Tradition

Something old: my very first lost baby tooth sewn into a handmade eyelet bag by my mom and then tied into the bustle under my dress.

Something new: dress, veil, etc.

Something borrowed: pearl earrings from my grandma.

Something blue: this was a tough one. At the last minute one of my bridesmaids drew a tiny heart on my pinky with a blue pen.

And apparently there's another part to that saying that includes a sixpence in your shoe. My dad found me a sixpence at a local antique shop. The proprietor asked if it was for a wedding and when my dad said it was, the man gave it to him for free. So throughout the ceremony and for part of the pictures, I had a sixpence in my shoe.

Going To the Chapel

It’s been almost a week and a half since the wedding and I don’t know about everyone else, but I had a great time. There were a few things that went wrong, but no one knew about them except for me and Jason. We rehashed everything on our honeymoon and came to the conclusion that if the caterer had just paid attention to the directions I gave her, those few things would not have happened. Basically, I met with her a little more than a week before the wedding and walked through how the day would go. I sent her numerous emails with very specific instructions and even saw her the day before the wedding and went over a few last details. Although we finished with the photos a little early after the ceremony, which apparently put her all in a tizzy, that still doesn’t change the fact that she took it upon herself to rearrange the tables, not put the guest book table where I told her to, not put the favors by each plate, not let people into the reception room immediately following the ceremony, not put the pies out on the pie table, not light the candles in the centerpieces, etc. She also changed the menu and didn’t include cranberry chutney with the pork. This is despite us discussing it at the tasting as an option and me emailing her with our menu choices, specifically saying we wanted the cranberry chutney and not the usual apple maple sauce, as well as mentioning it numerous times in our emails. She insisted to me during the reception that I was wrong and we never discussed a cranberry option.

My MOH said, “I don’t care how right you think you are, you do not tell a bride on her wedding day that she is wrong about anything.”

It’s too bad, because up until the actual wedding day, I was prepared to write a glowing referral for the caterer to put on her website. However, appearing to pay attention to the details and actually listening and following through are two different things, and you will not get credit for the former without the latter.

The only other thing that went wrong was that the corsages somehow never made it over to the church. I don’t know what happened, but there was some sort of mix up. Jason’s mom, my grandma and Jason’s grandma didn’t get their corsages, which was too bad, and if any of them are reading, I apologize profusely.*

So those are the not so smooth bits, which honestly barely made a blip on my radar on the actual day, and really only make me mildly irritated now.

Now the good stuff. First, the weather was AMAZING! It rained like crazy the night before, was a little cloudy in the morning and then cleared to a beautiful sunny day, perfect for outdoor photos and all the buzzing around we had to do in the morning. It was just awesome and I’m so grateful for all of the prayers and good thoughts that went out on our behalf and changed weather.com’s predictions. Take that, Weather Channel!

The ceremony was beautiful. Contrary to all the reports I had heard, I was not in a bridal haze and I remember every second. Jason did a wonderful job choosing the music and I am still amazed that the beautiful-sounding choir was made up of our friends. I got choked up a tiny bit at one point during the vows, and so did the rector, but otherwise I just felt very, very happy and smiley. As a bonus, we were able to use the choir microphones to record the entire ceremony, which we listened to the next day on our way up to Maine. The speaking voices are very quiet, but we think they got picked up and Jason thinks he can separate them into tracks and boost the sound so that we can send a copy to my mom (and anyone else who requests one I suppose).

I had a great time at the reception, in which we were introduced as Dr. Jason W___ and Kelly M____, Esquire. Awesome. We got to go around and chat a little with almost everyone, dance, cut the pies, all the usual stuff. Our first dance was “The Book of Love” by The Magnetic Fields** and the daddy-daughter dance was “Little Miss Magic” by Jimmy Buffett (my dad is a huge Parrothead). The last dance, which wasn’t really planned, but worked out well, was “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones.

I thought I might feel kind of silly dancing in a wedding dress, but I actually felt like, well, everyone is looking at me anyway, might as well have fun. The skirt on the dress twirls really well. I’m pretty sure there are many pictures of Jason and me spinning around in a circle with our friends’ two year-old daughter Naomi, who really likes the two of us generally, but was completely in awe of my “princess dress.”

We honeymooned in a little cottage in Maine. Once I get pictures from Jason***, I’ll post about that. Suffice it to say, Maine was absolutely beautiful, the weather and the changing leaves cooperated perfectly, and if you’re looking for a down home greasy spoon, I highly recommend The Rockland Cafe, where we breakfasted three times****.

