Saturday September 10 2011

Today was one week before the wedding.  I was starting to feel a little nervous about the wedding, but more nervous about everyone from out of town getting here on time and safely.  We were getting ready to pick up Don’s dad, Danny, from O’hare when I noticed a crazy rash on Don’s arm.  He said it was really itchy.  It looked horrible, but I didn’t think too much of it. 

So we went out to the suburbs by O’hare to do some last minute shopping for the wedding and to buy Lina a new litter box.  I was so excited to put Lina’s litterbox in the closet instead of in the bathroom….and she liked it too I think.

Then we went to O’hare and failed to check the status of his dad’s flight.  So we spent a couple of hours waiting for him because it was delayed.  We passed the time by talking about the 9/11 ten year anniversary, which was a little awkward being in an airport.  As we were at the airport the rash on Don’s arm was getting worse. 

Once we picked up Danny we drove him by Wrigley Field and then we just came back to the apartment to chill.

Sunday September 11 2011

Don’s dad slept in until about 10 am, I think he was jetlagged.  Don and I watched some of the 9/11 memorial on tv.  It was so sad.   Once Danny woke up we walked to the lake to show him where the tennis courts were.  The weather was so nice and he enjoyed seeing the lake. 

On the walk home we ate at the Grove Restaurant on Diversey.  Then we got in the car and drove to Men’s Wearhouse to make sure all Don’s and Danny’s measurements were correct.  After that we went and saw the movie Contagion.

Monday September 12 2011

Today I woke up and had to go to work.  On the way to work I stopped by Panera and sat outside to eat a bagel.  While we were both at work Danny walked around the neighborhood and shopped. Don found out he has poison ivy on his arm. We are not sure how he got it exactly. Maybe it was on his jacket from his bachelor party.

Tuesday September 13 2011

Today was our last day of work before the wedding and honeymoon.  I finished packing everything up for the wedding weekend.  Don made a good dinner of chicken.  We are excited.

Wednesday September 14 2011

Today we woke up and went to pick up Miguel at O’hare.  We stopped by a party store to get some last minute things for the reception.  Then we ate at a diner.   Then we came back to the apartment to pick up Don’s dad.  We went to Men’s Wearhouse again to pick up Miguel’s tux. 

After that we found an indoor tennis court for Miguel and Danny to play at.  Don’s dad loves tennis and was very excited to play with Miguel because he’s a tennis instructor in Long Island.  While we watched them play tennis I felt nervous and upset about the weather. The weather had turned so cold and rainy and gross. 

Later in the evening, Don, Miguel and I went to Dukes of Perth for some drinks and we played some Zombie Flux and a game called Fingers.  Afterwards we came home and watched Deadliest Warrior: Zombies vs. Vampires.  It was disappointing but entertaining enough.  We were all pretty tired.

Thursday September 15 2011

This morning I woke up eary, got Lina packed up and headed to Paxton.  It was absolutely freezing out for September….my worries about the wedding weather have increased.  Don stayed behind in Chicago to pick up more of his groomsmen. 

I arrived in Paxton about 9:30 am.  My mom and I worked on packing things up for the reception and organizing as much as we could.  Around 1130 my dad came home and we all went up to the pool hall for lunch.  The special was chicken fried steak so I was happy. 

After lunch my mom and I went to Wal-mart to pick up some last minute things.  Then I spent the afternoon sending emails and replying to wedding vendors. 

Around 5 pm we went back to the pool hall to have dinner with Doug Tucker.  The special was wings and 50 cent drafts.  We ended up going through 2 pitchers of bud light.  Then we came home to do some more drinking.  My mom wanted to do my nails so I let her.  Then Marty and Diane came over to look over the stuff we needed to bring for the wedding.  Kathryn also came over and we all just had fun talking. 

Friday September 16 2011

Last night I slept horribly.  Couldn’t get to sleep and woke up a lot.  Then my parents woke up at 6 am!  I tried to get back to sleep but couldn’t really and got up around 730.  We went to breakfast at Country Gardens and talked to our favorite waitress Lisa about the wedding. 

After breakfast we went out to Timber Creek Bed and Breakfast to see the people who were already there.  We saw Judy and Steve and Don’s mom Estelle and her two friends Agnes and Connie.  My mom was kind of upset because the reception tent was not being set up yet.  So we went back home to start packing up stuff in the cars. 

I brought all of my stuff to Timber Creek and checked into our room.   Then I helped my mom put bows on all the light posts on the drive way.  Then my parents left to go get more stuff and Steve and I sat on the patio and hung out with the 3 little kittens that live at the b&b.  Judy and Sam had went to Bloomington to pick up Michael and Teresa. 

