Wedding weekend extravaganza
The weekend started on Thursday around 6:45 am when the sedan picked us up. We were checking into our hotel room by 10:45. Said hotel room was huge. Check out the Rehearsal Dinner photos. We got settled in and had lunch. Shortly after lunch, my sister and BIL came over to help with the favors. We got them done and then met my parents who loved their room. After that we chilled in the room until dinner and then headed over to the Rush Lounge to meet with our peeps at 8. A ton of people showed up and we had a great time. We started with blackjack and then I moved over to a table to hang . I should have stayed at the table because I drank SO much. Mark got dragged off to a strip club and I ended up back in my room by 12:30. Passed out.
So up at 9:30 on Friday…no gym (what s surprise, but I was SO hungover). Pukey hung over. It was sadness. Mark and I headed to the grocery store to buy some supplies (Albertsons) and then set up the room for the party that night. I dropped off all the goodies at the banquet manager’s office and then crashed in my room from 12-2:30. I felt bad being anti-social but A) I didn’t want to get sunburned and B) I was HUNGOVER. At 3pm, our in room massage therapists arrived for our massages. Yay! Didn’t make me feel better but it was nice nonetheless. Shower, get dressed and Masterpiece Cuisine arrives at 5:15 to set up. All guests arrive on time at 6 pm so we have our meeting. But alas the armadillo cake shows up early. However, Mark thinks that the box has to do with Elvis so he shoos Cynthia from Classic Entertainment and the cake into the room and we get back to our meeting. I go over everything and we are good to go.
After the meeting, I show off the cake. Mark wasn’t as excited as I had hoped but everyone else is. So that’s good enough for me. The cake was awesome. So people are eating and Elvis calls. He’s here! Mark sets up his amp downstairs but I take him through the second floor door and Mark intros him and he comes down the stairs. Everyone is so excited! He opens with In the Ghetto which practically makes me cry. Then he goes into Suspicious Minds and EVERYONE is singing. I wished we had picked something other than A Little Less Conversation because it wasn’t as sing alongish as the other two had been. But Viva Las Vegas was off the hook. Everyone was singing and dancing. Then he stayed behind and took pictures with everyone.
Anyway, a good time was had by all. I didn’t drink anything other than ginger ale, water and diet pepsi because I was still hung over. I also didn’t eat. But from what I heard, the food was good. Too much food though. The girls took the food to some homeless people (kind of a tradition with us) so it didn’t go to waste. The RD was a rousing success. I was really pleased with the way everything turned out. I was not in bed until after 11 and Mark woke me up when he came home at midnight so I didn’t get the 8 hours of sleep I had hoped for.
So the morning of the wedding, I was up at 6:15. First hair and makeup was at 8. We ordered in breakfast and I was ravenous. I ate so fast. Big mistake. Shortly after breakfast my stomach starts tripping again and doesn’t really stop until Sunday night. So all day I am throwing up and sipping soda but I power through. Anyway, we have two hair/makeup stations and we start sending girls through like an assembly line. Francesca’s assistant does my sister’s hair which looks cute, but obviously is not going to stay up. That girl has more hair than god and you have to put it in a pony before you bun it. The assistant tried to pin it with bobbie pins. Yeah, not so much. Anyway, I get my hair and makeup done from 11-1ish. Deacon Tyler gets there a little after 1. Does some detail shots and then some getting ready pictures. It takes a village to get me in dress AND shoes. Thank god for my BM. She tied me into my corset and buckled my shoes. She also got the flowers AND managed to get a couple horse bets and football parlays handled. Anyway, we leave around 2 to go do our first look. ALL the girls come with. Total circus but it’s so cute. Deacon has us on different sides of a pillar so he actually gets a picture of us holding hands before we see each other. Mark didn’t cry or anything but was surprised at how poofy the dress was.
We meander through the hotel and take a bunch of pictures in different locations but no gambling shots. The tables were too busy. We take some shots outside with landmarks in the background and hit up a mural and some old neon signs (http://www.roadtripamerica.com/murals/Nevada-Las-Vegas-Pyramid-at-Red-Rock-Canyon.htm) But remember that it’s day so not nearly as dramatic. We wrap up and get the wedding party. The guys take some shots in their sunglasses and we join them and do some pictures in a dirty alley. It’s great. I actually squatted down and pretended to be throwing dice against the wall. It was fun. On the way back we all took a picture in front of a delorean ala back to the future. Sunglasses down looking at our “watches.” It was fun. Back to the suite for more pictures including one staircase “brady bunch” set of pictures. Now we are off to get married.
