Wedding Day: A Recap, Part 1 - Pre-ceremony

June 30, 2007. The date had been in my head for 7 months. Wedding Day, I wrote on my planner.

And when I awoke that morning and realized, groggily, that it was the Big Day, I was ready. A friend had told me to not jump out of bed, but to think about it a bit. Well, I'd slept for awhile, but I'd been tossing and turning for a few hours, so, when the alarm went off, I paused briefly, said a quick prayer, and then I got up. I took a shower, got the paper, ate some breakfast and headed to the salon with Raegan, my veil, and my headpiece.

Two experts awaited us at the salon to do hair for all six of us. Almost everyone had the same theme in mind to go with the "flowy, romantic dresses." Hair some down, some up and wavy curls, for four of us. Two played it straight, one with tiny braids, one with a sparkly barrette. We started at 9:30, and by just a little after noon, we were all finished and ready to head to my house, dresses and makeup in tow for most of the girls.

So THAT'S how you put a veil on.

Sarah and her coffee get beautified. Mary and Anne watch.

My Aunt Liz and my cousin's girlfriend, Jill, served us a variety of delicious sandwiches, chips, salads, veggies and (yum) cookies. They'd even decorated the table and had matching tableware. And everyone got personalized stationery: I saw my new name, Katie Kelley Schmid, for the first time in anything other than my handwriting!! With a bit of a nervous stomach, I nibbled the scrumptious choices, while the other girls enjoyed the luncheon as well. (Thanks Aunt Liz and Jill!)

We sat around and chatted briefly, but then it was time for us to get ready. With a flurry of dry cleaner bags and makeup brushes a-flying, we congregated upstairs in my bedroom and the guest room (which was full of homeless furniture, but I'd precariously balanced a mirror against the new closet) and traded turns in the bathroom.

"Can you zip me?"
"I think my straps are too tight."
"Um, my top seems a little loose."
"Ooh, your eye makeup looks good."
"You did not just take a picture of me half-naked. That is NOT going on the blog."

But before I knew it, we were dressed and headed downstairs. Our luncheon hostesses had left by then, and it was up to me - dress, train, veil and all - to close and lock the door on the way to the limo. No one would be back inside until July 9. (Wish I'd checked, but we left a fan running the whole time we were gone. Whoops!)

Um, hello, bride here. Anyone going to help? :)

We piled in the limo after some confusing conversations with the driver, who asked if the church was "before or after Vine." (Um, the street the church is on doesn't cross Vine.) He got on I-71 at Ridge and then exited on Smith-Edwards. "Must be going the back way," I thought, as we then proceeded to drive around the block and get back ON I-71. "Do I need to get up there and give him directions?" I thought. We got off at Dana (right exit). And then Peggy and I yelled up at the right point "turn here." He did but then passed the church. We thought he was going to turn around so we'd be on the right side to get out at the curb. But he didn't.

"Um, you just passed the church." So he went into a parking lot, turned around, and passed the church again. "Wait, that's it, right there."

"Where?" he said, putting on the brakes. "There, that building that's a church." (Apparently he was new and couldn't tell the church, from, say, the dorm across the street.") He backed up, and we exited. I was just hoping he could find the groom and not get Mt. Lookout confused with, say, Mt. Healthy.

My beautiful, wonderful family, about 2 hours pre-wedding!

My parents were at the church, and we took a few photos, and then the photographers arrived and started herding us around to various nearby spots. The first one, there was a slight issue with dog poo, and when the photog tried to kick it out of the way, let's just say it got more spread around. So with a slight eau de poo, we took about a gazillion pictures. OK, probably just 100. But it seemed like a lot. Thankfully, they turned out pretty good. I wish I weren't so squinty. But as we were posing, I saw a familiar white limo go by. "The groom!" I screamed, and suddenly a gaggle of girls surrounded me. "He can't see you," they said. It was just after 3:15, and the carefully printed schedule I made said the guys should arrive at 4. Not 3:15!! The limo sailed past and we debated whether maybe it was a different limo. But, soon, groomsmen Jim showed up, to scout out the situation. It was decided the groomsmen would hang in the limo in a semi-distant parking lot for awhile.

Finally finished with pictures around 4, I headed inside for some much needed water and powder. As I waited in the "activities room" with the bridesmaids and various other friends and family members who stopped by, I repeated my mantra often: "No one is allowed to make me cry." (Which my sister said means "Don't say anything at all to her.") But I chatted with a few people, got a few lumps in my throat, smiled for some photos and let my stomach jump all over the place. I picked out voices outside the door. "I hear Sheila," I said at one point, straining to hear who else was out there.

