The Big Ol' Medieval Wedding

Having missed work on Monday (driving back from Orlando and across the great Georgia desert), I've been frantically trying to get caught up all week and also had commitments that kept me pretty late the past few nights. So, this is the first chance I've had to tell you all about the wedding at which I officiated this past weekend.

The short version is: it was great! The bride was beautiful, the groom could barely take his eyes off of her during the ceremony (which went very well), and the reception was lovely.


The long version: Chris and I left Atlanta around 7:30am on Saturday and got to the hotel around 3:30. We then proceeded almost immediately to Mead Gardens for the rehearsal, where we met the families and wedding party. Our friends hadn't engaged a wedding planner, so for a while confusion reigned. Though I tried to fight my naturally bossy instincts (I prefer to think of them as "leadership skills" in my more delusional moments), I finally Just Couldn't Stand It, and asked the bride if she minded if I took charge. She seemed happy that I asked, so I called on my loooooong experience with weddings (I've maid of honour-ed, I've bridesmaid-ed, I've sung, I've read, I've officiated-- see? Loooong AND varied experience!) and got us organized. Note: I happened to look around and see that Chris was grinning like a crack monkey. Apparently he'd bet someone that I wouldn't be able to take the standing around and would ask to take charge. Darn spouses!

After the rehearsal, we headed to Antonio's La Fiamma restaurant for an absolutely divine rehearsal dinner. I had the Ravioli Mezza Luna and I won't soon forget it, mmmmm. We finally had a chance to have an actual conversation with the happy couple, and it was so nice to get caught up. After that, Chris and I headed back to the hotel and slept for the next eleven hours (question: why is driving long distances so exhausting??). The next day being Sunday, and Sunday being meant for having brunch,I got on the internet and stumbled upon The Fiddler's Green, a cute Irish pub. We both ordered the Irish Breakfast breakfast (though I had them hold the meat on mine), and I proceeded to drink three large mugs of some amazing, malty Irish tea, the name of which I can't remember. Curses! In any event, it kept me going all day long. After brunch we headed over to the gardens to help decorate the ceremony area and then went back to the hotel to change.

Here's a shot of the dress (the dress of many trials and tribulations!):



Ohhh nooooo! My head got cut off! Ha, ha, just kidding. I actually DESPISE being photographed, mostly because I look so horrible on film. This shot was no exception so I did deliberately, and with malice aforethought, crop off my own head. But, one thing that you can easily see is that I am Very Short. In the first photo, I'm standing by my new friend, Jen. Jen is wearing flats; I am wearing boots with three inch heels. Yes, like I said: I'm short. I hope that we can all still be friends, now that you know my awful secret *sniff* (edit: err, hang on. You CAN'T see that because I got cut out of the first photo, lol, oops!)

One thing I have to mention is the incredibly nice thing that my parents did for us. In addition to keeping our dogs for us, they DROVE ALL THE WAY TO ATLANTA TO GIVE THEM BACK. The original plan had been for us to meet up halfway between our two cities, but my parents knew that we were going to be tired and ventured into Atlanta at 3:30 in the afternoon! Those of you familiar with Atlanta traffic will know that it would only be for love that one would venture anywhere inside the perimeter at that time of day! Thank you, parents!

So, that concludes the tale of the Big Ol' Medieval Wedding. I hope that you enjoyed it :)
Kimberley