the wedding
The weekend is over... But the memories are still fresh in my mind. And so, my readers, here I am with my weekend update.
Laura and I left Cadillac about 1 pm on Friday and began the 3-ish hour drive to Ann Arbor. Things were going smoothly until we had an unfortunate detour through Jackson because Laura wanted a coffee. Typically they post a billboard announcing what's at the following exit so you know it's there, and can easily find it. Well, we knew the Beaner's was there, but we couldn't find it anywhere, and ended up driving the 20 minutes through the city. Essentially, this 'coffee hunt turned witch hunt' caused us to miss the wedding rehearsal. (Nothing comes between a girl and her latte). It was suggested that we arrive at 3:45 to begin at 4, and that was precisely when Andy, the groom, called to let us know they'd be starting without us. Leave it to Laura and I to make a 'grand' entrance. It turned out to be okay since we weren't a crucial part of the ceremony and had yet to practice with Young, the guitar accompanist. Luckily, we arrived just in time to meet Young, find out he hadn't taken our advice to learn the song in a more singable key, send him off to buy a capo, and then leave for dinner. I have to admit, it was then that I felt the most stressed about the pending performance. (I later found out that Young was like a child prodigy on the piano, he began playing at 2 years of age and is incredible now). The second time I felt a little acute panick was when we realized what Laura affectionately called the 'Microphone Scare,' otherwise known as realizing we might not have any. Lauren's sister Anna went to work locating what we would need.
The rehearsal dinner was at an Italian restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor. The food was delicious and the conversation was fun. When Laura and I drove down for the wedding shower a month or so ago we met a couple of Lauren's bridesmaids so it was fun to play catch up with them. Mama J (Lauren's mom) offered special thanks to the family and friends who had traveled to join them, and encouraged Andy and Lauren with an inspiring poem of love that Lauren had given to her family last Valentine's Day.
After dinner, we checked into our hotel and changed clothes before meeting up with the group for Whirlyball. Little did I know I was about to unleash my competitive side with a fury that surprised even myself. I actually felt kinda bad for Lauren's extended family who first met me sweaty, intense, wiry and on-a-mission. For those of you who have yet to experience the wonder and fire that IS Whirlyball, it's a game played by 2 teams of 5 in go-carts on an indoor court. You are given a curved lacrosse-ish stick (yeah, I'm a professional wordsmith) and pass around a whiffle ball in an attempt to make a 'basket.' (This isn't the official site of where we were, but you can at least see a picture of it).
We turned in for the night completely exhausted at about 11 pm. Yeah, night owls, I know.
The next morning we raided the continental breakfast avoiding a group of guys that were in town for a sporting event of some kind. I laughed out loud when I passed the biggest black guy with 'COACH' on his shirt who interrupted his cell phone call to say "Hey Sugar Lady." We ran over to the office for shopping and quick manicures. We originally had discussed getting pedis as well, but figured we wouldn't have enough time. Laura and I were not sitting next to each other while we were having our nails done, so as we were sitting under the dryers we compared stories.
'The guy was pressuring me to have a pedicure too,' I told her, 'He kept saying 'We have special, we have special.' Then Laura replied, 'Yeah, well my girl kept telling me that I needed my eyebrows done. She wanted to wax them into thin lines.' We laughed and agreed not to go to World Nails ever again. We left there, got ready and rushed to the church by 2 o'clock. After waiting for Young to arrive, we finally got to practice and get everything together. From the first note, Lauren was thrilled. She told us later that she thought we sounded like 'Angels' and made her cry right away. Mission accomplished.
We spent some time with the bridesmaids and Lauren before the wedding who were passing around a bottle of champagne and each swigging off of it. Somehow Laura kept appearing several times throughout the line... I took plenty of pictures but am just uploading a few today, I'll put some more up in the next couple of days. Lauren looked incredible, and the wedding went off without a hitch.
The bridesmaids (Lauren's 2 oldest friends Courtney and Allison and her 3 sisters), wore a creamy mocha color and carried white/pink/coralish flowers. Both mothers gave readings during the ceremony and we performed.