Soon, the music started, and the bridesmaids left me alone in the room. I thought my parents would be there, but they were out with the bridesmaids, so I stood, suddenly feeling very small, peering out the door until they came to get me.

Next up: Recap Part 2 - The Ceremony

Photos!

The official photos are ready. All 627 of them (so says Anne H.)!!

When prompted for a password, enter 9124.

It takes a long time to look at them all, but feel free to take a glance.

Or play scavenger hunt and look for:

1. The dancing flower girl
2. My dad's toast
3. The bridesmaids hiding me from the limo the groom was riding in that drove by 45 minutes earlier than the guys were supposed to be there.
4. A CiN staffer signing the guest book.
5. A closeup of my something blue.
6. Three moms dancing with their babies during the Mother-son dance.

GO!

Recap: Friday, June 29

So I won't recap every day specifically, but I will do a few posts for key topics to get some more pictures up!

The day before the wedding, I was running around like a crazy person. We had nail appointments scheduled at 12:15 p.m. and my sister called around 11 to ask if she should bring me some pop, and then innocently asked "What are you doing?" To which I answered frantically "Cleaning the bathroom. I made John take a shower first, and now I'm cleaning the bathroom, because all the bridesmaids are coming tomorrow, and it's dirty." I still had to take a shower myself and get to the salon, but all morning I'd been trying to do the last minute house pickup/cleaning. By no means was it up to my normal standards, but I needed to get clutter moved so people had a place to sit during the bridesmaids luncheon on Saturday, and I had to clean the bathroom (it was icky) before the nail salon because I didn't want to ruin my manicure!!

So, post-clean bathroom, I high-tailed it to the salon, only a minute or two late, and tried to relax while I got my pedicure followed by a manicure. Sarah had brought light lunch for the girls, so I snacked on some yummy food (and pop). Raegan, who was coming in from Illinois, had been in a car all morning and arrived just a few minutes late for her 1:30 pedicure. John's sisters, Mary and Anne, got their manicures while I got my pedi, and then Sarah and I got our manicures together. It was nice, and everyone's nails looked fabulous.

My first pedicure. Ever. Really!

Raegan - who'd been dropped off at the salon by her parents, who also came for the wedding - headed home with me. I'd enlisted her to stay with me the night before the wedding to keep me from staying up all night or panicking or stressing or anything. But first we had to stop at a few stores because I still had to buy gifts for wedding party people, ink cartridges and a few things I needed for the honeymoon.

We made it back to my house with not a whole lot of time to spare before we had to get ready for the rehearsal (at 5 p.m.)

John, who was going to spend the night at his parents' house, was trying to pack. I was rushing around, ironing my dress and getting the gifts all wrapped and together. Raegan was trying to find a spot in the house that was not overrun with wedding preparation. Peggy and Jim stopped by and were enlisted to print (with the new cartridges) and fold the last set of programs.

We were ready to rush out the door about 4:40 when the phone rings: My family, and who knew who else, was stuck in horrible I-71 traffic. So they were trying to find an alternate route from their hotel in Blue Ash to Evanston, and wanted us to let the priest know that despite their best efforts, they'd be late. (The priest had told us everyone HAD to be on time because there was another rehearsal at 6 p.m.)

We were the first to arrive at church. Those not coming from anywhere near Kenwood arrived soon after, and the readers practiced. And, thankfully not too late, my sister, her husband, and my parents arrived, so we could start practicing the processing.

The rehearsal went fine, with promises from those there to explain to people who couldn't come what they had to do (communion distributors and gift bearers).

Raegan and me at the rehearsal dinner.

Brandon had a long journey in from California for his first flight, first trip out-of-state, and first time to meet Great Uncle Don (my dad).

We headed to a lovely dinner of turkey, steak (I think; I don't eat red meat), mashed potatoes, green beans, cake and more. I got to chat with relatives and friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in years, so it was great! John's sister, Anne, made a fabulous music-backed slide show with pictures of John and me growing up. It was very fun, and she worked hard on it - with some big obstacles along the way, including a crashing computer or something!

You know those scoreboards above basketball courts? Well, instead of basketball replays, our picture was up throughout the dinner! The banquet room overlooked the court, where high school players during a basketball camp were playing a game, probably wondering who the two people on the scoreboard were (they couldn't see us). Even funnier, bridesmaid Peggy looked down and said "That's my alma mater and that's my second cousin coaching!" Random!

