My sister's wedding is here!! The day has been taken off work, the dog is at Grandma's house, and Ben and I jump in the car to head east on the Turnpike. The car is over flowing with dry cleaning, dress shoes, gifts, cell phone chargers and a cooler of course. We are headed to my sisters house for a cook out to kick off the wedding weekend. It's a windy, chilly, blustery day and we fear the rain will catch up with us.
Finally arriving in Greenfield, we take out a few cocktails and settle in with some family and friends for burgers and dogs. It rains for about 10 minutes, we move everything in the house, get comfortable and wait till it stops, then we move everyone back outside and try to enjoy the day. This happens about 7 times over the course of the cook out. There is a certain electric tension between a couple that is about to get married. Not just my sister and her soon to be husband, but of all couples. It is a happy, and excited, and nervous air that fills every gap and corner within a five mile radius. It seeps into the souls of all those knowing, and shines like a star in the eyes of our parents and friends. I am happy to be a part of this.
We chat and tell stories, eat and drink, then Ben and I head back south to the Red Roof Inn, located in South Deerfield, MA. It's been a whirlwind kind of day with the packing and driving and such and we are both beat. The RRI is very accommodating and clean. Soon we are checked in and a little while after that, fast asleep.
The next day, Friday, is a day of fun for the wedding party. Ben joins the boys and my father at the BBC Brewing Company for a private tour, while my sister and I head out for a few errands and grooming. My sister is nervous and excited. The weather is chilly and gloomy, a bad thought for what tomorrow's weather could bring. We get a few thank you cards at the store and then go into Greenfield for mani's and pedi's. We find a place that can accommodate both of us at the same time, but won't allow us to sit together. This is a little comical when we start talking to each other from 5 chairs away while the Asian ladies scrub our feet, but after a while we sit in silence.
After we are all prettied up, we go back to the Red Roof Inn and have a little while before rehearsal. I meet some family at the bar at Chandler's and have a cocktail and then gather Ben and head to rehearsal. I get very lost driving from Chandler's to Look Park. We stopped to ask for directions twice, and apparently the first guy sent us in the wrong direction. Jerk. I arrive, so late, to be greeted with snarky smirks and laughing eyes. In case you aren't aware, I was the Maid of Honor and also the Reverend for my sister's wedding. It was kind of important I showed up on time. Damn you, directions guy!! We get moving on in the ceremony, and Look Park could not be more beautiful.The afternoon had cleared up, the sun was shinning and the birds were chirping. We went over the ceremony a few times and eventually went back to Chandler's for dinner. Because it was cloudy in the afternoon, they had set us up inside their beautiful wine room for our dinner. We had a BBQ themed dinner with pulled pork, burgers, watermelon, and a beautiful salad. We ate, we drank, we stayed up late in anticipation of the next day.
It was a windy cloudy wedding morning. All of the bridesmaids met my sister in her suite around 10AM. I cracked open the champagne and patiently waited for my turn to get my hair done. The room was all a flutter with the photographer, the hair dressers, my young sister acting as a make up artist, family and friends swinging by to wish us good luck. One of the best moments in that room was when our dad came in all dressed in his tux, and my sister had just gotten into her wedding dress. She pinned his boutinear on, and it was like a photo out of a story book. I will forever remember that moment. As everyone leaves, except the bride and her maids, we all have a sip of whatever pleases us and hope for no rain. At this point, it has been cloudy and threatening to rain all day. By the time we get the call that the limo has arrived to bring us to Look Park, (Thank god I don't have to drive there again!) the sun is out in full force and it is HOT out. When I say hot, I mean the kind of hot that makes your pretty make up drip off your face and your up do start sinking down. We gather in the limo, and the driver pops another bottle of bubbly for us and we are off!!
I can see my sister, nervous, excited, maybe a little timid. She is the first one of the three of us to do this. (It's not often the middle kid gets to do something first!) She is beautiful, stunning. Her make up is perfect, her hair is gorgeous, and that dress! Wow, that dress!! With the sweetheart neckline, open back and flowing train, it is more than a girl could hope for. We enter Look Park and don't check out the parking lot to see how many people are there. In fact, the bide has demanded not to have any idea who is staring at her and who has arrived or hasn't. The limo drops us at the end of a parking lot, secured by a few bushes so the bride can make her way in secret to the outdoor isle we created. We line up. Groomsmen and bridesmaids make their way to the alter. Soon it's my turn, I have a groomsmen on either arm, I turn to look at my sister as I step out. She is holding our dad's arm, happy, excited, radiant. She nods her head to me. I know that nod was for me to continue dawn the path, but I also think it was a nod that she will be alright. She will be well with this man she is marrying. I don't need to worry about her any more. I think of all of this in just a moment, and my eyes fill with tears. It's a good thing I had a gentleman on either side, I might not have had the courage to keep going. We all settle in and wait for our dad to bring his daughter to her soon to be husband. Everyone stands, cries, cheers a little. The ceremony begins. I want to keep those details for the people that were there and our family. Some things are better left unsaid.
We take beautiful photos along wooden bridges, ponds, old stone buildings. We are happy, in a full limo, with booze pouring, and a new married couple that can't get enough of each other. We are the last to arrive at Chandler's where the guests has been enjoying a cocktail hour. A waitress comes out, takes or drink order and we get to enjoy each other for a few more minutes before being let loose into the crowd. We drink our drinks, chat a for a moments, and then get into the line up of how we will be announced to the crowd.
We all gather for the first dance, and then the father daughter dance. We sit at the head table, dinner arrives. Everyone eats, drinks and starts dancing. The food was great, the drinks were good, I sit down next to Ben in his Searsucker suite for a few photos. I sit next to my dad and some other family for a few more rounds of pictures. The groomsmen are probably the most fun, most outrageous dancers I have ever partied with at a wedding. Wait until you see the pictures! The night comes to an end, and we bring the after party back to the suite in the hotel. There, some people behave better than other, but that's certainly a story for another time.
I hit the sack around 2:30 AM. Exhausted and slightly wound up at the same time. It took me 30 minutes to bring my hair from a perfect up do, to a sloppy down do because of all the booby pins the hair dresser managed to stick in my head. My face needed a good scrubbing, and soon after that, I was looking more and more like my boring self.
Then next morning, Ben and I cleaned up the room and went to check out. At this time, I had thought that the Red Roof Inn was a nice, affordable place to sleep over for a few nights. I asked to pay half in cash and put half on my card for the room charge. It ended up that they took my cash and charged the room 3 extra nights on my card. I still have not been refunded. I recommend paying cash for everything, if you can. Funny how they have no problem taking money from you, but when you are due a credit it can take upwards of three weeks to have that money back. Great times.
