Day 1: Wednesday
Flight was at 6:50 AM. Woke up at 7:15 AM and let out a long expletive. Not to worry; took a cab that flew down to MSP and fortunately got on the 9:25 AM flight. Got in to LAX at 2:30 PM and was picked up by sis and J.
At this point, Claudine wasn't freaking as much as just listing out all the things she still needed to get done. Thankfully, we had reinforcements from our two friends Sam and Gem. Diligently, we made pom poms out of tissue paper. Well, I folded and Gem poofed them. (Is that the right term?)
Lunch at the fave Vietnam Restaurant on Las Tunas, dinner at Noodle World with my grandma and cousin who flew in from Texas. Man, I miss awesome Asian food.
Day 2: Thursday
More tasks for the wedding, including getting pampered at a mani/pedi salon. It was funny (and slightly insulting) how the salon owner kept pointing out how different and older (wait, did she say I looked older?) I looked compared to Claudine. After getting my eyebrows waxed and beautifully shaped, an apprehensive Claudine decided to get one, too.
My aunt and cousin from West Virginia flies in for the wedding, and for lunch we had some tasty vegetarian dishes. Since I can't have a day without meat, I decided to buy two double-doubles and Animal Style fries from In-N-Out. Damn, I sure miss that place. And, best of all, my sister finally has her first In-N-Out burger EVER! A watershed in history.
Day 3: Friday
Krystle, another bridesmaid, and my sister-in-law Rea work together to create the floral centerpieces at home...for the entire day. I am so amazed at Krystle's work, and she definitely slaved over those thing forever.
Other tasks included picking up photos for the set-up and the Rehearsal Dinner. Loved the food at Pizza Place California, where my sister used to work. It was fun finally meeting J's family, and the rest of the entourage. After a hearty meal of Italian food, we headed across the street (literally) for the rehearsal. Met the wedding coordinator and I swear I was like the 2nd bride in the picture. It's really hard not to sound bossy when you have the crazy control gene that runs in the family. :)
Rehearsal went well, and my nephew could not have been crazier.
Day 4: the BIG DAY!
OMG, even if I wasn't the one getting married, I was still so stoked for that day. It started off pretty early, as the entourage headed off to the Grapevine to start setting up the Cocktail, Reception, and Ceremony areas. The coordinator was just ok, but fortunately Claudine has an amazing entourage who knew how to execute Claudine's vision. It's also fun to note that we did not let Claudine set foot on the venue until the photo shoot. I could only imagine her tearing out her hair as she wondered what the eff was going on during the set-up. That's what you get when you're slightly OCD/ADD. :D (luv you sis!)
Man, why does it take women sooooo long to get prettied up? The bride and bridesmaids started dolling up around 11 AM. THIS IS WHY you never let the bride and groom prepare in the same house. Picture this: my sister's stuck in the makeup chair, and she made me check on the guys if they're getting ready probably three times. I'm sure she was getting annoyed at some point but, to Johnson's point "It's going to take us 5 minutes to prepare." And he was right. Damn, guys are so lucky.
Finally, the entourage heads over to the Grapevine for the photoshoot. Gotta say, Iris & Light was the best decision the couple ever made for this wedding (even more than marrying each other. J.k). The preview pix here are so beautiful, I'm only prepared to be blown away by the rest of the shots. Of course, mad props to my brother and cousin for taking more photos on my bro's camera, too.
At 5 PM, the ceremony began. It was hard not to tear up at the sight of my beautiful sister marching with my dad to the song "The Book of Love." Thank goodness I brought along a hanky. The message was beautiful (who knew you can spin "stalking" into "desire"?) and Johnson's rendition of "Two Words" made me teary again. I'll leave it to my sister to describe this moment in her awesome blog, but for my POV, I thought it was a wonderful ceremony.
The cocktail hour was awesome because we took more photos/videos of the entourage while passersby walked around the Mission District. Bobbing our heads to "I Like to Move it (Move it)," trying to look gangster or, as Sheena put it, "sassy," laughing carefree and holding hands, the bridal party had an absolute blast.
The reception went off without a hitch. Nearly everything went according to plan, and even the ones that didn't go to plan were actually perfect because our ridiculously funny friend and yours truly ended up stalling with songs (I sung, quite horribly, "California Gurls" and "Single Ladies". I'm mortified it was caught on video). The best part of the reception, undoubtedly, was the "Love Story" Skit. Who knew you could have that much fun with sing-alongs? I liked my speech, too, if I say so myself. :)
Then, after all is said and done, we had an hour of carefree, wild dancing courtesy of DJ Mind. It was sooooo fun hanging out with my great friends, and it was so amazing seeing them all in one place, to celebrate my sister and brother-in-law's marriage. And I was seriously impressed by Johnson's ability to break dance.
If I was to sum up this whole event in one word, it would be: Ultrafantasticallyamazinglyawesome. Yes, that sums it up pretty nicely. I love that my sister and brother-in-law enjoyed every bit of their wedding. I love that my sister was not stressed at the day of her wedding. I love that their vision was realized and that they were able to connect with each of their guests. I love that I was able to help out. I love that amidst all the hoopla, all the flash, all the funny speeches, songs, and dances, what you get at the core was a celebration of love between two amazing people.
I love you Sis! Congratulations on a beautiful marriage.
