ok, I'm back

So I've been a huge slacker lately, but cut me a break - I got married, went on a honeymoon, moved to a new city, and started a new job (that does not require me to sit in front of a computer for 8 hours a day). Lame, I know, but its the truth.

So, as a quick update of all wedding related happenings.

Thursday night my girlfriends and I went out and had a blasty-mcblasterson. We hit up the Chocolate Bar for some delish (if a little 'spensive) martinis and desserts. Of course, someone ordered the obligatory phallic one (you know, banana in the middle, two shot glasses on the sides, topped with whipped cream....oh man). Then we went across the street to another club (where we snuck in my underage sister by merely saying "She forgot her id"...they don't stop bachelorette parties!). Last stop of the evening was Marcella's for the drag show - ah!mazing!!!

Friday night we had rehearsal, which went smoothly and then the dinner which went not so smoothly, when I had to miss out on the first hour of it when my friend's lame bf didn't get gas so they ran out on the 3 mile drive over there. And instead of calling AAA, called me and basically put it on me to handle it. All in all, I was a bit sleep-deprived and nerved up, and a whole lot crankier than I should have been. We both handled it a little wrong and it was fixed later that night. Rawr - bridezilla rears her ugly head!!

My friends came over and we hung out and did nails and primped, and we went to bed pretty early - you know, big day the next morning!

I got up around 7:30 and jumped in the shower, put on my Mrs. Newlastname hoodie and just hung out. Friends got there an hour later (with food!!) and the first group went off to the salon to get their hairs did at 9. Next, final two bridesmaids and I headed out there, and the others came home to have their make up done by my very talented friend Meg. My mom was basically running around like a chicken with her head cut off, dropping off flowers to the church and picking up my dress from where we had been storing it. She also decided that my veil had gotten a little crinkled and tried to re-iron it, but forgot she had turned up the temp and ironed a hole in it. And started to cry. Which I felt horrible about, because it really was no big deal - it was NOT an expensive veil, we got it from JoAnn Fabrics for about $14, it was two layers and the hole was on the bottom and you couldn't even see it. If it was really *that* bad, we could have gotten a new one. But no one saw, no one said anything and it was just fine. Mini-crisis averted.

By noon, I was all dolled up and my mom and friends were helping me to get dressed for the photog who was coming at 12:30. He was a bit early and all the girls ran up to get dressed too (I was stuck in the living room and was completely forbidden from moving or sitting). They girls came down (and looked beautiful!! its unfair how amazing they looked!) and the photog started snapping away. The limo came and picked us up, and my mom rode over with us - her first ride in a limo.

Then came the tough part - waiting! I was very calm all morning. Quite frankly, I was impressed with myself - I am a HUGE micromanager and I kept it cool and relaxed the whole day. But when we showed up and people were walking in, I just wanted to get out there and visit instead of waiting to be seen. My two little cousins stopped on the limo to say hi, and check it out. Oh and my friend Kara (the smallest girl in the party turned out to be the enforcer!) snagged my two cousins, Ryan and Brendan, and roped them into being my "door-openers" for my grand entrance. The conversation went a little something like this:

Kara: Ryan! RYAN! Can you and Brendan open the doors for Meagan when she walks down the aisle?
Ryan: Do I want to do this?
Kara: No no no, let me repeat myself, because perhaps I wasn't clear. You HAVE to open the doors for Meagan when she walks down the aisle.

When I finally walked into the back vestibule, I was a bundle of nerves. My friend's mother was standing back there, just waiting to watch me and I teared up a little bit. But I kept myself composed because 1 - if I started crying, I didn't know if I would stop 2 - I loved my make up and I didn't want to ruin it and 3 - I am NOT a pretty cry-er and I didn't want to mess up pictures.

When the music changed (to Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" which was PERFECT), my cousins opened the doors and we walked down. At first, I couldn't see Kevin, he was sort of hiding behind people, but then there he was. And he was a crying mess. So see? One of us had to hold it together! Then the music stopped, and we were on the altar.

The ceremony went so quickly. A couple of "I do"s and suddenly we are married. It was a little anticlimatic for me, because we didn't actually say our vows. But everything was so beautiful. Then we walked out, did a little victory dance and lined up for the receiving line. I couldn't believe how packed the church was - there were SO many people! It was great to see everyone, and I was so happy, I was hugging and kissing everyone! Then we lined up for pictures inside the church.

After that, we headed out to a local art gallery - they have this huge set of stairs and columns, and no matter what time of year, it is always pretty there. We got some great shots and then it started to snow, just very softly. Kevin and I got some together with the snow and we were off. The limo driver was apparently unfamiliar with the area and took us the most long, convoluted way back but it was fine. We got to our inside photo destination - a funeral home. I know, it sounds weird. But they have this great spiral staircase and the pictures turned out awesome.

At this point, I'm fed up with the limo driver - I gave them addresses, and he was NOT using them, just plugging in general ideas in his GPS. We were only about 1 mile from our banquet hall. He actually would have only needed to make 2 turns, less than 5 minutes. Instead of listening to what we were saying, he took us 10 minutes out of the way and got all turned around. So I was pretty angry about that. But I guess if the driver was my only problem (and I knew that getting into it, because as soon as I booked them I started hearing bad things about that company) then I guess I am pretty well off.

The reception was gorgeous - I had to pee when I got there which was a HUGE production. But then I got out there and was able to visit and get some munchies. We got introduced - which was a HUGE rush - and then cut the cake. Dinner was served, my dad said a quick blessing and the toasts were given. The Best Man did a nice job, but my sister totally showed him up. She did hers completely off the cuff, talked for about 1 minute and had the whole room in tears. I was so proud of her. Dinner was amazing and then we got out there to visit tables. I only made it to about 8 (we had 24) before the dj told us it was time for the first dance. I found Kevin and we headed out on the floor. It was so sweet - he sang the words to our song and I was melting. I danced with my dad, also a master of surpressing emotions (just like me!) so he just kept saying "Nice song!" haha. Kevin and his mother danced, and she cried of course. She was blubbering the whole day.

After that, I danced and danced and danced. They played my Elvis song and Kevin came right out and found me to dance. He also did the hokey pokey. Then he pretty much retired from dancing. But I was like a machine. I had my flats on and I was ready to go. Then, all of the sudden it was time to go and we were dancing the last dance. I had such an awesome time!! But man was I pooped!

We went back to my house and dropped off my dress and Kevin's tux. Grabbed our bags and headed out to the hotel. We had to leave super early the next morning, our flight was scheduled for a 5:50am departure, so by the time we got to bed at 1:30am, we basically took a nap. Out legs were SO tired, it was hard to get up and go, but we made it into JFK with time to spare and got right on to Antigua.....