teresa

I am not sure if at this point I will even be able to remember all of the great times I had on our wedding day.  Although I would like to give it a shot.

If you read my previous blog you know I stayed up pretty late, could not get to sleep.  I woke up before my alarm.  I showered and washed my hair which as the girls may know some hair stylists suggest coming in with dirty hair but my stylist said feel free to wash my hair.  I laid out all of the things that Elliott needed to bring to the site and left him notes regarding the different piles.  I finished packing my bag, retrieved my dress from the closet, and headed to my car.  I was to pick Krista up at 9:30, I think I left the house at 8:30, I couldn’t sit there any longer!

I went to Denica’s for a pumpkin muffin, one of my most favorite treats!  I sat in my car and ate it as slow as I could and finally called Krista and asked if I could come by early.  She said some family was near the pool having breakfast so I could say hi to everyone.  I waited outside of the lobby waiting for her to make sure Elliott was not in sight.  I remember a guy walked by and said, “you can go in” with a pompous grin, he didn’t realize I wasn’t nervous because they would find out I wasn’t a guest I had bigger nerves.  I caught up with the Kulesza’s and Goodwin’s and saw some other friends too. 

Then we went to the salon for Krista to get her make up done the first appointment of the day.  The salon found a great little room for us where Norma, the make up artist could do her work and the rest of us could hang out as we rotated in and out of appointments.  At one point the 5 girls from the wedding party and I were all in the room just chatting.  Talking about the rehearsal dinner, gossiping, talking about guys and work, kids and everything.  It was a perfect moment, I couldn’t have asked for anything else.  Eventually we did my make up which was dark but I liked it.  And my hair turned out great as well.  All I wanted was to not look like I have short hair and she did this with great success.  Everyone else’s hair and make up (and nails) turned out great as well.  As time went on, I got more and more anxious.  Tapping my feet, counting down the hours in my head.  Wondering if everything would be set up and would go smoothly.

We got a bite to eat before leaving.  I ate a hamburger which all of the books recommend so that you can sustain through the ceremony, I think it worked.  We went to the Rose hotel, the photographer was there when we got there.  Which is hindsight was a bad idea, too stressful.  We did however get pre getting ready pictures which may prove to be nice to have, at this point I don’t know (don’t have the pictures yet…).  We had reserved 2 rooms and only one was ready when we checked in but that was ok.  The girls and Mark (photographer) piled into the room.  Mark snapped a few pictures and then snuck out so we could change.  When everyone was dressed Mark came back in, took some pictures of me freshening up my lipstick and snapped some of me and mom.  Then we went down stairs and he took some pictures of me outside.  Some of the girls came down but it was a slow trickle beyond what was expected given everyone in theory was pretty much ready, minus slipping on a dress.  Well turns out they were working up a surprise gift for me and Elliott which I am sure seemed nice to them at the time, but all I wanted was to take pictures so it ended up stressing me out.  Oh the other stressor.  Kathi was delayed in picking up the flowers.  Mark asked that I have the flowers there when we were getting ready for the pictures but they were not there.  The flowers finally did arrive and the girls all did finally come down.  The other stressor, standing outside taking pictures on Main St.  I really didn’t want to welcome all of our guests to Main St standing outside in front of the hotel as they were on their way to the ceremony.  I don’t know why but I wanted them to see me for the first time when I walked out of the Blue Agave.  When we were done with pictures Mark went to the site to take pictures of Elliott, the groomsmen and his family before the ceremony.

Thank goodness with the flowers Kathi also brought champagne (I will note I think Kathi ran a lot of errands for me and for the wedding and I am really grateful).  I had a few cups and felt better.  We had time to sit and relax in the lobby before the ceremony.  Dad was there and he looked great in his suit.  Mom was in a beautiful purple dress and accepted a small bouquet to hold for adornment.  Isabel, one of the flower girls, was there and looked adorable (Ana wasn’t there yet but did come in time to walk with us to the ceremony).  Isabel took some pictures with me that I can’t wait to see.  Katie (Isabel’s mom) was also there and that was great.  She was a non stressed helper.  She wasn’t in the wedding party so she wasn’t worried about pictures or bouquets, or her hair, or if her bow was in the right spot. 

I will tell you I am not proud that I was stressed.  I was worried.  Not nice.  Nervous and bitchy.  Beyond where I wanted to go on this day, but I guess it is probably common and I will give myself some slack given the circumstances. 

Anyway eventually the time had come for us to walk to the ceremony site.  We started down Main St but then turned off so we could sneak in the back and surprise the guests. 