We haven’t gotten anything back from the official wedding photographer yet, but here is a picture that Jason’s dad took.

*****

* I do need to say a great big thank you to the Jenns, Jasmine, Cat and Angie who came over to help put the flowers together while I rushed around finishing with my packing. The boutonnieres, corsages, and bouquets looked amazing. Several people, including Jason, were shocked when I assured them that a bunch of girls sitting in my living room put together those lovely flowers. My friends rock.

** If you don’t know this song, go listen to it. Right now. I love it. It’s sweet and funny and, in my opinion, a very real depiction of love. Jason played it for me as an introduction to The Magnetic Fields shortly after we met and I knew it was our perfect song when we decided to get married.

*** Who is Crazy Photographer Man and took 1100 pictures. I only look supremely annoyed at having my picture taken for the thousandth time in one of them.

**** The first time we arrived at 11:55 AM and despite the fact that breakfast service stopped at noon, they were perfectly happy to cook me up some eggs and the best bagel I’ve ever eaten in my life. I really don’t want to know how much butter was involved.

***** Hair by Rachel.

Thursday is Going to be Busy

- The tailor is still fighting some sort of illness, which is why he wasn't there last night when I stopped by to pick up my dress like we had arranged, and why he was MIA for most of the day today. I finally reached him and I'll have my dress tomorrow morning. I am torn between feeling really bad for him and getting a migraine because I was supposed to have my dress a week and a half ago. Feeling really bad for him is definitely winning, but it's hard to have perspective. Well, it's hard for me at least, today, right this second.

- The flowers are a day late. The wholesaler was supposed to deliver them today to my lovely friend Sylvia who works from home and thus could be there when a delivery person showed up. However, they called me and apologized, but said they were running late and the flowers would be there tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that they're telling the truth and I will actually have a bouquet come Saturday afternoon.

- Thursday is now the day when EVERYthing is happening. I had planned for everything to be spaced out nicely, but now we have dress pick up, massage (which I'm really hoping I can relax enough to enjoy), lunch with my MOH who gets in on the red eye tomorrow morning (yay!), flower pick up, flower prepping for the big flower arranging on Friday night, running a few last errands that I had planned for what I thought would be a fairly uneventful Thursday afternoon, bachelorette party.

- I have seen anywhere from 70% chance of rain on Saturday, to clearing early Saturday morning and turning into a nice day. On my photographer's suggestion I'm going to buy a nice umbrella tomorrow and make the best of whatever may come.

- My boss gave me a shot of perspective this afternoon when he said that even though all this craziness is happening now, on Saturday, I'll still be married. And I added, "Yeah with all my family and friends around." And then I had to stop talking because I was going to cry.

Anyone for Soup?

One of my jobs just had a little wedding good luck party for me that was a complete surprise. They got me a yummy rich chocolate cake and a whole stack of presents, including my very favorite thing that I registered for*. I love this little soup tureen and bowls (another friend gave us the other 4 bowls so we have 8). They are definitely something that I would never buy for myself but that I really, really wanted.

The color and glaze reminds me of my parents' wedding dishes that I grew up with that were brown glazed with an off white rim. When I was little I remember thinking they were too dark and oh-so-70's. Of course, our avocado green appliances probably didn't help assuage that impression. Now I think that glazed brown is classic and so perfect for eating soup out of on a chilly night in front of the fire.

*Er, we registered for. Whatever, I've discovered registering is all about the woman unless the guy really likes to cook and is into home decorating. I am getting a little thrill and doing a happy dance every time we get something new off of the registry. Jason could care less. I mean, he's grateful that people are buying us stuff, but he would rather we registered for DVD's of TV shows or computer hardware. I wanted housewares, gosh darn it, as is my bridal right.**

**Wow, I'm glad this wedding is happening soon because I'm getting pretty insufferable.

Divine Intervention

Could everyone please say some prayers or send good vibes toward Cambridge or whatever your inclination may be that it not rain on Saturday? This past weekend was absolutely beautiful and as Jason and I walked around with the photographer yesterday afternoon scouting out many, many different places where we could get beautiful outdoor pictures, both of us thought that there was no way that the 20th would be as nice. There is no such thing as two nice weekends in a row in Boston in October. Sure enough, as of right now it's supposed to rain Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The church where we're getting married is pretty and we'll take some pictures there, but we're also planning on taking pictures of the two of us in Mt. Auburn before the ceremony, and then taking pictures outside after the ceremony. Rain would destroy all of those plans. I don't even mind clouds so much, even though it won't be quite as pretty during the ceremony, just no rain.

