Day 194: Yep, I'm Married! (And I didn't even peek!)

This is what "Oops, we forgot the wedding bands... and the marriage license. " looks like.
See more work from our awesome photographers, Lisa and Geoff, @ www.thegoodness.com

Yep, I'm married!  It's been a week full of hectic frenetic activity, major partying, and (finally) wedded bliss.  I'm amazed that Michael and I, and our families were able to pull off such a spectacular and fun wedding weekend.  Here are few highlights/lowlights:

1) Remember how I was looking forward to spending time with my uber-calming sister on the drive to the rehearsal dinner?  Yeah... Hanna was an hour-and-a-half late.  Oddly enough, just being around her and my brother, Peter, was still calming!

2) With that extra hour-and-a-half to pack, you'd think I'd remember to bring along OUR MARRIAGE LICENSE.  Yes?  No.  IJ, a good friend of ours (and husband to bridesmaid Laila) retrieved it in time for the ceremony.  

3) Michael was thoroughly roasted at the rehearsal dinner.  Good times had by all!

4) My younger brother, Peter, gave the best toast of the rehearsal.  He got choked up.  The entire room was misty-eyed and impressed.  I was so touched.  Thank you Pedro!

5) Seeing all of my bridesmaids together in one place made me cry (again).  First at the rehearsal dinner, and again just before walking down the aisle.  Honora, Lindsay, Laila, Sarah, Liz, and Hanna - YOU ARE ALL AMAZING! Thank you for being there for me at different times in my life. 

6) My dad doesn't know how to tie a bow-tie.  This held up our ceremony for about 15 minutes while numerous male wedding-guests attempted to help... all happening about 5 feet from the guests, so we captured it all on film.

7) Michael cried at the ceremony.  I've NEVER seen him cry.  It was kind of cool. :)  I think most brides like to know they've made an impression on the groom, no?

8) The best Man(dy) left the wedding rings at the hotel.  Thankfully a groomsman and his wife lent us theirs.  No harm, no foul!  

9) Michael and I shared a toast with every table at the reception.  Amazingly we were still standing after table 16.  My 2 favorite toasts? a) we were handed a literal piece of toast by my unofficial-secular-fairy-godfather, Charlie and his daughter (my fairy-godsister??) Sarah, and b) my sister suggested, "may your ups and downs be only in the bedroom!"nice one, Hanna!

10) After my bridesmaid, Sarah, managed to hand-carry my left-behind wedding gown all the way from Los Angeles up to San Francisco, the bustle broke before the end of dinner.  Thank goodness I'm a fashion-brat and had a shorter number waiting in the sidelines; specifically a flirtatious one-shoulder, above-the-knee party dress with a dramatic black sash.  I added a birdcage veil, and a pair of leopard-print pumps. Woooeeee!!!

11) The most delicious food from our caterers (Le Papillon), and the most fantastic wedding cake and groom's cake from our dear family friend, Beth Setrakian, of Beth's Fine Desserts.

12) I danced with Michael, my dad, and both of my grandfathers.  Tears were shed.  My mother literally sobbed all through the father-daughter dance.  Afterward she said "this is the most fun I've had in my entire life!" Priceless.

Oh, and I bet you're all wondering the same thing: did I look in the mirror that day?  

The answer: no, I didn't.  I honestly think that it was the easiest day to avoid mirrors since I started the project.  It was a piece of (wedding) cake, if you will - get it??  Between my bridesmaids, makeup-maven Best Man(dy), the hairstylist and my mom, I had almost a dozen lovely women attending to my hair, makeup, and general self-esteem.  This kept me feeling really confident and relaxed throughout the day.  More importantly - as the list above illustrates - I simply had more important things to do.  I'm so proud of myself for achieving this goal... it has never been simply about avoiding mirrors, but about embracing and experiencing everything else.

So.  Will I look at my wedding photos?  My blog readers voted to say that I can, but I'm still not sure.  I'm getting so much out of this project that I don't want to backpedal.  In the meantime, I did ask friends/family/photographers to help find one crazy photo from our "shot spot" photo booth, to tide me over indefinitely.  It's posted above for your enjoyment.  What do you think?!  I love that it simultaneously captures us at our silliest and most glamourous. 

Serious faces aside - and you know we were just kidding - this was one of the happiest days of my life.  

Thanks to all of you who have supported me thus far in this journey!  Next up: Honeymoon in Hawaii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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