Wedding Day Part 1: At the Hotel

The first of many overdue wedding posts:

Preparations at the Hotel

My day started early. I was awake at 4 AM. Not panicked. Not nervous. Just awake. This is ridiculous, I thought, I have a big day ahead of me. I need more sleep.

I tried to sleep more. I had a little success until 5:30. I thought, this is still obsessively early. I thought back to when I was a kid and I would wake up insanely early on Christmas morning. My parents wouldn’t let me wake them up until at least 6 AM. I decided I should try to sleep until 6.

The time from 5:30 to 5:45 took so long I couldn’t stand it. I had to get up. My maid-of-honor and a close friend who was serving as my wedding day coordinator were staying at the hotel with me. I would get up quietly as not to wake them. I would go to the bathroom then maybe do some yoga. But when I went into the bathroom the girls starting talking. Had I woken them? No, they were way too animated for that. It turns out we had all been awake for hours. No one wanted to wake anyone else.

Now, what? We didn’t want to get ready too quickly, but the hotel breakfast didn’t even start until 6:30. We talked for a while. My MOH (who also made and designed my dress) sewed a pocket of extra fabric in which she could carry tissues with her bouquet. (This will become important later.)

When 6:30 finally arrived we went downstairs and got breakfast. There was basically no one else there. We took our time eating. When we were bored with that, we grabbed some to go cups of coffee and OJ and went back upstairs.

We started getting ready but slowly. The photographer was going to show up a little after 9 to take pictures of us getting ready. We didn’t want to be completely done before that. Additionally, I tend to be the type of person who gets ready really early for big events then has to sit around waiting. I didn’t want to do that this time. I’d have to do enough waiting once I was at the wedding site.

We worked on hair and make-up and listened to a mix CD I had made for the girls. (When that CD was done we put on some Madonna and Prince.) The photographer showed up just when we were getting ready to make mimosas. (Remember that OJ we snagged from breakfast?) The photographer took pictures of us drinking from plastic Days Inn cups (very classy) and doing finishing touches on hair and make-up, then he went upstairs to take some pictures of the guys getting ready.

While the photographer was with the guys we got dressed. I shouldn’t have put my jewelry on before the dress, but as I’ve emphasized we were killing time. Unfortunately, I got a little snagged getting into my dress, and it f’ed up my hair a bit. It still looked okay, but it had looked better before. Oh, well.

After all the care taken to put on my dress I had to remind my MOH that she should get dressed too! Another friend came by to hang out and enjoy some mimosas. The photographer came back and took some final shots, such as my MOH putting on my veil. Then we were ready to head out for the restaurant.

Now, I’m not a completely traditional girl, but there are some things I really like. One of these is for the bride and groom not to see each other until the ceremony. I think that moment when they first see each other is a beautiful part of the day. I know some people do a special reveal ahead of time, but I feel like this is a part of the ceremony. I did not want John to see me before the wedding.

As planned, my friend who was organizing the day called the best man to let him know we were going to be on the move and that they should stay put, but he didn’t answer his phone. She tried their hotel room, but they didn’t answer there either. We were a bit anxious, not because we thought I’d been jilted but because we thought the guys might be at breakfast or something. We didn’t want to anticlimactically have the first time John saw me to be by randomly running into us in the hall. Luckily, we got a hold of the best man and found that they were walking by the lake, a safe distance away.

We went outside to catch a cab. My MOH lived in Pittsburgh for too long and does not adequately know how to hail a cab. We were planning to walk to the corner, but we saw a cab coming down the street we were on. My MOH timidly put her hand up from the middle of the sidewalk when the cab was a block away. That’s a good way to have a cab drive right passed you. So I, in full-length dress and veil stepped right to curb and put my arm out. At that moment the wind picked up and billowed out my veil. It happened so quickly that I don’t know if the photographer got the shot but I hope so.

To be continued...