The Wedding

I really don't know where to start blogging about the wedding. It all went wonderfully, and I enjoyed it, but I'm so glad that it is over. I'll start with Friday. We got up early and went to the beauty shop. After Judy put my color on, she cut David's hair. He trimmed his beard when he got home, so we both had a new "do." Then we packed the car, which took a little while, even though we had packed most of the bags the night before. We had a couple of errands to run in town, then on to Columbus.

In Columbus, we stopped at The House of Tux first. David and Russell both had to try on their tuxes, and David needed a slightly different coat. After the House of Tux, we went on to David's parents' while Russell and Callie went to run a couple of errands for her mom. After that, they were to go to the Ultimate Frisbee game they had organized for whichever friends were already in town. David and I stopped briefly at Dirt Cheap, and found nice gift bags for wine for 23 cents. We bought several since Russell said that he had gotten the groomsmen wine as gifts. When we told Russell later that we had bought them, he was really glad. We visited with Mr. and Mrs. Casteel briefly, then I called the Holiday Inn to see if we could check in early. They said that it was no problem, so we called Russell to tell him. He was glad that he could check in early, but still had some errands to run. Our original plan had been to spend some time with him after the game, but we ended up riding around with him doing errands so that we could spend some time with just him. We did not mind, and we did find a few minutes after checking in to give him some cash for his birthday to use for the honeymoon.

During the errand-running, Russell told me that Callie did want me to come to the rehearsal, contrary to our previous plan for me to go straight to the dinner location, so that I could be there as soon as the first guests started arriving. I did not mind, but by then, I had several things to do and did not like being rushed. I called Cindy and Carol Anne and told them their instructions about telling people to find their table numbers so that they would know where to sit. Somewhere in the rush we remembered that we had not set up the sound system, and David called Becky about it. She did not mind and said she would do it.

So we made it to the rehearsal about two minutes after 5:00, and David, Russell, Chris, Heather, Trey, and I were basically the only ones there until almost 5:15. Finally everyone started coming in. We're sort of standing and sitting around visiting waiting for the rehearsal to start, when in walks Ron Locke, of all people. What a surprise! He is on staff at First UMC and part of his duties include directing weddings. I had literally not seen him in 25 years since we were in grad. school at MSU.

He was awesome! He was very well-organized and well-spoken. He gave the kids a good speech about being on time, not drinking, and so on. He was short and to the point, and I think it did the trick. Even with his running a little late, he was so well-organized that the rehearsal was over by 6:30 and the dinner was not scheduled until 7:00! We were pleasantly shocked. David and I went straight on over to the W, and Carol Anne and David were just getting there. We went in, and the place was gorgeous! I was extremely pleased, to say the least, at how it all turned out.

A little bit later, people started to arrive, and everyone was very complimentary about the look of everything. About 7:00 we were ready, but alas, Steve and Cindy were nowhere in sight! Finally, they came in, just as Becky was asking if the minister who was saying the blessing had gotten there yet!

That afternoon, Russell had told us that he wanted me to welcome everyone, Mr. Flowers to make the first toast, and David to have the last toast and a benediction. So I welcomed everyone and then turned the blessing over to Steve. Then we lined up and got food and ate and ate and ate. I have posted the menu below.

All the toasts were wonderful, both fun and serious. David's toast was very sweet and touching, and his eyes were quite moist, as were mine. After the benediction, David brought Becky and crew out, and we gave them a standing ovation. Then everyone left, and David and I went back to the hotel and collapsed. I'll write more later.

Menu

appetizer tray of cheeses, fruit, and olives

organic salad bar

choice of:

prime rib chicken Huntington eggplant Parmesan

green beans

potatoes with fixings

rolls

tiramasu with chocolate sauce

sweet tea spring water lemonade

mock champagne for toasting

My words after welcoming everyone: "Memorial Day weekend of 2005, we were camping at Grenada Lake. We knew that Russell had just finished a hard week of staff training, and we asked him to come over and join us when he could. Those of you who know Russell, know that he does not turn down a steak dinner! In the course of our asking him about that summer's staff, he mentioned that there was a girl with curly hair that he might ask out. 'But I guess I'll wait until the end of summer since I'm kind of like her boss.' A long pause. 'Or maybe not.' Three and one-half years later, last fall, he told us of his plan to propose to her while they were at Sewanne for homecoming. He told us then that on that first date back in the summer of 2005, that he knew then that she was the ONE." Everyone went "AWWWW" when I finished, so I knew my speech had been successful and that it was all true. Russell said later that he had forgotten about that and seemed glad that I told the story.