Mark and the boys head back to the room while we chicas freshen up. We hang for a bit and then head over. They hide me in a room while we wait for our turn to go out. So the boys go, then the girls, then it’s time for me and my dad! We are walking towards the room and I hear my song. I’m like, Dad! It’s my song we need to hurry and then I realized that I didn’t need to hurry.
The doors open to ...She's got a smile that heals me. And there is everyone waiting for me.
So I walk in the room and everyone is tearing up or smiling hysterically. It is overwhelming but I cannot stop smiling. It’s all too much. But I don’t cry. I smile and blow kisses to everyone. I see Mark’s dad on the laptop via Skype and apparently that was too much for some of my friends who started crying when they saw the laptop next to Mark’s mom. The ceremony is awesome. One of my BMs starts crying right away. My dad pulls out a hanky for her. Then Mark starts his “vows” and has to stop because he starts crying. Then I cry (a little) then another BM starts crying so my dad pulls out another hanky for her. Anyway, everyone is crying now. When it’s my turn, well, it’s a little anti-climatic. I don’t really cry but I am teary and shaky. The reverend does a lovely ring blessing and recites 1 Corinthians 13:4 (Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.) We hadn’t wanted anything too christiany but this was just right for us. It was lovely. We walk out to Viva Las Vegas.
We end up doing a receiving line accidentally because we were all lined up in the hall and guests just started walking along and congratulating everyone. It worked out well. We go back in and take the formals. We’re done by 6. Then we do our grand entrance to the theme from Sanford and Son just like Mark wanted. We have a couple hors d’oeuvres and then sit for dinner. Dinner is pretty tasty although the soup is salty. I don’t really eat any of the main course because my stomach is tripping again by now. After dinner, the Best Man and a couple of my girls give very nice toasts to us and then we thank everyone for coming. Then it’s time.
Time for the tango. Well, guess what? This dance floor is shorter than the one we learned on and Mark has a lot of trouble with my dress. We only mess up in one part and that’s when he forgot the new move our teacher had taught us. I try to lead him out of the mess and into the dip. You can tell we messed up though. But it’s okay. We dance with our parents and then the dance floor opens. We have a great time dancing and although he played the wrong song for the cake cutting, all was well. We ended the reception with I got a feeling by BEP. People came out and went nuts. It was awesome and it ended with a big group hug. (see pictures)
After the reception I was exhausted but we had an after party to get to. I DID change out of my dress. Mark thought the corset was party of the problem with my stomach. Plus, once I got my shoes off (9.5 hours later) my dogs were BARKING. I slipped on some rubber flip flops and was on my way. Fashion police be damned. We had 2 liters of vodka and 1 of rum. I’d say 20 or so people showed up to that. We partied until about 1:30 THEN we went to the Cal and played craps and blackjack until about 4:15. We grabbed breakfast and were home by 5 am. We didn’t see the sun come up because that happened around 6.
I hopped out of bed at 9 to get to the pool. I had to check in to the cabanas. I did that and waited for my first guests (my parents and sister) and left the bracelets with them. Mark was still in bed. I ran off to the banquet office to drop some vases and then swung by one of the GM's room to get Mark’s glasses. He was hungover AND blind back at the suite. I dashed back to the room, dropped his ojos and then ran back to the pool. I didn’t go into the water until 5 or so because it was too hot. I just vegged in the cabana with my girlfriends and some magazines. Mark joined us around 12.
We split that joint at 6ish and then headed back to the room for a Jacuzzi and to get ready for dinner at 8. We had an awesome dinner: wine, steak tartare (YUM-one of the best things the whole trip), filet and lobster, ceasar salad and we were stuffed. We were in bed by 11:30, stuffed and happy.
Monday we rolled out of bed around 10 to meet with the formal photog who came by with our photo book and our CD. It was $250 so we said, fuck it and we bought it. Our flight was delayed so we paid $40 to have a 5:30 check out and hung out watching SVU all day long. We finally left at 6 in the Golden Nugget house limo. Then it was bye bye, Vegas. We were sad.
It was a phenomenally great time. It was a non-stop party and I think I am STILL tired. I didn’t drink Friday or Saturday and only had wine with dinner and 1.5 bloody marys on Sunday. I am actually glad that it worked out that way because my memory of everything is so clear. I remember every little thing from the sound of Mark’s voice to jumping to I got a feeling in my 5 inch heels. I remember the frozen egg rolls at the Hawaiian place at 5 am and then nap time at the pool on Sunday. I wouldn’t change a single thing (except maybe to have the DJ play the right cake song AND to have one table empty so we could do pictures).
