The rehearsal dinner was Friday night at my parents' house. Dad grilled chicken and brats (I hate brats but the chicken was tasty), and people chatted and mingled a bit...as much as you can mingle in a not-so-huge house with 19 people in it.
After everyone ate, the programs were passed around. The wedding theme was that of a theatre production. The invitation looked like a Playbill, and the program had the complete format of a Playbill. All the people involved in the wedding had a photo and a short bio included. I submitted a photo of my mellophone and Octopookie (because I hate having my picture taken and subsequently don't have any) and a tongue-in-cheek bio (because no one really cares about the facts). Everyone else had the same idea about the bio, so they were fun and humorous to read. Big check-plus on this.
Then the agenda for the entire day was passed out, and on the front page was the 'cast' list with everyone's duties listed. This is where the bullshit began this weekend. Without any advance notice whatsoever, I was unwillingly assigned 3 additional duties. I say additional because I was already in charge of the live fish for the centerpieces. My older sister was also assigned additional duties. In fact, about 10 people were assigned additional duties that they didn't know about or agree to ahead of time. This pissed me off to no end, and we bitched about it at length (my older sister and I). You don't just make assumptions and dictate to people what they will be doing for you with less than one day's notice. You plan ahead of time who is going to do these things and ask for participation well in advance. I would have told her she needed to get some of her other friends to do these things. Trust me, there were plenty of other people available to delegate things out to.
On top of all this, the meeting time for pictures at the venue was changed to an hour earlier than what it previously was. My hair/makeup appointment had been made 2 months ago, and was going to make me late for the new time. Aggravating.
I ponied up the money to stay in a hotel near the theatre (wedding venue) and 'cast party' location in downtown Fort Worth. This was well worth the $250 it cost me, because I was a mile from the theatre and a couple blocks from the pub where the party was going to take place, instead of being 45 minutes away.
On Saturday morning I went to PetsMart to buy the fish for the centerpieces, and the lady wouldn't sell me any goldfish, telling me they would die without aeration. This is crap, but I just bought 15 female bettas and drove to the theatre. I didn't know where the heck this building was, because it's in the arts district where a ton of buildings take up several blocks. I parked in a garage and asked a security guard where the theatre was. He directed me to the Omni Theatre, and as I was opening the doors to it, I dropped the bags of fish. The tops popped off of several containers, and I had to scoop 2 fishies off the ground and put them into another container because theirs had broken. There was water all over the floor. No one in the Omni could tell me where the theatre was, and I was livid....absolutely livid.
I called my Dad and he gave me directions. I was walking down the road with 4 wet bags of containers of live fish in my hands, hoping I didn't drop them again. I finally found the theatre and proceeded to clean the glass vases and the rocks, add and treat the water, and pour in the fish.
Then I ran to the salon to get my hair and makeup done. It turned out fine, but wasn't finished until 1pm. I still hadn't eaten at all and was very very hungry. I stopped by McDonald's on the way back to the hotel and got some lunch. Then I tore up to my hotel room, put on my pretty purple dress and everything that I needed to go with it, and made my way back to the theatre.
By this time the parking lots were completely full, and I had to wait in a 10 minute queue to get into the parking garage. At least I knew where the theatre was from having been there in the morning, or it would have been another half hour before I actually got there.
I looked great. I mean really really great....hot, even. And I never ever ever think I look great, so that's really saying something. My dress was a simple Calvin Klein purple dress I got at Nordstrom's. The hem comes down to just above the knees, and it has wide straps at the top, but no sleeves. I wore a white sweater shrug with it, a silver necklace, silver sandals, and a cute beaded silver purse I got at Dillard's. My hair was big, not Texas lady hair big, but I told the hair stylist to do whatever she wanted, so that's what she did.
All the women told me I looked fantastic, and I think they actually meant it. I usually dress so simply and don't spend a ton of time on hair and makeup, so to see me dressed up was a big deal. The men didn't say anything, but they're men. Whatever.
We finished off the pictures then headed inside. The day was a rather humid, but was bright and sunny and not too hot at all. It was rather comfortable, and I was very pleased at this. I forgot to mention that I finally broke down and had my nails done in a French manicure before the rehearsal dinner on Friday. I was able to do my own toenails with a kit I bought, but I couldn't seem to do my fingernails acceptably. They are already chipping, but I'm using the kit to touch them up each day in hopes that they'll last longer. The white really chips off easily. I'll just repaint them clear or some neutral color when the repair job starts looking hackneyed.
So I had to take on my additional duties of encouraging everyone to sign the guest book, then encourage them to sign the picture frame which was in the other room, and also take cards and gifts and put them in the other room. I did not want to do these things. I wanted to mingle and talk and take full advantage of the situation to meet new people (single men) during the one time in the surrounding 5 years that I was looking cute and hot, with strappy sandals and a pretty purple dress on.
