Last Monday Jack flew into town at about 7:30pm. I picked him from the airport in the stifling heat, and we drove straight to his parents'. He never told his mom he would be in town. Jack unlocked the front door and we heard an uncertain "Hello?..." from his mom in the kitchen. When he responded "Hello?" she immediately recognized his voice and cheered and ran to hug him. It was quite cute.
We spent the evening at their place, having hamburgers and watching old home videos and catching up. Later we went over to my mom's house so Jack could get some much anticipated Tichu in with me and EDIT: Everett and Adam. Happily it was a quick game, since it was already late and we had a full day ahead. We went back and stayed at the Jackson house that night. We fell asleep around 3am.
The next day (Tuesday, August 10), I woke up anxiously at 8am. I was nervous I'd sleep through my alarm or be otherwise delayed from my duties that day. I came downstairs to find Merlene had set out fruit and cereal and other things for breakfast, which was very sweet. I then nearly blinded myself putting the wrong anti-itch ointment on my eyes and had to douse my face in water for a long time. Luckily there was no permanent damage, and I'm still able to see.
Merlene graciously offered to wash Jack's suit shirt, which had mysterious (possibly wine) stains on it. Jack and I left for the 20 min or so trek to the lodge so I could pick up a key and sign some papers promising not to run cars over their nice tiled patio or set the building on fire. When we arrived at the lodge a very friendly ranger was waiting for us. I got out of the car and he said "Big day, huh?" I grinned. "Yep." He informed me that they had taken away two of the round tables and three of the rectangular ones, and I said "Uh, I don't know anything about that, I'm just supposed to pick up a key."
"Oh, you're not the one getting married?"
"Me? No! It's my sister."
Awkward. Anyway.
So we did a walk through, I signed some things, the ranger left, and Jack and I unloaded what had already been packed in our car the day before. The weather was sweltering, but the lodge was very bright and spacious and air conditioned. Julie chose well.
Outdoor ceremony location.
So we finished and went back to Mom's house where a lot of other people were already taking ladders, boxes of homemade lanterns and bouquets, tons of alcohol, and a bizarre assortment of other accessories and filling 4-5 cars with it all. I am continually moved by how many friends we have in MO and how willing they are to pitch in when our family does big projects like a wedding. Or Birthday Hallow Thanksgiving Eve Party. Or Olympics. It was at Mom's house that I also found out a) Julie was nearly killed on the highway that morning by a driver not paying attention and b) the place where Julie had reserved table cloths had burnt down.
Happily, nearly everyone in my social life has FB profiles. Mom set her FB status to something about the linen debacle, and almost immediately the dear Sarah messaged Mom saying she knew where we could rent affordable table cloths (same place she had used for her wedding, apparently). So that was a great catch and save.
From Mom's house, we all trekked together back to the lodge and, under Julie's calm and precise supervision, began assembling what ultimately turned out to be a gorgeous reception hall. She had red, orange, yellow, and blue lanterns strung around the entire room. Where nearly all weddings I've seen have had a color theme of white and _____, Julie's was much more colorful, with red, orange, and yellow tablecloths, place settings, streamers, etc. She even bought m'n'm's, skittles, and dum dums and placed them in glass candy dishes according to color. She had homemade glass centerpieces that contained instructions for The Paper Game complete with notecards, and instructions for our favorite drinking game complete with playing cards. She had colored index cards at each place setting for guests to write well wishes and other messages to be placed in the her and Denny's time capsule (which she also had stained and honed herself). They are going to open it on their 10th anniversary.
The whole place ultimately looked fantastic. I can safely say it was the prettiest reception I've yet seen, and if you factor in the awesome-to-cost ratio, it is even more impressive. If I ever get married, Julie will probably plan my wedding.
Of course we had a ton of help setting it up. Tiffany photographed everything as we went along. Mike (plus Everett, Neil, and others) set up the DJ booth. Neil carefully crafted the reception playlist according to Julie's specific requests, and he went further and backed up the playlist on to at least two other laptops, to make sure there were no problems.
Julie also had a table covered in board games (dubbed "non-dancing entertainment"). Then there were the long banquet style tables where the guests could put their dishes. You see, Julie and Denny requested that, instead of gifts, everyone bring a dish, pot-luck style. She had appetizers ready for beforehand, and coolers full of water, soda, and beer. Even though the ceremony promised to be a short, sweet one, since it was outdoor in MO August heat, she designed the wedding programs to double as handheld fans. (I put those together, btw.)
