May 25, 2013

It's only just occurred to me, 5 days after the event, to blog my wedding.

Hayden and I were married on Saturday in Asheville, NC. It was a perfect day - seriously. Perfect. After a thundery week, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was 71 degrees with the most important factor of low humidity.

We started the day a little hungover after a fun night at the Champagne Bar. Nearly all of the wedding attendees were present and mingling. It would have been just right if we had ended after the sing-a-long with my parents and friends in the taxi ride home, but then Hayden's friend Brandon showed up very late and wanted just a few more drinks...

Hayden went off to his parents for final wedding prep, while I went down for a manicure/pedicure in the hotel spa. I realized that until 3pm I had nothing to do. It was great. I really had time to relax on my own, think about my future with Hayden and eat a cheeseburger.

Simone, my high school friend and present day hero, arrived at 3pm to do my hair and makeup. It was amazing. She took away much of my anxiety, especially about my hair, and did a fantastic job. Kate, Cora, Alexis and little Freddie showed up and we had champagne as Simone worked away. My mom came to help me into the dress and then away we went, along the rolling back roads to the big party.

As we arrived, I started asking questions and Kate turned to me and said, "I got this. I'm a producer. This is what I do for a living." I'm not sure what she did, but I suddenly had my bouquet and was ready. We all walked down the aisle to brilliant sunshine. It was amazing to see all those faces that I love in Asheville. The huppah holders (Kate, Jeff, John and Jodi) were doing their job well, except for Jodi who teetered throughout the ceremony. I grabbed onto Hayden's hand for dear life; he was my rock.

Erin conducted the ceremony masterfully. We figured we chose the right friend. She confirmed that instinct. She kept us all organized and perfect. My dad gave a lovely prayer. My Aunt Beth nailed the Immortal Beloved reading - no easy task! And Art charmed us with the tale of the chuppah tradition.

And like that, the ceremony was over. Picture taking time was fun. At one stage Hayden's trooper of a Grandma exclaimed, "I don't know which one to look at!" Indeed, we had so many cameras pointed at us. Scott, with assistance from Erin who deserved to be retired for the day, took literally 1,400 photos! Those two DEFINITELY have another career path should they choose it. We're not worthy!

The cocktail hour was in full swing as we approached. I settled on a bourbon and strawberry lemonade, which became my drink of the night. Johnny the bartender came running over to apologize for serving me a plastic cup instead of a glass, a detail which I hadn't noticed or cared about.

Next came our first dance to Martin Sexton's Hallelujah, which is a gorgeous song. Hayden managed, with a great display of dexterity, to not step on the dress AND spin me around a couple of times. Success! We had lovely speeches from Art and Kristina, who pulled it all together for us. Kate killed me with her speech and Geoff as usual brought it together perfectly.

Dinner was great, which pleased me and the cakes spoke for themselves (delicious!) We launched the dance party with "I gotta feeling," by the Black Eyed Peas, which predictably got everyone on the dance floor. Craig the cop did an ok job. He could have played more Motown and more hip hop. And indeed there was the growing infamous "Gin and Juice" incident. He refused to play it, despite the fact that all of my Vassar friends and all of Hayden's Peace Corps friends requested it and it was on our "must play" list. It turns out there's some sort of reference to marijuana in the song that Craig the cop took offense to. Well that's nice, Craig the cop, but it's not your place to judge our music.

There were some breakout performances, including:
1. Fred, Andrea, Jessica and Jeff's impromptu family boogie down
2. The Black-Diamond kids' performance
3. Little Noah's unfazed-by-the-crowd-and-attention dance solo
4. Brandon and anyone who would's violent swing dancing
5. And most memorably, Cora's (with assistance from Inti) interpretive dance to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin"

Some people departed for the hotel with the first bus and the rest of us headed to the bonfire, which was ok, although I think most people were pretty exhausted. Also, Amanda gave an impromptu, long and emotionally charged speech.

Exhausted and happy, we departed on the last bus bound for the Biltmore Park Hilton. The bus driver was lovely, but insisted on playing super weird music videos on the bus. We got back to the Hilton and some of us stayed downstairs for a while soaking it all up. Jodi helped me dismantle my hair. Hayden attempted to smoke a cigar. And Fred, of course, was the last one to leave the party.