The tent was finally set up around noon or 1 and Marty, Kathryn, my dad and mom started putting up decorations.  Don arrived in a huge rental car with Lorina, Khris, Miguel, and Ethan. They all got checked into their rooms. 

I was starving and needed to make some phone calls so Lorina and I went to town and stopped by Hardee’s.  Later around 3 Mary and I went to IGA to pick up Don’s grooms cake and 3 gallons of orange juice for the reception (for mixed drinks).

We got back to the b&b and got ready for the rehearsal.  Jamie, Kat, and Kelsey arrived shortly.  The rehearsal was at 430.  My mom seemed like a nervous wreck.  It was all starting to set in.  The weather was very chilly and cloudy and I was so nervous it wasn’t going to be better by tomorrow. 

At around 530 we drove to Gibson City for dinner at Bayern Stube.  When we got there all the trees were tp’d around the restaurant.  That was kinda cool.  I had some German beer and a fantastic meal of schnitzel.  I then tried a little bit of other people’s deserts.  We had a lot of laughs and fun. It was so awesome to have all of our close friends and family here for the rehearsal. It really meant a lot.

After the rehearsal dinner we thought it would be a good idea to hang out somewhere for awhile since it was only like 830.  We hung out at my parent’s garage.  A lot of people came.  I picked up some budlight…there was a ton of beer there.  Everyone was just talking and chilling.  Even my mom was out there.  She said she couldn’t do anymore decorating til the morning.  It was a nice time.

I drove back to the b&b with Mary and Kat.  Then my sister showed up.  We decided we wanted to use the Jacuzzi.  So we got down to our bras and undies and got in.  It felt good.  Somehow we all four managed to get in. at once.  Mary and Kat later went to Mary’s room and my sister and I started to get to sleep.  We stayed up talking for a long while though so I didn’t sleep good again. It was good though because it really meant a lot to be able to spend tonight with my sister and our friends. When we will ever all be here again together?

Saturday September 17 2011

I just want to start off by saying our wedding day was completely perfect.  I woke up around 8 with a bit of a headache.  I went downstairs with Mary, Kat, and Kelsey for breakfast.  Connie from Timber Creek had made delicious breakfast enchiladas.  I tried to drink coffee.  I’ve never made coffee for myself I just order it…and even that is not often.  So I just drank it black, it was okay.  Then I took some aleve.  Most everyone was there eating with us even the guys. 

My hair stylist, Heather, showed up at 9 am and we got work on the hair right away.  Kat first, then Mary, Kelsey, and last me.  Kat did most everyone’s makeup, including mine.  She did a fantastic job. 

Then the photographers showed up around 1130 so they could look around for the places to take shots.  Dad ordered a ton of cheeseburgers and fries from Just Hamburgers.  I think most people liked it. 

Around noon I started getting my hair done and then my makeup to follow.  Around 130ish mom started helping me get into my dress.  And at 2 pm we started pictures with everyone.  I wanted to do most pictures before the ceremony.  Pictures seemed to take forever…and I can’t wait to see them. Hopefully they all turned out good. Since we won’t have access to the photographer’s pictures for a couple of weeks all of the photos in this blog are shots from our awesome friends and family. They got some really good pictures, thanks guys!

People were already starting to arrive when we were finishing up pictures.  We all hung out in the tent where people couldn’t see us to wait to start walking for the ceremony.  I didn’t feel really nervous but I just wanted it to be over already.  A lot of our closer family and friends walked into the tent and saw me before the ceremony.  Then we all lined up and started the ceremony. 

The bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down to a piano version of Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional. I started to get a bit more nervous there standing with my dad.  He started talking about the weather, which by the way was perfect.  It was completely perfect, it had not been nice the days before but today was around 70s and completely sunny.  When I walked down the aisle I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I thought I would be.  I walked down to the song Only Hope by Switchfoot.

The ceremony seemed pretty short.  It went so good.  Mr Jones did drop Don’s ring on the ground but that was funny.  Before we knew it we were walking back down the aisle married! 

Then we released each row to say hello to people.  When we walked out everyone showered us with bubbles.  Then we did a few more pictures with family members.  The ceremony was beautiful and perfect, everything I imagined and hoped for. 

We did our grand entrance to a Beastie Boys song, I don’t think it was the one we requested but it was fine.  I think it was the one about a party…can’t remember the name. 

