This past weekend DH and I attended a wedding and, for the first time, took Sister along with us. The mother of the bride (my former boss and current friend) told us to bring her and I thought she'd enjoy the magical beauty of a wedding. She did, but I was sweating it for a few minutes in the church when Sister started getting a little squirrely. Apparently the Preacher's mini-sermon on the life changes brought on by marriage wasn't all that magical to Sister. Thank goodness for the tiny pencils and offering envelopes sitting there in the pew (God bless the Presbyterians- you can always count on them for tiny pencils and envelopes.) I did a little drawing to entertain her and it worked.
I surprised myself by tearing up when the bride walked down the aisle. I don't usually do that, but what got me was seeing my friend, the bride's mother, watch her daughter walk down the aisle. I suddenly had this flash-forward in my mind to 20ish years from now when I will likely watch Sister doing the exact same thing. My friend looked so happy and proud, not sad at all, but I could only imagine that it seemed like yesterday that her own daughter was a wriggling preschooler in her lap. Everyone tells me, "Don't blink! She'll be grown before you know it!" but it's one of those things you just can't appreciate in the moment when you're potty training and sleep deprived and cleaning up a room full of toys for the 100th time.
The wedding itself was so beautiful. My boss/friend is one of the classiest women I know, and of course the wedding followed suit. The reception was at an old plantation in a meeting hall/ barn kind of building but they had made it really beautiful with greenery and white lights. They had even hung tiny chandeliers dripping fresh flowers over each of the 40+ tables. I can only imagine how much the event cost- especially once I got a glimpse of the food. Major spread! They had everything you could imagine- roast beef, shrimp, crab legs, a variety of breads and dips, ham biscuits, spring rolls, etc. etc. etc. PLUS a big sushi bar. Quite fabulous. (Of course, the only thing Sister would eat out of the entire line-up was a deviled egg and a cheddar muffin.)
One thing I wanted to remember for future wedding plans (Sister's, not mine) was that they did make one mistake that could be avoided. The wedding was at 6:00, so people arrived at the reception around 7:00- STARVING. All the food was set out but was covered with saran wrap; the message obviously being that it wasn't time to eat. There were waiters going around with tiny little servings of appetizers, but that wasn't cutting it. There was one table in the corner with some fresh veggies, olives, deviled eggs, and crackers that wasn't covered. The line for that table was 50 people deep at all times. By the time the wedding party arrived (around 7:40) and the caterer uncovered the rest of the spread, the first little table was decimated. And then the line for the main food (which could only be served off one side of the table- another error, in my opinion) was at least 100 people deep. So, having seen that, I would definitely tell the caterer to serve everything as soon as guests started arriving. I know it's tempting to wait for the wedding party to arrive (in fact, I remember this debate from my own wedding) but the reality is that it creates a huge log-jam and causes your guests to go hungry. There. I'll label this post "weddings" and then in 20 years I can pull it out and remember! HA!