Wedding Mania, Part II

Before we knew it, July was upon us! I traveled to Colorado first to attend our friends', Jason and Shelley, wedding. It was a lovely affair at the Embassy Suites in Colorado Springs - a very familiar site since I'd spent many weekends there taking my CPA review course a few years before! I brought my friend Kelly along to fill in for Mark, enjoyed the wedding and then made a brief appearance at the reception before heading back to Kelly's house for a good night's sleep.

I spent the next week tying up as many loose ends as possible. After I'd had finished most of my wedding errands, I traveled to Lamar to spend time with my parents and my nephew. I enjoyed meeting Miss Kitty, my mom's new Siamese kitten, and was able to get a little rest and relaxation in as well.

I returned to Colorado Springs to tie up few more loose ends and to fetch Chris Christopher who had just arrived from San Diego. He had arrived just after making the maiden voyage of the USS Ronald Reagan which you can see entering the Straits of Magellan on the right. We also picked Mark up from the airport when he arrived the next day.

On Thursday during the day, while Mark and his friends went to see the Rockies play, I picked up her friend Alisa at the airport (Betsy came along). The three enjoyed a pleasant lunch at Red Robin where they discussed the wedding plans. After lunch, they rushed off to pick up the wedding dress and run a few other errands. On Thursday evening, my Matron of Honor, Sarah, and one of her attendants, Stacy, threw a bridal shower in my honor. There were fun games for everyone to play and lots of yummy treats to snack on. I received some very neat gifts of kitchen items from my friends and lots of tasty recipes to try.

On Friday, my attendants and I went to a salon for manicures and pedicures. We enjoyed a relaxing lunch and then returned to the hotel to change in to some nice clothes so that we could make it to the rehearsal on time! Upon arrival, Mark and I signed the marriage license and the church's wedding registry. Then, all the wedding participants took their places and the orchestration of what would happen the next day began. It was sure to be a beautiful ceremony the next morning!

Friends and family gathered on Friday evening at Marigold's Cafe and Bakery for the rehearsal dinner. Before and after dinner, everyone shared their favorite and often, embarrassing, memories of Mark and MeLissa growing up while enjoying good food and excellent desserts.

We presented gifts to members of our wedding party and our parents. All the men received Swiss Army pens which had many handy tools. The pens were "space" pens that could write upside down and in water as well. For our mothers, we chose engraved photo albums to keep copies of the wedding photos once they were available. Finally, I gave my attendants engraved clocks which symbolized the timelessness of our friendship.

We also exchanged gifts with each other. I gave Mark a locket-style wrist watch which features an opening where I later put a picture of myself for him to always remember how I looked on our wedding day. Mark gave me a heart felt card which he wrote himself and a specially commissioned picture frame which had two clay birds resembling Robin and Woodstock, my birds who had passed away in the months preceding the wedding. It was pretty hard not to get all choked up with those two items! Mark is the best at getting gifties!