The Rest of the Wedding Story

I know, it's taken me forever, but things happen. So, without further ado, here's the rest of the wedding vacation story. I warn you, this is a REALLY LONG POST.

Thursday morning I went to meet DF Judy's friend and have a lovely cup of coffee and muffin at Starbucks. There is something to be said for a place where you can still enjoy your morning coffee while sitting outside at Starbucks at the end of June. I had decided I wanted to stop by and take a look at High Point College University before I headed over to Lenoir for the wedding weekend.

Boy was I surprised by what I saw. I knew things had changed, but at times I wasn't even sure exactly where I was. The campus was always beautiful and but it's really fantastic now. If you, or someone you know, is looking for a small, liberal arts university, this might be a good place to visit. Let me just say that this wasn't attached to the Student Center when Maria and I ran around campus..
Yes, that's a pool for the students and what you can't see is the hot tub and the cabanas at either end where students can get water, juice and beach towels. The Student Center looked different inside as well. I stumbled in there and was taken pity on by a very nice lady who then called and someone from Alumni Affairs came to give me a tour. It was nice to learn about all the building and what is happening.

I finally left HPU and headed west to Lenoir. I knew I'd found the right place when I saw this...The best part was the near proximity to food stores, so I made a run for water and wine coolers to fill the mini-fridge in my room before Maria arrived and the work started.

Thursday evening was mainly about getting my dress to the seamstress for hemming and getting the silverware Maria had picked up earlier rolled for the reception on Saturday. Well, that and seeing her parents, aunts, cousins, friends...well all the other people who were at her parent's house. Plus Thursday was Maria's birthday, so we had to celebrate. Dinner that evening was at her parent's house and was ribs and all the goodies that you normally associate with ribs in the south like potato salad and baked beans. I don't like beans, I realize this is strange, but they smelled good and everyone else said they were delicious. I do love ribs and potato salad and both were amazing! For desert we had thisI'm pretty sure it was a pound cake. Doesn't matter, it was delicious!!!! I think it was close to midnight when Maria dropped me and her cousin Rosalind and her son back at the hotel.

Friday morning I was up fairly early and met Rosalind at breakfast. Maria and I had planned to run errands Friday since there were some last minute things that needed to get done. She met me at the hotel and I drove us around. Kaye, another of the bridesmaids, joined us for the fun. Nothing out of the ordinary. We did end up going back to the hotel to get Rosalind and her son for a trip to Belk for some shopping. I managed to score a cute pair of flip flops and some stockings for the wedding. Yes, stockings. We all decided that the thought of wearing actual pantyhose under the long dress, with the "foundation garments" necessary to pull off said dress, just wasn't something any of us wanted to do. So stockings were purchased as well. There's something kind of fun about stockings, don't you think? (I'll leave it there for you all to think about.) We also had to make a stop at the Dollar Store for some things. Then it was lunch where Kaye's husband joined us and I think we might have managed to give our server a breakdown.

Friday evening was the rehearsal and dinner. Dinner looked good, but we had eaten so late that all I wanted was the banana pudding. YUMMY!! Plus I got "paged" and had to help Maria sort some things out. The rehearsal was pretty much like every wedding rehearsal. Long. I think we all left knowing what we were supposed to do the next day, so the mission was accomplished.

At some point on Friday, my room became the holding zone for all things flower related for the wedding. Here's what I mean...

The top 2 pictures are all corsages and boutonnières for some of the people who would be attending the wedding. I think I heard the number 100 thrown around, but there might have been less. The bottom picture are the hand pieces the female attendants carried at the wedding. There were more, I didn't think to take the picture until after some people had come by my room after the rehearsal Friday night and picked theirs up. They must have arrived Thursday at some point, because I think I remember Kaye and Rosalind checking the batteries for all of them to make sure they worked. Oh, they had fiber optics and lit up. They were so beautiful.

There was also a "steaming party" in my room after the rehearsal. We had taken the steamer from Maria's mom's house and put it in my room and with help from my trusty assistants Kaye & Rosalind, we steamed several dresses, including ours. It was a late night, but the aforementioned wine coolers helped some.

Saturday dawned fairly early as we had a Bridal Breakfast at 8:30 AM, or some such nonsense. All I know is I didn't get all that much sleep again that night/morning. A couple of pictures of us waiting to leave the hotel for breakfast.

Rosalind & I

Maria & I

Breakfast was another food fest. Scrambled eggs, this amazing baked cheese grit cassarole, bacon, fresh fruit and home made danish one of Maria's aunts had made. It was all delicious.

After breakfast we headed back to the hotel to start getting ready for the wedding. Hair first...

Maria first, plus she needed her nails touched up where they'd gotten chipped.


Then it was my turn. Maria's very talented sister-in-law, also a Teresa, did hair for several of us. We had to let Maria know in advance, and I made sure I got my appointment in when I heard she was willing to help us out. Teresa is not only a talented hair dresser, she's also a lovely person and just plain beautiful. Of course this picture doesn't show off either of us at our best, but hey, it takes effort to look like this...
Didn't Maria look beautiful? I know all brides look beautiful, but really, she's just stunning.

That picture kind of skips ahead to the reception, but what can I say. The wedding went off without a hitch from what I could tell. Well, there was the whole issue with it being pretty hot, and most of the girls feet hurting from the shoes, but in the grand scheme of things, that seems pretty minor now. I don't have pictures of the actual ceremony, I was in it, plus that was a job for a professional. I'm hoping that at some point I'll get to see the pictures the professionals took. I do know that the music was amazing. Oh, they did something different, or at least something I'd never seen. They had a "Sand Ceremony" instead of a unity candle. I liked that a lot better then the unity candle to be honest and must remember to ask Maria where she found it.

Being in the wedding party we were late to the reception and there was absolutely no parking. I ended up parking on a little lane, down the hill from the hall. Let me just say that the trek up the hill, in the dress and the heels didn't help my feet feel any better. Thankfully Kaye & Rosalind had purchased all 3 of us shiny new slippers for the reception and after about 30 minutes of no shoes, I could stand to put those on. My feet thank them still! Bet we still managed to have lots of fun. There was great food, delicious cake, plenty of iced tea and dancing. I partook of all and had fun doing it. Even learned a new dance or two. We partied well into the night. I think it was close to 11 when I drug into got back to my room. I still had to pack so I could leave early enough to meet DF Judy for lunch before my flight home on Sunday.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. The important things happened. Maria and I got to spend some time together, some just chatting and catching up, some just being together and getting things done. And of course, Maria & Curtis got married. I would not have missed it for the world. I have been blessed to have Maria as my friend all these years. I know we got off to a rocky start. Honestly, we couldn't live in the same room for love nor money. Yes, we were roommates, but not being roommates is what really made us friends. Thanks Maria for letting me share your special day. I wish you and Curtis many happy years of life. May they be filled with the blessings of family, friends and the love you share together, and may God continually bless you both as you journey through this life.