The Wedding

I am not a big fan of big, fancy weddings. Personally, I think people should elope and save the money for something more practical. But I realize that that is my viewpoint... and others see it differently. My roommate (now former roommate) Stacy is one of those people. Ever since Stacy and Josh got engaged this summer, it has been a non-stop wedding planning extravaganza around here. Well last weekend, everything all came to fruition in a beautiful, fairytale wedding. If you will, allow me a moment of nostalgia. Stacy has been my roommate for the past three and a half years and is really the only roommate I have ever had (that wasn't a family member). You could not ask for a better roommate. She is a sweet person who never has a bad thing to say about anyone. She loved Winston and she loves Brun like her own. The house won't be the same without her. Stacy came to be my roommate when she moved to Alabama from Tennessee to be near Josh. In fact, if it weren't for Josh I don't think that Stacy and I would have ever crossed paths.

I have known Josh for the better part of ten years, first through church, next through graduate school and then when we bought houses two doors apart from each other four years ago. We have become good friends over the years... particularly over the past six years or so, through good times and bad times in our lives. We went through the MBA program together, worked on group projects together, even took dancing lessons together when it was required for one of our classes in graduate school... and he has been one of the best guy friends that I have. We may not always see eye to eye on things but he is a great friend. He has always been a good person to bounce ideas off of, to get help with school work on, to go to lunch with and to discuss church and religious issues with. When Stacy was looking to move to town to get closer to Josh, my house (two houses away) was a perfect fit for all three of us.

When Josh FINALLY proposed in Italy this summer (after they had dated for over four years)... I knew that things were about to change. I don't think it really hit me until last weekend how much things were going to change. The house is quieter and the neighborhood won't be the same without them. And while I am very happy for them and their future together, I am going to miss them both a lot.

Enough with the nostalgia... on with the pictures. :-)

Last Friday (Dec. 7) my parents and I headed to the Knoxville area. We made it just in time to check into the hotel and allow me to head to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It was good to see a lot of people, including Josh's friends and families, many of whom I had not seen in quite some time. The rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner went without incident and everyone was ready for the big day. I sat with the ring bearer, his mom and her boyfriend. Here is a picture of the ringbearer... what a doll!

Saturday we awoke to dreary but warm skies and a persistent drizzle that lasted most of the day. Stacy picked me up from the hotel around 9:30 that morning and it was off to the chapel/bed and breakfast where the wedding was to be held. We spent the morning getting ready. The ring bearers mom is a great hair dresser, so she did most everyones hair and makeup. Notice the white jacket thing Stacy is wearing... I embroidered her new name and wedding date on it. You can't really see it too well but I thought it turned out really cute. I also made her veil and her garter (with some help from my mom). Who knew I had these skills!! Not me, that's for sure.

Things were going okay... and then the first crisis (if you don't count the rain) hit around 11 AM. Stacy had her dress on and was getting ready to have portraits taken. At that point we realized there was a big problem. When they hemmed Stacy's dress they hemmed the dress correctly but all of the under layers were just kind of gathered up near the waste and were sticking out and causing a line to show through the dress. I don't know how to explain it... but it looked bad. So without her taking off the dress, all of the bridesmaids and the others that were there held the dress up while we investigated the six thousand layers of tulle and satiny stuff under there. We couldn't get the gathered fabric to lay down on their own. Tape was attempted... but failed miserably... and I had a thought. I found the wedding coordinator and asked her for needle and thread. I used my rudimentary sewing skills to tack the gathered fabric down to the six thousand layers of tulle and satin. I did this while Stacy was still wearing the dress and while the other bridesmaids held up the dress. Everyone (including Stacy) stayed amazingly calm. I stabbed myself a few times but it worked perfectly! At some point I became worried I might have tacked it to her slip... but she didn't care... she just wanted it fixed for all of the pictures and ceremony... and that was accomplished.

At that point pictures continued and the time for the wedding finally arrived. I was the last bridesmaid to walk down the aisle and as I walked towards the front, everyone was crying... including Josh. I didn't have any problem holding it together... until the next crisis. Right before Stacy was supposed to walk down the aisle, two of the groomsmen were supposed to walk to the back of the chapel and roll out a paper aisle runner. Well they walked to the back, picked up the runner and proceeded to rip the runner as they started to pull it. So then they walked back to the front of the chapel empty handed. At that point I started crying because I was trying so hard not to laugh. It was really funny.

The wedding proceeded... everyone was crying... Stacy's dad gave her a handkerchief and I think half the wedding party passed it around. Stacy's dad used, Stacy used it, Josh used it, one of the best men used it. At some point, it became funny to see who the handkerchief would get passed to next. As you can probably tell, I tend to get distracted during weddings. This one was no exception and I enjoyed watching the flower girl and ring bearer. The flower girl was waving and doing a little dance and I thought the ring bearer was going to take a header off the stage. He didn't, but he was teetering mighty close to the edge of his step. Watching them was a lot better than listening to Josh and Stacy getting choked up during their vows. Listening to that would only make me cry. Here is a not so great picture from the ceremony that my parents took. It was a beautiful chapel, perfectly decorated for the Christmas season. My parents were sitting close to the front and were too polite about taking distracting pictures so this is really the only one I have. Stacy had two photographers so I am sure there are some beautiful pictures out there somewhere.

Then came time for the reception... and everyone seemed a little more relaxed. Josh and Stacy ate cake and neither of them shoved it in each other's face. I was pretty surprised at that... my guess is that Stacy threatened Josh's life if he did it. :-)

Here is a picture of me and Stacy. At first I wasn't sure about the bridesmaids dresses... but they really worked well with the holiday decor and the holiday season.

Here is a picture of Josh and I.

The reception was very nice... but eventually it was time for that to end... and it was time for the bride and groom to be showered with rose petals...

And then, they were to ride off in a horse drawn carriage. The horse had other ideas. He was apparently not in a good mood and really had no interest in picking up additional passengers. I didn't think the horse was going to stop to let them get on... but it eventually did. They both looked a bit uneasy and the horse really didn't slow down long enough for pictures. As they were pulling away Josh yelled back "pray for us!" He wasn't referring to praying for their marriage... he was just hoping they would survive the carriage ride. I did talk to them last week so I do know that they survived the strong willed horse. :-)

As they went off on their carriage ride, we all started to head out and the wedding was over. As much as I don't really like weddings, it was very beautiful and I am very happy for them. While some of the planning and Stacy's easy going nature made me, as a compulsive list maker and planner, a bit crazy... the whole thing came together perfectly.

Sorry for the extremely long post... I'm sure some of you are bored out of your mind at this point.