Monday, September 17, 2012

The Wedding

August 11, 2012 was the big day.  Although it didn't feel quite like a wedding considering how busy we were.

To start with we had a baby shower for me in the morning.  I know- what a selfish b*tch!  But to be fair I had planned on having it on the Sunday after the wedding.  Only a lot of people said that they would be leaving EARLY so they would miss it.  Then we thought about Friday night after the rehearsal dinner (since the girls ended up hanging out anyway) but that became a bit of drama between my sister (who was planning the shower) and the bride.  So we decided to have a quick one in my sister's room.

Despite the time change it was really fun.  We did a Sock Monkey theme and the main focus (besides presents) was on a gender reveal.  The night before a lot of rumors and been circulating about what it was but no one knew for sure until they had picked a team (by choosing a ribbon or a mustache) and had put together a puzzle that announced the winner or the looser (the ribbon team had a girl sock monkey and the mustache team had a boy sock monkey).  The girls won (so my grandmother and the Chinese gender predictor were right)! The only one who seemed upset was Maggie as she really wanted to go shopping for little boy things.  I will admit that I think boy clothing is cuter as well (there just seems to be more options for colors).  I got absolutely spoiled with gifts and had a fun time talking with all of the BTDT women.

After that we had just enough time for a quick lunch (Panera) before we had to get ready for the big event.  We got to the church and I visited with Morgan's family before the show started.  Her grandmother (or possibly her great-grandmother or even a great-aunt) was especially excited to talk to Motoaki and I since she does ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) and Japanese tea-service.  I felt bad because her voice was so soft I could barely hear her (Motoaki didn't even realize when she spoke some Japanese, LOL) and because we didn't have much time.

The actual service was very beautiful but very short.  I am not the sentimental type so I don't really get worked up over weddings (even my own was kind of just like another day for me).  I will say that I was surprised that the only music was a folk rendition of The Lord's Prayer.  A big part of my brother's life has been choir and I would have thought that he would have chosen at least one more song, but I guess it is really the bride's day (lord knows Motoaki didn't really get a choice for our wedding- but part of that was because in Japan they don't usually choose special music for the service).  But it was a nice service and the church was pretty.

The reception was also held at the church and was also short but fun.  They only had two hours for dinner, cake, toasts, and dancing.  Being seven months pregnant only dampened my fun a little bit. My favorite part of any wedding would have to be the dancing but I was afraid to do too much as I didn't want to hurt myself.  If it had been a longer reception I might have been bummed but as it was they only had time for about 7 songs of dancing.  The same with alcohol- I might have felt left out but the church didn't allow alcohol anyway so everyone joined me in sparkling juice.

My brother's old college roommate, Drew, had the best toast, and the bride's step-mother stole the show with her baking of the cake, cupcakes, and cake balls (I am not sure what to call it when you have a small piece of cake on a stick).  Because it was so short there wasn't time for any crazy stories or any big mishaps.  Probably the guest who got the wildest was my cousin Anne's daughter, Betsy.  She is normally a little shy (well, when she is with people she doesn't know) but she was running around on the dance floor like a wild woman with some cute little boy.  I even think she got a kiss.

After the reception we went back to the hotel for drinks in the hotel bar.  Again, nothing crazy.  I spent most of my time with my cousin Johnny, his wife, and their teenage boys.  A lot of people had to get up early for flights or drives the next day so most people turned in early.  I guess when looking back I will always think of my brother's wedding as "short and sweet."

Summer...

is over and I have not been on here since July.  August was an epic month as I did yet another whirlwind tour of the US, taking in about 9 states and two coasts, if you consider the Mississippi a coast ( a little Christopher Guest humor for you there).

Toby's Wedding: The Rehearsal
One of my main reasons for going home was that Toby got married to Morgan!  If you don't know that's my older brother.  I just now realized that in this day those names are both gender neutral so to add to that, Toby is the guy.  Anyway, they had been dating forever (met at church out in Virginia where they lived) and had been waiting "in line" to make the commitment.  I say in line because I had my wedding and then Morgan's brother had a wedding as well as her half sister in the past three years, making Morgan and Toby not wanting to steal anyone`s thunder.  So though they only just got engaged this past fall, it was a long time coming.

The wedding was in Virginia Beach (which is why I took in soooo many states- we drove there from Iowa- we being my dad, sister, and grandma) which is Morgan's hometown.  I had never been before but it reminded me of when we used to go down and stay in Florida.  We picked up Motoaki on the way (he flew into Washington DC) and got to the hotel everyone was staying at late Thursday night (the wedding was on Saturday).  It was good to be greeted right away by the Stalter side of the family- ie my dad's brother, his three boys, and the boys' wives and kids.

Morgan is a super organized kind of person and since it was her hometown, she and her family had most of the wedding prep taken care of.  So we spent the moments leading up to the wedding spending time with people we haven't seen for awhile.  Motoaki and I spent Friday morning with Auntie Ann, Connor, Uncle Bob, Ann's brother Jan, and Jan's wife Kathy at the boardwalk along the beach.  Ann is actually my mom's old college roommate, but she is just like a real Aunt to me.  She lives in Texas and I spent most of my childhood Christmas vacations at her home in Dallas (along with Jan and his family).  Unfortunately with moving to Japan I don't get a chance to visit Dallas much and with my mom gone I don't get to hear much about their family.  I do call once in awhile, but not enough.  So it was definitely nice to have the whole morning with them. 

At the beach we put our feet into the ocean but chose shopping over swimming (mostly because we didn't have that much time before the rehearsal/dinner).  Nothing too major though Motoaki and I did pick up some cute Christmas ornaments.  I like the idea of slowly building our family stash and he liked the surfboard and beach santa we found.

The rehearsal was your standard run-through.  Poor Motoaki had severe jet-lag and kept falling asleep during it.  I couldn't help keep him awake because I was on candle duty.  Not a big deal but the wedding planner definitely made it out to be a big job.  Apart from my duties I spent most of the time making faces at Jack, my cousin Shane's one and a half year old son (his sisters were flower girls)- such a  cutie.

At the dinner for the rehearsal (held in the hotel) I hung out with my mom's side of the family and Stuart friends.  It was especially nice to talk to my cousin Scott as I haven't seen him since Christmas (and even then it was only for a short time).  He lives in Colorado so it is hard to see him when I come home.

After the dinner Motoaki finally got to get some sleep (despite being invited to a strip club for the bachelor's party) and I went to the hotel bar to talk with my girl cousins and boy cousins' wives.  Nothing wild- Maggie is the youngest at 27 and the other girls are all in their 30s/40s.  They had wine and I had ginger ale.  We mostly talked about kids and babies (since I am due in November and my cousin is adopting a baby in October) and were in bed by about 11.  Morgan had a bachelorette party but it was held earlier in the year, and so she was at home that night.