I Like Winter Weddings

I almost called off the wedding. Seriously. There was a bit of a discrepancy that occurred shortly after arriving in Michigan that I didn't know about. I kept my mouth shut and managed to stay relatively calm about it for close to 30 hours, (I wanted to make sure I wasn't over-reacting) before throwing my fit. The fit happened. Unfortunately it happened on Thanksgiving and I ended up skipping dinner at my brother's in-laws to drive to Chelsea (near Ann Arbor) to get some things for the wedding (which was another sore point in my books). So I missed the Turkey.

However, the drive was good for me and by the time I made it back to my parent's house I had thought things through and a truce had been made via text messaging (amazing how that works isn't it?).

Getting married is stressful. I hate to imagine what would have happened if we'd had more than 5 months to plan for the wedding. It didn't help that the stress was compounded by the fact that my mom wished we'd had more time...that made me feel I was somehow doing things wrong.

Oh well.

By the time I was standing in the church waiting to walk down the aisle, wondering if Nate was going to faint (he looked a little pale), nothing mattered anymore because I was laughing too hard. Surprisingly I was totally calm about everything (the Mimosa that morning may have helped).

The wedding was beautiful and our Priest did a great job with everything. I loved our piano player, the harpist at the reception rocked, and the food was awesome! We held the reception at Bistro Bourdeau in Auburn Hills. I highly recommend them for not just parties, but for an elegant, affordable, delicious night out as well.

We stopped at only one spot for pictures, and in hindsite I wish I'd pushed for another. I was feeling a little rushed because the reception followed immediately after the ceremony and my mom had made a few comments about the time spent on pictures at the church, and then my brother kept commenting on time when we stopped (probably under orders from mom). I did put my foot down and say that this was our wedding and we were only stopping in one place so I was going to take my time there...but I really am a bit disappointed they couldn't have left me alone concerning it all. It wasn't like anyone was waiting for us to eat - food was served before we arrived. That attitude sort of went along with the whole theme that I rushed things so now we didn't have time for anything extra - which was Bull. I just wish a few people could have been a bit more excited about my marriage. They love Nate, so it's not like that even became an issue, and it's not like I'm some youngster running headlong into God knows what.

On the note of unhappy people: Nate's parent's were supposed to be in town Friday for dinner at my parent's. They said they'd be there, but made excuses. They were at the wedding and didn't look happy. I, of course, gave them big grins and hugs. My family talked their ears off. They stayed the whole time at the reception and went to my parent's afterwards and then met them for breakfast the following morning.

My MIL took me aside and told me I had the nicest family she'd ever met. Well duh. They're Italian and will either talk your ear off, feed you, or somehow manage to combine the two to where you don't know what hit you. I've always been friendly and gracious and usually the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. My avoiding her has to do with anxiety and fear from her past behavior, but never have I been anything but polite. I'm glad they were there and saw what I come from. She also hopes we can put the past behind us. I'd like nothing more, but her very volatile behavior in the past does have me wary. I'll just keep being polite. So all in all, well received.

I created our wedding album (the photographer was my neighbor growing up. It was her first wedding and she was all nervous! She did a beautiful job! However, she's scared of the computer so editing and albums were up to me). I usually use Snapfish, but I got to 'lookin' and found this: Smilebooks. It has an awesome free downloadable template for book building. It is now my new favorite album maker.

On Monday we met up with Matt and Erica who stood for us, and their son Gavin who was our ring-bearer, to explore the Detroit Zoo (all decorated for Christmas). I haven't been there in about 10 years and a lot has changed! We couldn't cover the whole zoo with two youngsters, but we saw all the exciting things that involved indoor buildings (it was a bit chilly). I was bummed we didn't get to see the Polar Bears swimming, but the seals were out!

The Sloth was awake and trying to figure out what the heck we were.