Originally we were planning to get married on the 13th and now I really wish that had worked out. I guess it would just be wrong for there not to be something for me to stress about.

Crisis Averted

My dress is back in my life. I called for the fiftieth time this afternoon and the tailor was there and profusely apologizing. He apparently got sick and was actually in the hospital. I sort of veered toward Bridezilla as my thoughts ran along the lines of, "Well, I'm sorry you were sick, but this is my wedding dress!" I didn't actually say that, though. I said I was sorry he was sick and we scheduled a time for me to come in tomorrow and make sure everything fits.

I was more freaked out about this than I was letting myself think, though, because when I hung up the phone, I started crying. It was kind of ridiculous, but just the relief of knowing I had my dress was too much for me at that moment, I guess.

We moved most of my stuff down to Providence today, although somehow my room is still a mess. Granted, I do have a few more things I'll be sending back down with Jason when he comes up on Tuesday night. Plus, I have 3 garbage bags full of stuff for the Salvation Army. Plus 2 bags full of garbage to be taken downstairs. Plus a dresser, 2 bookshelves and the bed are still here So the room is still basically full, which is kind of crazy when I think about all of the stuff that is now piled in Jason's living room waiting to be sorted through.

Jason's friend Dave and I loaded everything into my car and Dave's minivan. I told Dave he's my new hero because we fit everything in there. This is not a small feat. We moved my dresser, a 5 foot bookshelf, a 7 foot bookshelf, my desk and hutch, a large wicker chest that I keep blankets in, and at least 20 boxes, 2 of which were 3 feet square. In a minivan and an Elantra. Yeah, Dave is a moving rock star.

I'm just so glad it's done. Mostly. I just need to pack up the remnants and get things organized for the honeymoon (Yay!)

Hostage

Just as I am starting to chill out about this whole wedding thing and feel like things will work out, my dress is being held hostage. I dropped it off at the tailor a few weeks ago and he pinned the dress up and gave me a claim check and told me it should be ready by October 7th. Since that was a Sunday, I figured I would give him until Monday, which was a holiday, so I still wasn't too concerned by Tuesday. Then I started calling and getting no answer. Over the past few days I have left a couple of messages and called no less than 25 times. A couple of friends live upstairs from his shop and one of them ran downstairs last night and then told me that he wasn't at the shop.

Which means, as of right now, I have no wedding dress. This was just the first alteration. Heaven forbid, now, with a week left to go, that anything else should need to be done to the dress. I was also going to have him steam the wrinkles out of my veil, but I guess I need to have someone else do that. I may only be wearing the veil part of my wedding ensemble come Saturday the 20th.

Jason is irate. I called him tonight to tell him about it and he just kept getting madder and madder and talking about how we're going to sue if I don't get my dress.* I told him that I didn't know what I would do if I didn't get my dress, but, FYI, I would probably be in tears on our wedding day. He said it wouldn't get to that point. He wouldn't let it.** So I guess if we don't hear anything by Monday he's going to call the city or the police or the Attorney General or someone who will give him some sort of satisfaction.

The thing is, the friends who live upstairs recommended the tailor because they go to him all the time and he's great and they couldn't say enough good about him. When I went upstairs to borrow tape from one of them tonight so that I could tape a note to the tailor's door, she was really shocked and said she hadn't seen him or his van the night before, which was odd. So, I really hope that nothing bad has happened. However, I really, really need my dress. More importantly, I need my dress with the alterations completed.


*Although that's not really indicative of much since he generally wants to sue someone for most anything as a get rich quick scheme. Personally, I think this totally beats the emotional distress claim of the judge who sued the dry cleaners who lost his pants.

**So I know this is a really less than ideal situation, however Jason's fierceness about it is actually very endearing. He's all mad because I'm worried and he doesn't want me to be sad and he's going to take care of it, gosh darn it. My hero.

Dancing Poll

We're having dancing at the wedding and are working on the playlist. Sky's the limit since we're just pulling from our own libraries and putting it on an itunes playlist. My question for you is, what makes you shake your booty? I want fun songs that will make people want to dance, but don't fall into the YMCA/Chicken Dance categories.

The playlist is kind of 80's heavy right now, which is fine, but we want multi-generational appeal too. So please, I would love your suggestions.

******
Things are coming together nicely. Last night I met with the caterer and Deborah, our friend who is acting as the day-of coordinator, and I feel totally confident in both of their abilities. My caterer is doing two shindigs this weekend for 350+ people so basically she could do my piddly little 85-person wedding sleeping, with her hands tied behind her back, underwater.

