Wedding Weekend Recap

We’re back from a whirlwind weekend!!

I meant to post last week, but things were a bit crazy.  I worked from home Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and took a sick day on Wednesday so it’s my first time in the office in a week.  S had a virus that was more of a cough than anything else.  He was mostly fine during the day, but would cough hard at night and vomit.  Lots of laundry throughout the week!!  My brother-in-law got married on Saturday and I was so afraid Nani would get sick before the wedding so I stayed home with S on Wednesday.  It turned out to be a good thing – I only had one work meeting scheduled so I didn’t miss much, but it also gave me a chance to drop W off at school, spend a little extra time with my boys, and run a few errands.

Friday, A and I worked in the morning and then headed out to pick up tuxedos.  S fell asleep in the car so I waited with him while A and W went in to try on their tuxedos.  This ended up being a good thing because I was totally surprised when I saw the boys dressed up the following day.

From there, we headed towards central Illinois (I’m not even sure it counts as central IL since the city was a bit more north, but it certainly felt like central IL so that’s how I’m referring to it).  We arrived at our hotel in the middle of nowhere (ha!) and checked in.  We had to leave pretty quickly to get to the wedding rehearsal at a nearby Catholic church.  S was restless and ran around the church with his cousin, Tim.  Those two were having a ball.  W was good, but told us quite a few times that he was scared to be the ring bearer.  I know W is quiet and prefers not to be in the spotlight.  I’m the same way and could totally empathize.  A and I continually reassured him and went over his responsibilities.

After that, it was off to dinner with several family members and friends.  We didn’t leave until close to 8pm and the boys typically get ready for bed around 7:30pm so I was a bit nervous about how they’d behave the next day.

Saturday – wedding day!!  I got up to take a shower and mid shower, I realized that the bathroom was flooded!  I had towels and clothes on the floor and those were completely soaked.  I finished up my shower and once I was out, noticed our carpeting in the hotel room was even wet!  A called the front desk and the maintenance guy came to our room while I tried to get ready.  He mentioned that others had complained of a leak and it must be in the wall.  Why would the hotel continue to put people in that room knowing there was a leak?!?  A few minutes later, he brought us a key to a new room.  No upgrade, no discount, nothing.  Ridiculous.  It later occurred to me that W woke up coughing and now I'm wondering if there was mold in the room given the leak issues.  Gross.  We quickly moved all of our things to the new room and continued to get ready for the wedding.  My curling iron broke.  I somehow forgot S’s suit pants.  I might’ve acted like a crazy lady.  But somehow, we were all ready and looking decent in time for the wedding.  You guys, W was the cutest ring bearer I have EVER seen.  I know I’m biased.  But still…

We made it to the wedding early… yes!!  W was still nervous and I told A to be sure to talk to him before he had to walk down the aisle.  I know W always does best when he’s prepared and knows what to expect.  Sure enough, when it came time to walk down the aisle, he did so perfectly carrying his little ring bearer pillow.  And he looked so grown up and confident!!  I was incredibly proud of him!!  He was great during the wedding and with enough snacks, so was S!  The wedding was beautiful – I think Catholic weddings are the best (obviously biased) and before we knew it, it was over.

The guys stayed for photos.  Once those were done, we still had about 2 hours until the reception.  Because of the leaking room fiasco, the boys had eaten a late breakfast and didn’t have lunch before the wedding.  SO we decided to hit up a nearby pizza place.  I have to say, it was kind of fun entering a shabby pizza restaurant all dressed up.  And the pizza was delicious.

After pizza, we headed to the reception.  S fell asleep in the car so I waited for him to wake up while A and W went in to take more photos.  I had to change S’s shirt because pizza and white are not a good combination.  Soon it was time for the DJ to introduce the wedding party.  Again, I wasn’t sure how W would react and thought he’d end up walking in to the reception with A.  Nope.  He confidently walked into that crowded room as soon as he heard his name.  When did he get so big?!?

While everyone was conversing and waiting for dinner, W made his way to the dance floor and danced in front of everyone.  He was having a blast.  Again, when did he get so big and gain so much confidence?  I couldn’t be more proud of him.  And I really want to sign him up for a dance class because he was having so much fun.

A gave his best man speech and I was so impressed and proud of him too.  The speech was excellent, but A’s delivery was perfect.  I couldn’t even do a reading at mass because I get so nervous.  A on the other hand spoke easily and confidently with no notes.  And his speech was funny, sweet, and genuine.  Perfectly done.

We took photos in the photo booth, ate cupcakes, and danced until 2 hours passed the boys’ bedtime.  I got so many compliments on both boys and was even told motherhood suited me.  Extraordinarily sweet.  And now I’m so sad it’s all over.  A and I have attended so many weddings together.  About 30 of them.  But as we get older, there a less and less weddings to attend (because all of our friends are already married).  This was likely the only time both guys will be in a wedding together, which makes me sad.  BUT on the bright side, they both rocked their roles as best man and ring bearer.