So while everyone was still assembling Julie's dream reception, Jack and I went home to get cleaned up and dressed proper for the wedding. We first stopped by his parents' to pick up his suit. Not only had Merlene gotten the stains out, but she quickly offered us some delicious sandwiches for lunch. Given the business of the day I hadn't even thought about how to fit in lunch, so that was greatly appreciated. As we were getting ready Jack was feeling pretty smug about how sharp he looks in his suit, and I warned him that he is absolutely not allowed to try to outdo Denny in dress on Denny's own wedding day.
Then we came back to watch over everything (included the rented chairs that had been arranged outside), and everyone else left to get cleaned up. This meant Jack and I had the entire beautiful reception hall to ourselves for a couple of hours (joined also by Tiffany and Nick later on). We finished a few odds and ends (sharpening pencils for the Paper Game, adding a few extra place settings, putting out the appetizers) and then we had nothing left to do...but practice swing dancing! We had the entire dance floor to ourselves with no audience to make us self-conscious and complete control over the music, so we spent the last 30-45 mins before the wedding party started arriving just twirling and jitterbugging and trying the Charleston, and it was great fun. I laughed so hard.
Soon people started arriving. First there was Julie herself and her hair stylist (Melissa), makeup artist (Mom), photographers (Tiffany, Katie K.) and general helpers (Ellen). Julie had also brought some of Denny's things, including the shoes he'd be wearing. When Jack saw them he announced that Denny had already out-dressed him, in shoes alone. That's how awesome Denny's shoes were. Also, Denny had a tux. I mean, come on. He looked amazing.
Others of the helper crew and guests started drifting in, bringing their food with them. I soon found myself constantly running from the dressing room to the reception hall and back, delivering Julie's instructions one way and other peoples questions and comments back. That was sort of fun, I was all over the place.
Rain clouds were starting to pile up outside. I got one or two texts from people not far from the lodge warning that it was raining where they were. Julie asked me to inform everyone that she was running about 20 minutes late and to apologize. Some were concerned that it would start raining before we could start the ceremony, but Julie said if that happened we'd just do the ceremony in the reception hall and deal with it. She was a remarkably relaxed and flexible bride (which isn't even like her, frankly) and I was really impressed.
Happily, it had not started raining by the time she was ready, but the dark clouds had (slightly) cooled things down outside for the ceremony. Even so, as I walked down the aisle I could see the guests making good use out of the fan-programs. Excellent foresight there, Julie.
The ceremony was lovely. Rocket slept through the whole thing, thank God, so there were no screaming babies. Phil, the officiator, did a great job keeping it short but sincere and sweet. Julie and Denny had written their own vows, and the vows turned out both humorous and very touching. Julie cried. I didn't cry, but I considered it. From the looks of my family, so did Ellen and Mom. Everett didn't, though.
Nope, lost it.
The ceremony was beautiful, but it was still surreal that I was sitting there watching my little sister get married. I was so absorbed in thoughts about this, in fact, that I forgot the heat entirely until Phil made a joke about it as they were wrapping up. Julie and Denny walked back down the aisle to "Rollercoaster of Love" (heh) and then we all headed back to AC.
After receiving the guests into the reception hall and encouraging people to start on the appetizers, the families of the bride and groom stepped out for a few quick photos by Mike and Tiffany, who both did a fantastic job.
Then Julie and Denny had their own photos. They had just finished and walked back inside when there was an ominous rumble of thunder and it started to rain. People joked about close they cut it, what perfect timing, etc, and then it started to rain much harder. Phil said a blessing over our meal, interrupted by more thunder. He didn't skip a beat, though. Then the power flickered, but came back on. Sarah and I decided to go get the candles that were originally going to be set out after dark, just in case. The power flickered again and went out for good. The music stopped. Sarah and I and Troy and some others busied ourselves lighting the candles, and I waited to hear what Julie wanted to do.
Then leaves and branches and other solid objects started slamming against the nearly-all-windows wall of the lodge, and people started to look truly alarmed (including me). Julie told me to ask Mike to announce that if there is an emergency we should proceed calmly to the bathrooms, but then I realized Mike had no electricity with which to use the microphone.
The storm beginning to rage.
Luckily, the storm calmed down quickly, and the candlelight looked nice, but we still had no music and no AC. Mike, being the genius that he is (this is why we continually call on him for help), used some type of power converter and ran the entire DJ booth from an extension chord to his car. Amazing. So we had music again, which I really felt was the most important part. Dad opened the many doors and windows to try to get air flow, and we hoped the power would come back on soon.
Alas, it did not. I called the ranger and he said the whole grid was down, and it didn't look like it'd be up any time soon.
Still we made do. Denny and Julie danced together to "Hey There Delilah".