Fantastic! For deets on the vendors check out Reviews.
So up at 9:30 on Friday…no gym (what s surprise, but I was SO hungover). Pukey hung over. It was sadness. Mark and I headed to the grocery store to buy some supplies (Albertsons) and then set up the room for the party that night. I dropped off all the goodies at the banquet manager’s office and then crashed in my room from 12-2:30. I felt bad being anti-social but A) I didn’t want to get sunburned and B) I was HUNGOVER. At 3pm, our in room massage therapists arrived for our massages. Yay! Didn’t make me feel better but it was nice nonetheless. Shower, get dressed and Masterpiece Cuisine arrives at 5:15 to set up. All guests arrive on time at 6 pm so we have our meeting. But alas the armadillo cake shows up early. However, Mark thinks that the box has to do with Elvis so he shoos Cynthia from Classic Entertainment and the cake into the room and we get back to our meeting. I go over everything and we are good to go.
After the meeting, I show off the cake. Mark wasn’t as excited as I had hoped but everyone else is. So that’s good enough for me. The cake was awesome. So people are eating and Elvis calls. He’s here! Mark sets up his amp downstairs but I take him through the second floor door and Mark intros him and he comes down the stairs. Everyone is so excited! He opens with In the Ghetto which practically makes me cry. Then he goes into Suspicious Minds and EVERYONE is singing. I wished we had picked something other than A Little Less Conversation because it wasn’t as sing alongish as the other two had been. But Viva Las Vegas was off the hook. Everyone was singing and dancing. Then he stayed behind and took pictures with everyone.
Anyway, a good time was had by all. I didn’t drink anything other than ginger ale, water and diet pepsi because I was still hung over. I also didn’t eat. But from what I heard, the food was good. Too much food though. The girls took the food to some homeless people (kind of a tradition with us) so it didn’t go to waste. The RD was a rousing success. I was really pleased with the way everything turned out. I was not in bed until after 11 and Mark woke me up when he came home at midnight so I didn’t get the 8 hours of sleep I had hoped for.
So the morning of the wedding, I was up at 6:15. First hair and makeup was at 8. We ordered in breakfast and I was ravenous. I ate so fast. Big mistake. Shortly after breakfast my stomach starts tripping again and doesn’t really stop until Sunday night. So all day I am throwing up and sipping soda but I power through. Anyway, we have two hair/makeup stations and we start sending girls through like an assembly line. Francesca’s assistant does my sister’s hair which looks cute, but obviously is not going to stay up. That girl has more hair than god and you have to put it in a pony before you bun it. The assistant tried to pin it with bobbie pins. Yeah, not so much. Anyway, I get my hair and makeup done from 11-1ish. Deacon Tyler gets there a little after 1. Does some detail shots and then some getting ready pictures. It takes a village to get me in dress AND shoes. Thank god for my BM. She tied me into my corset and buckled my shoes. She also got the flowers AND managed to get a couple horse bets and football parlays handled. Anyway, we leave around 2 to go do our first look. ALL the girls come with. Total circus but it’s so cute. Deacon has us on different sides of a pillar so he actually gets a picture of us holding hands before we see each other. Mark didn’t cry or anything but was surprised at how poofy the dress was.
We meander through the hotel and take a bunch of pictures in different locations but no gambling shots. The tables were too busy. We take some shots outside with landmarks in the background and hit up a mural and some old neon signs (http://www.roadtripamerica.com/murals/Nevada-Las-Vegas-Pyramid-at-Red-Rock-Canyon.htm) But remember that it’s day so not nearly as dramatic. We wrap up and get the wedding party. The guys take some shots in their sunglasses and we join them and do some pictures in a dirty alley. It’s great. I actually squatted down and pretended to be throwing dice against the wall. It was fun. On the way back we all took a picture in front of a delorean ala back to the future. Sunglasses down looking at our “watches.” It was fun. Back to the suite for more pictures including one staircase “brady bunch” set of pictures. Now we are off to get married.
Mark and the boys head back to the room while we chicas freshen up. We hang for a bit and then head over. They hide me in a room while we wait for our turn to go out. So the boys go, then the girls, then it’s time for me and my dad! We are walking towards the room and I hear my song. I’m like, Dad! It’s my song we need to hurry and then I realized that I didn’t need to hurry.