I scored with Cambridge Parking and Transportation this morning. The guy in charge of permits is a total Boston guy who let me block off 10 meters near the church, which they usually don't do for weddings, and only charged me for 5 meters. He asked me to bring him a finger sandwich after. Or it was more like "aftah".

This weekend is the big move of my furniture and large boxes and everything else I won't need for the next couple of weeks. It's really not going to be too bad, I just actually have to take the time to throw my remaining things into boxes over the next couple of nights. For those of you in the market, I highly recommend a scientist boyfriend because they have access to awesome moving boxes. Right after we started dating, he gave me some boxes for my move labeled "Hazardous Waste" with big orange warning symbols on the sides. The majority of my boxes for this move have pictures of fruit flies all over them. Much more interesting than the liquor boxes I usually use, and I have less chance of being mistaken for an alcoholic.

Work In Progress

Disclaimer: Jason is the one who emailed this to me.

Ring A Ding Ding

I got my ring on Friday night! So maybe two weeks before the wedding is cutting it a little close, but Jason feels sufficiently guilty and I won't dwell on it. Basically it's been a whole panoply of procrastination and finding the right thing. The important thing is, I have it now.

I sort of figured it was happening Friday night when Jason A) asked if I could be down in Providence by 8 PM, and B) wouldn't tell me where we were going for dinner, and C) took me to a fancy-schmancy place for dinner. Our normal Friday night is me showing up in Providence whenever I get there and usually wandering over to Apsara Palace* with Matt from Jason's lab and sometimes Matt's girlfriend. So this was different.

So I got to Providence by 8 as requested, and we headed to a fancy place where I had lamb and chocolate strawberry trifle.** Then we headed down to the river to go for a walk, which I figured was where the magic would happen. We walked down toward the river and I saw the gondolas that they have out on Waterfire night were there. I said, "Oh look, they have gondolas out tonight too." Then Jason started talking to the gondolier and I realized that the gondola was there for us.

We went on a nice ride down the river, and the gondolier, Marcello, serenaded us. Jason had brought sparkling apple cranberry juice that we drank out of champagne flutes. At a certain point Jason officially popped the question and I said yes and got my pretty ring that I'm still getting used to wearing and not catching on things.

Afterwards, he was so pleased to know that he had managed to surprise me with the whole gondola ride. Very cute.

So now I suppose it's officially official with all the officialness. Good thing since I've been planning a wedding and all.


* I recommend the Summer Rolls, Hot & Sour Soup, Singapore Noodles and Bee Boong with Seafood AND Tofu. Jason recommends the Scallion Pancakes. Matt recommends the Sesame Tofu and Seafood Bean Curd Soup.

** My new favorite dessert, and I am very happy that my friend Aleigh got me the trifle dish off my registry and that my friend Elaine got the little footed dessert bowls that kind of look like mini trifle dishes so they're perfect for serving the trifle, as my mom pointed out to me. By the way, registering rocks.

Moving In

Last night I made a good dent in packing up my stuff for my move down to Providence. I have been trying to move down gradually, taking several boxes with me every time I go down, and loading Jason's car whenever he comes up to take back down with him. We're moving my furniture next Saturday and I'm hoping to just be left with a bed and some clothes to get me through the last week in my old apartment.

Jason's sister is taking over my part of the lease, which worked out very well. We were going to swap beds, because I think mine is slightly nicer, but as we really thought about it, the idea of swapping one queen size mattress and boxspring for another queen size mattress and boxspring seemed pretty ridiculous. Especially since moving the boxspring into Jason's apartment was a feat of engineering due to an annoying metal railing on his porch and a sharp right turn immediately inside the front door. Maybe eventually I'll reclaim my own bed, but for now it's all Marissa's.

As I was getting into the packing I started thinking about what I was doing and feeling excited about the prospect of moving in with Jason and living with him and starting our life together. It made me happy to think in just a few weeks we would see each other every day and not have to deal with the two-city thing anymore.

However, when he came over later last night and we started going over the schedule for the wedding day the familiar feelings of stress set in and I found myself getting snippy with him again.

So the bad news is, I'm really stressed about the wedding and all the various details actually working out. It has kind of become something to get through. The good news is, I really am excited to be marrying Jason. In the end, that's the important part of the equation.

Load Off My Mind

I just got permission from a friend of mine who works around the corner from the church to use a few spaces in their parking lot. Now I don't have to wrangle with the city of Cambridge for some spots on one of the busiest weekends of the Fall.