I *love* the lighting on this one.
Julie and Sola and Harrison danced to "Itty Bitty Pretty One". Jack and I did some amateur swing dance, and laughed a lot, and sucked a lot, as usual, but it's great fun. Everyone enjoyed the *many* delicious dishes that had been brought. The pot luck turned out to be a truly fantastic idea. Not only was it cheaper, it meant a large abundance of food (my family was still eating leftovers 5 days later) and it meant we could leave the food out for the entire reception, as opposed to some caterers who take it all up after an hour or so. My favorite was Tiffany's Olympic Soup, but there were many other good dishes as well.
Another sweet note: periodically people kept coming up to me and saying "I know we weren't *supposed* to bring gifts, but if, hypothetically, we did anyway, where would we put them?" I found out later that Julie and Denny were really surprised and moved by how generous the guests had been, even after being asked not to bring gifts. Apparently they went home and went through each card and note and gift together and it was a wonderful experience. So thank you, everyone.
Julie and Denny cut their bizarre wedding cake (based off of this disturbing youtube video).
Denny didn't trust Julie to not shove the cake all over his face, so he heldher wrists while they exchanged bites. Heh. He was probably right.
Sola just wants to eat the cake already.
Finally, Dad and Julie decided to do their father/daughter dance. I was standing at the DJ booth when Dad asked Neil to play Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart In San Francisco". I was videotaping when the song actually started skipping, despite it not being part of a cd. I felt so bad for Julie. First the power goes out and then, during one of the only two special dances she does for the evening, the song keeps skipping. Dad and Julie ignored it at first and kept dancing, but then it got worse and worse. I looked over at Neil and he gave this helpless but slightly defensive shrug like he just couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. I found out later that Jack, Eddie, Katie Kaiser, and I (and probably several other people), despite all being across the hall from one another, all simultaneously thought "Oh wow. Neil is so dead." Dad finally gave up ignoring the skipping, stopped dancing with Julie and walked over to Neil to see what was wrong. Julie looked really pissed. Tony Bennett stopped playing, and then "Zoot Suit Riot" started and stopped, then Tony Bennett for a second, something, I don't know, confusion! I tried to cheer Julie up by shouting to her "Julie, it's cool! This is where you and Dad do all the swing moves you secretly know!" Of course, I was just kidding.
But then "Zoot Suit Riot" started playing for real, and Dad and Julie started snapping and dancing towards each other. I still thought they were just making it up as they went along, and simply being gracious about the ruined Tony Bennett song. I thought this all the way until Dad dipped Julie and she did a really high kick, and then I realized: they actually did take secret swing dance lessons. Wha...?! WHAT?!
After that *incredible* event, there was still much fun visiting.
As the evening went on it got warmer in the reception hall and most of the guests went out onto the deck to enjoy the breeze. Neil or Mike, not sure which, rearranged the speakers to play the music outside. Lots of the younger guests (and by younger I still mean early 20's) were blowing bubbles (there were bubbles for everyone that ended up being used throughout the reception, rather than just as the bride and groom exited...actually some bubbles were used while the ceremony was still going on (Ben!)). The bubbles filled the deck and floated out over the field next to it--very pretty in the sunset.
And then it occurred to us: sunset. We had no electricity and once the sun was down we wouldn't be able to see a thing cleaning up. We decided to cut the reception short by about 2 hours (alas!) and pack everything up immediately. We still weren't fast enough. Soon we were trying to clean everything by candlelight (and one heavy duty flashlight provided, of course, by Mike). Thank God we have so many good friends--we had probably a dozen or so non-family members stick with us to the end packing up the abandoned potluck dishes and all of the decorations and etc. People were continuously coming up to me asking "What else do you need? What else can I do?" Besides Julie and Denny exchanging vows, *that* was the most moving part of the night for me, to have so much help and so many people who care about our family.
Julie and Denny finished collecting the notes for their time capsule and then were free to go. The rest of us finished cleaning and then a different friendly park ranger came down and signed off on the job so we could get out deposit back. THEN most of the younger guests (again, those in their 20s) retired to the generous Pat Spencer's house for the after party. That was the right decision.
We took all of the alcohol that hadn't been consumed at the reception and had drinking games, Tichu (Jack and Troy's first showdown), and *lots* of dancing. I danced until I couldn't any more--which for me is quite a lot. It was a great party, and I'm so glad we did it. At the end of the night, most of the alcohol still hadn't been consumed so I guess we'll have to throw another party next time the Snyders are in MO together.
Overall, a fantastic day. If I ever get married, I hope my wedding is as excellent.
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