The compliments afterward were so gracious. Laura and I have never felt so well recieved by an audience. We are thinking maybe we should perform more often together!
During the dinner a harpist played and then a live band played for the dancing. They did an amazing job. Andy was a trombone player in the marching band at MSU, so 3 guys who also played with him did an impromptu tribute to Lauren and Andy... He was in his heaven. And of course, they played the MSU fight song, so people everywhere were celebrating. Andy followed the performance up with a spontaneous dance-off with one of the other guys which we found highly entertaining. As for our time on the dance floor, there was a plethora of shaking, laughing, clapping and even a little playful spanking... although I'll conceal the identity of those who were doing it! Courtney had an unfortunate 'incident' in which she fell into the band (don't ask me how), and my repeated asking of 'Hey, so I've had my eye on someone all night... What do you think of him?' and then I'd point at Andy. I got some good laughs. All in all, it was a great time... and when Laura and I climbed into our hotel beds at 11:15, we would more easily have believed it was 3 am... This morning Laura's back hurt and my feet ached... we are feeling our age. :)
When we checked out, Laura put one night on her card, and then I gave the lady my debit to charge the other. She announced that it had been declined, and after insisting that there was plenty of money in there, she tried again. It happened a second time. I ended up paying with cash and called the bank helpline as soon as I was outside. The operator informed me that she had entered a wrong expiration date the first time, and a wrong security code the 2nd... nice. At least it wasn't identity theft!
On our way back we lunched with Sarah Clevenger in East Lansing and chatted. It's always nice to catch up with her even if it's just for a short time. Finishing up the last leg of the trip home, we filled our satisfied silences with some Scissor Sister and Carbon Leaf. As the rain poured outside I let my mind drift back over the weekend's events and all the hilarity and beauty that ensued. It was a lovely day and definitely a refreshing time for all.
(For some reason the blogger system is only allowing me to enter one picture on this post. I attempted to add some in separate messages, but I can't seem to upload anything else. Very weird. Keep your eyes open for more pictures soon).
Laura and I left Cadillac about 1 pm on Friday and began the 3-ish hour drive to Ann Arbor. Things were going smoothly until we had an unfortunate detour through Jackson because Laura wanted a coffee. Typically they post a billboard announcing what's at the following exit so you know it's there, and can easily find it. Well, we knew the Beaner's was there, but we couldn't find it anywhere, and ended up driving the 20 minutes through the city. Essentially, this 'coffee hunt turned witch hunt' caused us to miss the wedding rehearsal. (Nothing comes between a girl and her latte). It was suggested that we arrive at 3:45 to begin at 4, and that was precisely when Andy, the groom, called to let us know they'd be starting without us. Leave it to Laura and I to make a 'grand' entrance. It turned out to be okay since we weren't a crucial part of the ceremony and had yet to practice with Young, the guitar accompanist. Luckily, we arrived just in time to meet Young, find out he hadn't taken our advice to learn the song in a more singable key, send him off to buy a capo, and then leave for dinner. I have to admit, it was then that I felt the most stressed about the pending performance. (I later found out that Young was like a child prodigy on the piano, he began playing at 2 years of age and is incredible now). The second time I felt a little acute panick was when we realized what Laura affectionately called the 'Microphone Scare,' otherwise known as realizing we might not have any. Lauren's sister Anna went to work locating what we would need.
The rehearsal dinner was at an Italian restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor. The food was delicious and the conversation was fun. When Laura and I drove down for the wedding shower a month or so ago we met a couple of Lauren's bridesmaids so it was fun to play catch up with them. Mama J (Lauren's mom) offered special thanks to the family and friends who had traveled to join them, and encouraged Andy and Lauren with an inspiring poem of love that Lauren had given to her family last Valentine's Day.
After dinner, we checked into our hotel and changed clothes before meeting up with the group for Whirlyball. Little did I know I was about to unleash my competitive side with a fury that surprised even myself. I actually felt kinda bad for Lauren's extended family who first met me sweaty, intense, wiry and on-a-mission. For those of you who have yet to experience the wonder and fire that IS Whirlyball, it's a game played by 2 teams of 5 in go-carts on an indoor court. You are given a curved lacrosse-ish stick (yeah, I'm a professional wordsmith) and pass around a whiffle ball in an attempt to make a 'basket.' (This isn't the official site of where we were, but you can at least see a picture of it).