Julio our contact at the Blue Agave was waiting for us to arrive.  He did a wonderful job with everything on their end and was genuinely committed to our weddings success.  He had even blocked off a parking space with a cone so I could park near the door, I didn’t tell him we were walking…

We snuck into the restaurant and I quickly peeked out the window, everything looked great including Elliott!  It wasn’t long before Susan got everyone lined up.  Susan did a great job of getting everyone organized and keeping things running smoothly.  After everyone else walked down the aisle, my mom & dad and I stepped out and began our walk.  Before I got to the end of the aisle mom and dad where both in tears and Elliott was too, ok I was too!

Elliott gave my mom a hug, my dad a handshake and then he escorted me to join him near the girls and Kim.  The rest of the ceremony is fortunately documented in our vow book and on Rick’s camera.  The vows were perfect.  Except Elliott and I did have to recite a few sections which I didn’t realize we were going to have to say anything other than I do…  But I think it went well.  I didn’t realize but Russell held Connor during the ceremony.  Later him and Elliott were worried that I was bothered by that, but I didn’t notice and I certainly didn’t care, its things like that which made our wedding real, and us, not over scripted or fake or even perfect, just right.

I came in and out of tears throughout the ceremony and eventually stabilized, Elliott did too.  At one point I did hear dragging chairs, but they quickly stopped.  There was also a distant motorcycle engine but it was not much of a distraction.  I tried not to notice but there were a lot of empty chairs.  Elliott and I talked about it later.  We didn’t have time to see if we just plain miscounted or what.  A handful of people did not attend who we thought were coming (they all had their own valid reasons).  I don’t want to dwell on this topic because it really doesn’t matter but organizing a big event like this is difficult.  You spend your whole life watching movies and dreaming up what wedding days are supposed to look like.  And on my day it was a  mix of emotions.  Most times feeling that things were just right with only moments of wondering if he had made the right decisions.  Was this the right venue.  Should we have invited more people.  Should we have done it inside.  Should it have been more formal…  These were brief but for a moment made me stumble.  I did however pull out of it, settled my eyes on Elliott and remembered what “the event” was really about.

When Kim had wrapped up the vows including my favorite part about the hands we kissed and returned down the aisle, this time together.  We took pictures which went well and fast which is what we wanted.  Then we joined the party.  I remember that the party went very fast.  I don’t think I got to say hi or genuinely talk with anyone, especially the wedding party or our family.  I didn’t get any salsa….  We danced and danced.  Omar did a great job with the music.  The activities went well.  From the cake cutting (no cake in our faces) to the bouquet toss to Krista and garter toss to Brad.  Towards the middle or maybe end I can’t remember there was a seemingly larger congregation watching the dancing than actually dancing.  This was a little distracting but eventually I zoned it out.  We did have some wedding crashers.  2 guys in straw hats and 2 ladies that entered the back area and b-lined to the bar, very funny.  Julio quickly escorted them out.  Oh we did do the pinata, I didn’t get a chance to thank Deb for taking care of that, I think that was a great hit among the kids.

We had a video camera set up which Elliott has told me we have some great video on it.  We got many signatures in our guest book and on our bowl (sink).  We snuck out and took a picture with Mark under the Pleasanton sign which is a classic in our family and remincent of my graduation party.  We stayed until the last song.  Some people even vowed to continue the wedding party.  Krista and Brad got some road sodas, margaritas in these large salsa paper containers, too funny.  And Elliott and I followed our better judgement to not go to the after party and we started our Honeymoon.  Our room at the Rose was perfect.  It was nice that we had two rooms, one to store all of the stuff, and the other for us.  We enjoyed our first night as husband and wife together (yes it still sounds funny to think about these words that now describe us).  We took a bath (sorry if this is too much information) in the tub lined with rose petals (our gift from the girls) and drank lots of water to ward off the potential sangria hangover.

We slept in.  Packed the car.  Payed Julio.  And had a coffee and breakfast with those still in town, the Kulesza’s. 

Our wedding was wonderful.  A weekend full of events and yet it went by so fast.  We are committed now to enjoying our first week as husband and wife.  To be good to each other.  To be patient and loving.  To extend our experiences together.  And to enjoy time away from work.  We are in a wonderful place - Vail.  The fire is going (so is Star Trek).  The mountains are beautiful (the air is thin!).  We have big plans from mountain biking to fishing we plan to enjoy every minute.  I think I will extend that those goals and this dream of enjoying every minute belong for every minute, always for the Goodwins!