Then we started dinner and signed our marriage license.  While we were signing a vase broke but Steve took care of it.  Our usher Steve was the absolute best, anything we needed he was on it.  I received several compliments about the wedding music and the dinner music.  That was nice because I picked all of the music.
 

Then we listened to the amazing toasts from everyone on Don’s half.  Kelsey was the only who did a toast out of my girls, and she started bawling.  The speeches were so good. 

After the toasts we had our first dance.  It was Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.  Steve later told us that right before our first dance he was just standing there looking around and happened to see Rusty, the DJ, looking a little panicked.  They happened to lock eyes and Steve could tell something was wrong so he went over there.  Rusty couldn’t find our first dance song anywhere, and Steve asked what it was and Rusty told him.  Steve said “Hold on, be right back, I got it.”  Steve came back with a cd that had Iris on it and our first dance was played from this cd.  We had no idea.  Steve is the best! We also already have some really great shots of our first dance!

Next Don did his dance with his mom to Mama by Boyz II Men.  Everyone was impressed with their dance moves. My dad and I had our father daughter dance also. We danced to It’s A Wonderful World.

While all these dances were going on Marty and Vicki had been working on the raffle to dance with the bride.  Uncle Donnie won…so I danced with him and we got a few extra bucks without doing the dollar dance.

The reception was awesome, people were constantly dancing.  There were a few songs that stuck in my mind.  During the Kesha song Blow, Khris had arranged to have confetti shot everywhere.  It was so cool.   He was proud of himself.  During Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, it became like a mini mosh pit.  I fell down twice and Khris tried to do some crazy flip off Don’s back.  In the process Don got a busted lip and a huge scratch on his arm.  My dad got down on the dance floor during Bad To The Bone.  He was pretty drunk at this point.  It was funny.  The best song though was “Soco Amaretto Lime” by Brand New.  Most of our friends know this song and they formed a circle around us and everyone was signing it.  I was basically screaming it.  It was such a cool moment.  It was amazing.  Everyone was there in that moment. 

Mary and I had to do a shot with my dad since that has become kind of a tradition.  I didn’t really feel like doing a shot so we just had a beer and found someone to take our picture.  My dad saw our beers were full and his was almost empty so he finished it.  We thought he was going up to the bar to get a new one but he just turned around to his table and picked up a new one.  He had a small cluster of beers for himself hahaha.

I was talking to the DJ at one point and Andy Bennett came up and said “hey play some Eminem, I like 10 mile”.  I thought this was hilarious.  Sure enough some Eminem was played.  

At some point in the night my dad was really drunk.  He just had his head on the table and my mom was also drunk leaning against him.  My dad started puking outside the tent.  He told someone “I’m gonna be ditch driving”, we all knew though he would not be driving.  During this time there was a dinner roll fight.  Rolls were flying. 

Doug Tucker, Diane, Vicki and Marty then decided they should get my parent’s home.  They put my dad in the front of my parent’s suv with a trash bag tied to his shirt.  Diane put my mom in the back and when she was trying to put the seatbelt on her she said “that feels good”.  My dad puked on the way home and by the time they were home he had puke all over his shirt.  Marty helped my mom get her dress off and they got them put to bed.  Crazy night, best wedding ever. We can’t be more thankful for everything everyone did for us to make this the best day. Here are some pictures from the reception.

Sunday September 18 2011

Woke up and went to breakfast around 8. Then we packed our stuff and said bye to Khris and Ethan. It was sad seeing everyone go. I didn’t want the wedding weekend to be over!

My mom, Doug and her friends were in the tent cleaning and packing things up. I went over to my parent’s house and saw my dad, he was looking really rough. He had been puking all night. I asked him if he remembered telling Doug that they can watch the game together today and drink beer. He said “yeah I remember that but that’s not happening.”

Then my mom, Doug, Marty, Doug E., Vicki, Diane, and Jeff came over and we all ate some leftover food from the reception. It was so good! Doug asked if I could take him back to Bloomington on the way home. I said sure I could just take 55 up. The ride over to Bloomington with Doug was good. We talked a lot about the wedding. Then a lot more about all the stuff going on with my family. It was crazy, but good to talk to someone about it.

After I dropped Doug off I took 55 up to Chicago and it was the worst traffic! It felt like it took 6 hours to get home. I was so tired; I had to keep opening the windows even though it was rainy and crappy. When I got home Don was almost back and he was going to drop off the rental car. Then we made sure we were all packed for our honeymoon! And we opened the few gifts that we had. Most of the gifts we left at my parent’s house. We will get them when we return from Greece. I feel so blessed to have had such a great wedding day. We have wonderful family and friends and it feels great to be married to my best friend!