Mr & Mrs. . .

We just got back from a little jaunt to Ohio to participate in the marriage of two wonderful people.  They were kind enough to ask me to be in their wedding party and I was really touched.  I mean, I was coming to the wedding come hell or high water but it was nice to be wanted ;-P

Due to changing of T's orders and training schedule we had to do some flight finagling and ended up coming in on the red-eye Wednesday night to Thursday morning.  The kids actually did a pretty good job.  B was not having any cuddles or sleep as long as the cabin lights were on, but as soon as we took off and and they dimmed it, he passed out!  H was in her car seat and it took her a bit to fall asleep, including me holding her hand sometimes.  I think she was just unsettled and a little scared.  But she slept through the landing and lights and everything.  I woke her up when I got her out of her seat and she rubbed her eyes saying, "I need to sleep, mommy".  It was cute.  But as soon as we got her walking with her monkey backpack and reminded her she was going to see Papa she was all chipper.

I slept for maybe 20 minutes on the whole 4 hour flight.  I have a hard time sleeping in the best of circumstances, so traveling with kids I wasn't expecting much.  T, however, can sleep anywhere so I sat in the middle and held B.  Every time I got close to dozing, B would shift or sleep spasm so I wasn't too rested.  My mom didn't have to rush into work so she played with the kids while T & I both napped.  She took 'em on a walk (and didn't lose Bunny this time, haha!).

We actually adjusted pretty well.  I ran errands (read: got a wedding pedicure among other quick stops) while the kids napped.  We took family pictures on Friday and then Saturday morning was off to Cleveland for us!  The kids stayed with Ming-ming on Saturday and then ReRe & DeDe on Sunday.


The wedding weekend started like this:

And it ended like this:

With a lot of fun packed in the middle!


We got there in time pretty much to go straight to the rehearsal. The wedding was at a historical society in their beautiful garden.  We did the standard rehearsal procedure and then headed off to Great Lakes Brewing Company for refreshment before heading out to the suburbs.

Katie had chosen to do their rehearsal dinner as a BBQ at her parents' house outside of the city and it was absolutely perfect!  The food was fabulous (good job, Anna!) and the atmosphere was really casual and relaxed - absolutely representative of this couple.  It gave the wedding party and families time to really meet and chat, which of course helps the reception be a better party because you know people.  Being a caring bride who both knows her groom well and loves him, she surprised him with a U of M groom's cake.

 

It started as a joke, but we all agree his face when he saw the cake was more priceless than when he first saw Katie, lol.  

Naturally, after he got over his shock, appreciation, and thank yous to his wife & mother-in-law,  the next thing he wanted to do with his Michigan cake was to shove it in my face.  Not just make sure I ate it, but force feed it to this ND alum.   Normally, I'd have refused to do anything with the cake just out of spite.  But it was his wedding so I obliged.  Plus it was red velvet.  

The big day began bright & early for the ladies up in their bridal suite.  We had hair & makeup come to the hotel, and again that was fabulous!  The other weddings I've been in, we've gone to the salon - including my own.  They were all lovely and very fun mornings.  But if I could do my wedding all over again, I would totally do this.  It was so convenient and we all basically got to hang out comfortably all morning.  After finishing getting dressed, I'd say we all clean up pretty nice! 

(thanks, Amy, for the picture)

Katie & Dave did a "first look" so they made sure to capture that moment and then we had time to get some pictures taken at the ceremony site before everyone arrived and the wedding commenced.  It was cloudy and rain was definitely moving in.  We got a little sprinkled before the ceremony, the clouds parted for 98% of the ceremony and the rain started as Bob pronounced them Mr & Mrs.  

I didn't get any pictures during the ceremony, obviously.  I thought T would have but he either forgot or wasn't in a good spot for it.  I'm going to cut him some slack and say he didn't have a good angle ;).  Afterwards, we got into the limo and drove around Cleveland for a bit to take pictures.  The rain mostly held off.  There was one downpour moment that the bride, groom & groomsmen got stuck in. 

(Another great shot I stole by bridesmaid, Amy)

The couple had an umbrella and the photographer had dismissed the bridesmaids back to the limo.  Ladies first and all that.  We all arrived back at the hotel safely, with lots of what I think are going to turn out to be fabulous pictures, and nearly dry.  The couple had their first dance, were nice with the cake, 

         

 and we heard the toasts.  There was the traditional MOH & BM toasts, of course.  But instead of a bouquet toss, Katie passed a bouquet down to her little sister & MOH.  She recently got engaged and is getting married next year so Katie passed down the torch. It was really touching.

And then, in full Miami fashion, they had a Green Beer Day toast.  It was really cute. 

    

With duties over & food in our tummies we were all free to kick back & party!  Enjoy some more photos and once again, Best Wishes & Congratulations Katie & Dave!!!!

Erin & me, pre-reception cocktail hour

we were all really rocking

This was meant to be a candid of getting to dance with the bride but then everyone posed. It's instinct at a wedding I suppose. 

We managed to nab a quick picture of the four of us. 

All during the picture taking, when the photographer wanted us to fake acting natural I wanted to stick my face in the bouquet. It smelled amazing, but I refrained for the professional shots.  So I made T capture the memory post-reception.