We turned in for the night completely exhausted at about 11 pm. Yeah, night owls, I know.
The next morning we raided the continental breakfast avoiding a group of guys that were in town for a sporting event of some kind. I laughed out loud when I passed the biggest black guy with 'COACH' on his shirt who interrupted his cell phone call to say "Hey Sugar Lady." We ran over to the office for shopping and quick manicures. We originally had discussed getting pedis as well, but figured we wouldn't have enough time. Laura and I were not sitting next to each other while we were having our nails done, so as we were sitting under the dryers we compared stories.
'The guy was pressuring me to have a pedicure too,' I told her, 'He kept saying 'We have special, we have special.' Then Laura replied, 'Yeah, well my girl kept telling me that I needed my eyebrows done. She wanted to wax them into thin lines.' We laughed and agreed not to go to World Nails ever again. We left there, got ready and rushed to the church by 2 o'clock. After waiting for Young to arrive, we finally got to practice and get everything together. From the first note, Lauren was thrilled. She told us later that she thought we sounded like 'Angels' and made her cry right away. Mission accomplished.
We spent some time with the bridesmaids and Lauren before the wedding who were passing around a bottle of champagne and each swigging off of it. Somehow Laura kept appearing several times throughout the line... I took plenty of pictures but am just uploading a few today, I'll put some more up in the next couple of days. Lauren looked incredible, and the wedding went off without a hitch.
The bridesmaids (Lauren's 2 oldest friends Courtney and Allison and her 3 sisters), wore a creamy mocha color and carried white/pink/coralish flowers. Both mothers gave readings during the ceremony and we performed.
The compliments afterward were so gracious. Laura and I have never felt so well recieved by an audience. We are thinking maybe we should perform more often together!
During the dinner a harpist played and then a live band played for the dancing. They did an amazing job. Andy was a trombone player in the marching band at MSU, so 3 guys who also played with him did an impromptu tribute to Lauren and Andy... He was in his heaven. And of course, they played the MSU fight song, so people everywhere were celebrating. Andy followed the performance up with a spontaneous dance-off with one of the other guys which we found highly entertaining. As for our time on the dance floor, there was a plethora of shaking, laughing, clapping and even a little playful spanking... although I'll conceal the identity of those who were doing it! Courtney had an unfortunate 'incident' in which she fell into the band (don't ask me how), and my repeated asking of 'Hey, so I've had my eye on someone all night... What do you think of him?' and then I'd point at Andy. I got some good laughs. All in all, it was a great time... and when Laura and I climbed into our hotel beds at 11:15, we would more easily have believed it was 3 am... This morning Laura's back hurt and my feet ached... we are feeling our age. :)
When we checked out, Laura put one night on her card, and then I gave the lady my debit to charge the other. She announced that it had been declined, and after insisting that there was plenty of money in there, she tried again. It happened a second time. I ended up paying with cash and called the bank helpline as soon as I was outside. The operator informed me that she had entered a wrong expiration date the first time, and a wrong security code the 2nd... nice. At least it wasn't identity theft!
On our way back we lunched with Sarah Clevenger in East Lansing and chatted. It's always nice to catch up with her even if it's just for a short time. Finishing up the last leg of the trip home, we filled our satisfied silences with some Scissor Sister and Carbon Leaf. As the rain poured outside I let my mind drift back over the weekend's events and all the hilarity and beauty that ensued. It was a lovely day and definitely a refreshing time for all.
(For some reason the blogger system is only allowing me to enter one picture on this post. I attempted to add some in separate messages, but I can't seem to upload anything else. Very weird. Keep your eyes open for more pictures soon).
posted by Amber | 8:19 PM
1 Comments:
Am - sounds like you had an awesome weekend...so tell me more about this HOT andy guy you keep talking about...SO KIDDING!! Congrats to those "two crazy kids"! lol
If I would've been with you and Laura getting my nails done, they would most have likely said "we spray tan?" lol loves!!!
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