It was a packed house (100-120 or so). There were people there from her high school days, work, Scuba diving hobby, church where my family goes (and I most certainly do not), family on both sides, and friends from the pub.
The ceremony was short, and their vows (they had written their own) were sweet, loving, romantic, beautiful, and made everyone tear up. My sister was so happy, and it was wonderful to see her that way. This sounds so silly, but I had no idea how much she loved this guy until the wedding. They've been together for a long time, but I never really thought about it before. And it was clear that he loves her more than anything, too.
The reception took place in the same room. There was a spread appropriate for the occasion; the chocolate covered strawberries were deeeee-licous! The champagne was tasty, and the cake was adorable. It was an aquatic them of sorts, to go along with their Scuba hobby. My sister's Maid of Honor sculpted and painted the topper (turtle, heart, leaves, so cute). After the cutting of the cake, my older sister and I had to perform another last minute duty....cut the cake. I am very fast at cutting a wedding cake. I firmly believe people are hungry and want some cake NOW! So, I do it quickly, slap those slices on a place, and have someone hand it to people quickly. This cake was very moist and didn't survive the transfer from cake server to plate very well, but we did the best we could. The sides of the tiers of the cake were covered in what was made to look like the blue/green mosaic tiles of a very nice swimming pool. It was very original and very pretty.
After a while of mingling and all that, various toasts, etc., it was time for the B&G to depart and head to the pub where the cast party was being held. An announcement was made for folks to take the centerpieces home, and I ran around trying to pimp or pawn off the centerpieces to the wedding guests so that I wouldn't have to flush the fish. Then I went around and had to give information to a few people on how to care for the fish. In hindsight, having a small instruction card would have been helpful.
I mostly missed the B&G leaving because I was ensuring that all the centerpieces had a home (they did, Yay!) Then I helped clean up a little and finally got went to get my car out of the garage and go to the hotel to change.
On Thursday night when I packed for this, I somehow threw together this amazing outfit for the cast party. I am really a fashion and accessory-challenged individual, but this seemed to fall into place. I wore some light colored jeans that are cute and have a nice cut to the legs that make them seem a bit fancy. I had a dark rose colored tank, over which I wore a shiny pale-pale-pink button-up shirt (unbuttoned, of course), tied a long scarf with those same colors plus a little metallic thread action around my waist, left on my silver necklace, and added a doubled-up long beaded necklace in all those colors. I continued to wear my silver sandals. Again, I thought I looked darn good.
Because I was late leaving the theatre and went to the hotel to change and took my time, I was a bit late arriving to the pub. There was a simple catered dinner there, and I enjoyed my time playing with my nephew and talking to friends. Most everyone left by 10pm, but I stayed to talk to a couple of my new friends that I made through my sister.
I was feeling pretty down by the end of the day. I was exhausted (still am), and even though I looked hot, nothing had come of it. What's the point of getting all dolled up if the men aren't going to notice and do something? It turns out there weren't many single men there at all, so perhaps that's one of the reasons.
My sister was still radiant up until the very end, and I am very happy for her. The day went off without a hitch (though I was telling everyone after the fact my funny fish-on-the-floor story).
And yes, you guessed it...the Guy brought a date. I'm so stupid and should have just forced myself to stop thinking and hoping a couple of months ago. He never said I looked nice; he is alternatingly nice to me at one time and oddly distant at another. For example, he said if he had known I was going to stay in the hotel he would have offered to let me stay at his house instead (he lives very close to all the festivities). How on earth can you tell one girl that and then bring another to the wedding? Even if we were supposed to be 'just friends', he knows I like him, and wouldn't that seem odd and inappropriate? We are definitely not meant to be together in any capacity, even for a fun romp. It's not like I've even been pursuing him for a while now, but I just feel so mad and so stupid. I will now and going forward somehow change my brain to think of him as a friend, acquaintance, anything but a potential guy I could date. Easier said than done, but I will find a way; I have lots and lots of practice at this, as I'm sure everyone does, because everyone in the world has gone through this many times in their lives.
So that's pretty much it. I finally left the pub and went to the hotel and slept fitfully. Early this morning I had a dream where I was yelling at the Guy, telling him every little instance of when I thought he'd done me wrong. Geez, that is not healthy. I need to drop the anger fast. I'm back home now, of course, and I'm supposed to go see a musical tonight, but I'm just so exhausted that I'm going to skip it. I already bought the ticket, but more naps and relaxation are worth the $50 I'll lose on that ticket.
It was a very tiring, emotional, and draining weekend, and I wasn't even the one to get married! Now, I am going to go get some food (none in the house), and take another nap or three.