After dinner, John ran back to our house to get his stuff and head over to his parents, while I pretty much began packing for the honeymoon at about 9 p.m. Nothing like the last minute! Raegan, good maid of honor that she was, kept reminding me "Katie, um, it's about 11, maybe you should think about wrapping things up and going to bed."

"Nonsense!" I said debating how many shirts to pack. "I rarely go to bed before midnight, and I don't even have to get up that early!"

I think it was a bit after 12 when I went to bed, setting the alarm for 8. I was mostly packed. Sort of.

Next: The Big Day!

Back home

We got back around 3 p.m. Monday. I'm sorting through clothes, pictures, spoiled food and hundreds of emails at work.

I promise more later, but here's a sampling.

Rehearsal dinner with Sarah and Mom.

Hair salon with the bridesmaids (that's Peggy, back right, who posted the fabulous guest blog with the photos!)

Cake eating! I loved the cake and thought it was beautiful!

Luau in Maui!

Oh, just an FYI: My church doesn't allow photos to be taken during the wedding (other than the official photographer) so I don't have any photos from that. Besides, these are from my camera and I was a little busy. (Thanks to my sister, who took charge of the camera wedding day, for some of the shots!)

John and Katie's wedding day was picture perfect! All their hard work and preparations were evident in all the unique touches throughout the day. The mass was my favorite part; it was so personal and full of love. The reception was very fun and it was here that the couple really celebrated. Who knew John could breakdance? It was an honor to be a member of the wedding party and celebrate the marriage to two fabulous people. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of the big day. Congratulations to Katie and John!
Here comes the bride!

Just minutes before walking down the aisle.

Cheers to the newlyweds!

Kaua'i

Aloha from Kaua'i. We flew here yesterday morning from Maui. I wish I could say things have been fabulous on this island too, but so far all I've done is spend 18 hours in bed... And before anyone starts shouting TMI, I'll add to that ... because of a nasty stomach virus! I'm starting to perk back up and getting on the computer in the rental office of the vacation condos is my test to see if I can handle being out and about before we hit the road to try snorkeling or some other adventure. It is amazingly beautiful here. We aren't quite beachfront but on a gorgeous property where I feel like I'm in a jungle when looking out the window.

A few blocks down is a beach that stretches for awhile with parts for snorkeling, surfing and wave boarding (boogie boarding ... do people still say that?)

But, anyway, back to the good parts ...

On Maui we had a lot of fun after our adventurous day on the bike ride down Haleakala. John learned to surf and loved it so much that he rented a board and surfed again here yesterday evening while I was stuck in bed.

We went to a luau and ate a ton and watched fire dancers and hula dancers. The good part was it was right next door to where we stayed, so we could walk there and back. Bonus!

We attempted to snorkel and wave board, but didn't have a lot of success. I got slammed by a big wave and ended up with sand EVERYWHERE. We decided a different beach would be a better bet, and I hope to try the snorkeling again here in Kaua'i.

I wish I could post some pictures but I'll have to wait til we're home. We have shot lots of video and taken lots of pictures, but as I'm using borrowed computers I can't really upload them here. I've decided my first video editing project is going to be "John surfs." I got some great video but it's coupled with a lot of shaky camera and me zooming in to try to see John.

Well, I think I'm starting to pick up energy, so maybe we'll venture out and see if we can find something more exciting to do than sit around here.

Aloha til Monday!

ALOHA!

Aloha from Maui!

We're paying for this connection, so very quickly ...

Mahala to Gina for the mobile blogging! The photos are very fun! Hopefully someone will do a more wordy update, but if not, you'll have to wait til I return!

The wedding and reception did go fabulous, if you couldn't tell from the pictures. We certainly had a wonderful time! And we got several comments from people who enjoyed the day as well.

And we are definitely enjoying our time in Hawaii. Unfortunately one of my bags still hasn't made it here. I called to find out what happened this morning and it was still in LA. We got in late last night and got about two hours of sleep before our bicycle journey down Haleakala. Our exhaustion was apparent as we made a wrong turn and had to pay $20 to have the tour operators come retrieve us at a gas station. It was that or attempt to ride back up a mountain several miles. No thanks! After an afternoon nap we're feeling much more awake and ready to experience the rest of Maui!

We have taken many photos already, some beautiful ones of the sunrise this morning from the top of Haleakala, and will post some when we return.

Time to hit the beach!