Tears Smiles Tears WEDDING smiles!!!
Oh my gosh. I don't even know what to say, and that is saying a LOT for me...in my sister's euphoric words, the wedding day and all the preperations leading up to it were PERFECT!I can't wait to have some pictures to share...for now, all i have are words...I think i'll always remember waking up at 8 am after a night of karaoke, hot tubbing and cartoon watching to hear my sister beseech me to come and "snuggle" with her on her wedding morning!
We pulled open her blinds and, lo and behold, the SUN was SHINING (in rainy March!), and my co-bridesmaid Stephanie came in and piled on the bed, and then my mom came in, and the day just started on such a happy note!
In the movies, the wedding day is always portrayed as complete chaos, with the mother of the bride freaking out over centerpieces and the bride yelling at her bridesmaids...I'd say we were prettty much the opposite of that, although we had just enough nervous tension to make the event seem real!
The bridesmaids all came over to our house and we took turns getting our hair and make-up done (we had gone for manicures/pedicures yesterday), and then we just had this freak-out moment at around 2 when we realized we had to actually go up to the church and get into our dresses!
We had all commented on what a cool, calm and collected bride michelle was, all week, but i think it really sunk in once she took a look at herself in her dress...we were all in a room together at the church and she just stared at herself in the mirror, as if she couldn't believe this was the day, and we all of course teared up! I love being a girl sometimes!
There's so much to say, wow, i can't even begin to summarize it now...we listened to oldies and got ready together, then michelle and kevin shared a special moment (with the photographer), and we took pictures outside in the BEAUTIFUL (but FREEZING cold) sunshine...one of my favorite moments was lining up outside the sanctuary and watching everyone else go down with Michelle, because she was getting emotional and she kept telling people not to look at her, and i was joking about how she should think of all the bad memories to make her stop crying from joy, and it's hard to describe but it was just really funny!
Walking down the aisle was a piece of cake this time (as opposed to shannon's wedding, where i totally lost it because it actually hit me she was getting MARRIED), but when i saw michelle walk down with my dad, then it really hit me...the fact that she's marrying kevin is awesome, but the fact that she'll no longer be just my little sister but also someone's wife is still taking a while to sink in. Seeing my daddy have to let go was so bittersweet!
Oh my gosh. I can't even begin to describe the way they were looking at each other. AHH!
The sermon was really interesting - I'm not Christian but michelle and kevin are both very serious about their faith, and i just got the best vibe from both the pastors they chose (one from his church, one from hers). They obviously both loved michelle and kevin very much, and i was so shocked to see them shaking a bit as they read their sermons...that made me tear up a bit for sure!
The funniest moment was when kevin misspoke while attempting his vows - i forget what he said but everyone laughed, and it just reinforced what a down to earth, happy couple they are!
The reception was just more joyful...I got to catch up with some family whom i haven't seen in a while (my older cousin Karin, whose wedding I was a FLOWER GIRL in, brought her 3 kids and awesome husband, and my other cousin/aunt who live in Holland came!), and bond with some of kevin's friends/groomsmen (we laughed a lot and bonded over quotes from BBC's "The office"), AND eat from an awesome pasta buffet, AND the SLIDE SHOW i made worked, AND the first dance with shelly and kev was adorable, AND my daddy and shelly dancing to "Godspeed" made me cry, AND the dance party rocked (especially with kevin's friend doing a Napolean impression), AND the toasts were eloquent, funny, and sincere, AND i can't believe my sister's freaking MARRIED, and it was seriously one of the best moments of my year so far!
I'm so glad i was able to be present for it, and i mean present in just being aware of the moment and not just letting it go by in a blur...it still went WAY too fast, but I feel i really made the most of every moment. I had wondered whether seeing all the happy people in love would make me just a little sad because suraj and i only broke up 2 weeks ago, but i was just so busy catching up with family and being happy for michelle that honestly i just felt very complete, as if nothing was missing (of course i have to give suraj some credit because we've done a good job of being friends, and i don't mean to imply that i feel perfect about the situation all the time, but it's worth noting that the break-up did not cause any negative effects on my enjoyment of the wedding).
AHH! My sister's married! This is so cool! Yeah, i went to vassar, yeah, i'm supposed to question all this mainstream stuff, marriage is just a contract on a piece of paper, blah blah blah, but come on, weddings are just inherently FUN, I LOVE big celebrations, and i think they serve a greater purpose than just making you feel happy for some moments in time...any milestone like a marriage just makes you think of things in the big perspective, right? Michelle and Kevin obviously felt so loved and uplifted by all the supportive people around them, and it just sort of reinforced their sense of community, and at least for me personally i felt a great sense of closeness with my immediate and extended family. Plus, even though i'm not religious, I do appreciate that side of it, and there was just this sense of purpose about it all...that really moved me!
Ok, yeah, and PLUS i looked HOT! Seriously, wait for the pictures, hehe! Michelle of course was the most radiant, but i think all the bridal party looked amazing!
Ok this is obviously deteriorating...i need to catch up on some serious sleep, but wanted to get this out of my system for a while! I love my sister so much, and Kevin is just such a great match for her...there are things i don't understand about where they come from (religiously), but just as people, I can't imagine two personalities better suited for each other! I have such a blast with them, and I can't wait til they move in to Kev's place in Seatac and i can come over and play Pictionary and play with all their new presents and be merry!
MY SISTER IS SO COOL! Did i mention that? How did i get so lucky? I used to tease her and be a terrible sister when we were young, and i am SO happy that now that we're older we are so close! She always gets the things that i think are funny and i love her laugh so much and she's so freaking SMART and I LOVE HER! | posted by Cheryl, 3/25/2006 11:32:00 PM
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