The doors open to ...She's got a smile that heals me. And there is everyone waiting for me.
So I walk in the room and everyone is tearing up or smiling hysterically. It is overwhelming but I cannot stop smiling. It’s all too much. But I don’t cry. I smile and blow kisses to everyone. I see Mark’s dad on the laptop via Skype and apparently that was too much for some of my friends who started crying when they saw the laptop next to Mark’s mom. The ceremony is awesome. One of my BMs starts crying right away. My dad pulls out a hanky for her. Then Mark starts his “vows” and has to stop because he starts crying. Then I cry (a little) then another BM starts crying so my dad pulls out another hanky for her. Anyway, everyone is crying now. When it’s my turn, well, it’s a little anti-climatic. I don’t really cry but I am teary and shaky. The reverend does a lovely ring blessing and recites 1 Corinthians 13:4 (Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.) We hadn’t wanted anything too christiany but this was just right for us. It was lovely. We walk out to Viva Las Vegas.
We end up doing a receiving line accidentally because we were all lined up in the hall and guests just started walking along and congratulating everyone. It worked out well. We go back in and take the formals. We’re done by 6. Then we do our grand entrance to the theme from Sanford and Son just like Mark wanted. We have a couple hors d’oeuvres and then sit for dinner. Dinner is pretty tasty although the soup is salty. I don’t really eat any of the main course because my stomach is tripping again by now. After dinner, the Best Man and a couple of my girls give very nice toasts to us and then we thank everyone for coming. Then it’s time.
Time for the tango. Well, guess what? This dance floor is shorter than the one we learned on and Mark has a lot of trouble with my dress. We only mess up in one part and that’s when he forgot the new move our teacher had taught us. I try to lead him out of the mess and into the dip. You can tell we messed up though. But it’s okay. We dance with our parents and then the dance floor opens. We have a great time dancing and although he played the wrong song for the cake cutting, all was well. We ended the reception with I got a feeling by BEP. People came out and went nuts. It was awesome and it ended with a big group hug. (see pictures)
After the reception I was exhausted but we had an after party to get to. I DID change out of my dress. Mark thought the corset was party of the problem with my stomach. Plus, once I got my shoes off (9.5 hours later) my dogs were BARKING. I slipped on some rubber flip flops and was on my way. Fashion police be damned. We had 2 liters of vodka and 1 of rum. I’d say 20 or so people showed up to that. We partied until about 1:30 THEN we went to the Cal and played craps and blackjack until about 4:15. We grabbed breakfast and were home by 5 am. We didn’t see the sun come up because that happened around 6.
I hopped out of bed at 9 to get to the pool. I had to check in to the cabanas. I did that and waited for my first guests (my parents and sister) and left the bracelets with them. Mark was still in bed. I ran off to the banquet office to drop some vases and then swung by one of the GM's room to get Mark’s glasses. He was hungover AND blind back at the suite. I dashed back to the room, dropped his ojos and then ran back to the pool. I didn’t go into the water until 5 or so because it was too hot. I just vegged in the cabana with my girlfriends and some magazines. Mark joined us around 12.
We split that joint at 6ish and then headed back to the room for a Jacuzzi and to get ready for dinner at 8. We had an awesome dinner: wine, steak tartare (YUM-one of the best things the whole trip), filet and lobster, ceasar salad and we were stuffed. We were in bed by 11:30, stuffed and happy.
Monday we rolled out of bed around 10 to meet with the formal photog who came by with our photo book and our CD. It was $250 so we said, fuck it and we bought it. Our flight was delayed so we paid $40 to have a 5:30 check out and hung out watching SVU all day long. We finally left at 6 in the Golden Nugget house limo. Then it was bye bye, Vegas. We were sad.
It was a phenomenally great time. It was a non-stop party and I think I am STILL tired. I didn’t drink Friday or Saturday and only had wine with dinner and 1.5 bloody marys on Sunday. I am actually glad that it worked out that way because my memory of everything is so clear. I remember every little thing from the sound of Mark’s voice to jumping to I got a feeling in my 5 inch heels. I remember the frozen egg rolls at the Hawaiian place at 5 am and then nap time at the pool on Sunday. I wouldn’t change a single thing (except maybe to have the DJ play the right cake song AND to have one table empty so we could do pictures).
Fantastic! For deets on the vendors check out Reviews.
