I spent almost an hour scrubbing pumpkins/gords:
The church sanctuary:
The center piece on the punch table at the dining hall:
Unfortunately, I misplaced my camera before we decorated the dance hall, so I don't have pictures of those decorations or of the wedding day.
I'm emailing people asking them to send me pics.
I found my camera when I got home from the wedding and took a couple of pics of my hair because it was soooo purty!
From the back (I got to have flowers in my hair!):
From the side:
I'll post more pics as I get them. The actual wedding day lasted from 8am - 2am. But it was SOOO much fun. And I actually did a lot better with my toast than I was expecting. I was terrified to give a speech actually. There were about 200 people there. I've put in a copy of my speech at the end of this post if you're interested in reading it.
I didn't sleep well for a week before the wedding and then worked my bum off for two days. But it was beautiful and fun and I danced and hung out with friends I hadn't seen for quite a while. Aya was a gorgeous bride. The decorations were perfect. It went off without a hitch... well except for the one that was supposed to happen :)
Sunday morning I had brunch with some Res-Life friends and then around noon I dropped off the last of the decorations to Aya. I came home with every intention of taking a well-deserved nap, but I noticed my landlords next door and I brought them over to my apt to see if they could figure out why it's always so hot (between 80-85 degrees on average with the heat turned off). After climbing around in the basement we came back up and my landlord started feeling around for sources of heat. The culprit? My retro-avacado-green fridge. So sad. I fell in love with that thing when I first walked into the apt. Ah well. I now have a newer, white fridge and my apt is already much cooler. Apparently the green beast was running constantly, pumping out all kinds of heat.
I still couldn't sleep Sunday night - was up until 4am. Just couldn't turn off my brain. Finally, last night I took a sleeping pill and got my first good night's sleep in over a week.
And... I woke up to SNOW!
All in all - I had a blast this weekend. I saw old friends, got a new fridge and married off my best bud.
Here's my speech:
Hello there.
Who here remembers the dept store Montgomery Wards? (raising of hands)
Well I'll never forget that store. My first job was working there in the draperies dept. I remember on June 10, 1997 my boss introduced me to a new employee, this mousey, little, blond-headed girl. Yes she's naturally blond. (indignant "Hey!" from Aya)
Now, the draperies dept isn't exactly a hip and happening joint. We were kind of tucked away in this darkened corner of the store. It was actually quite boring., but those of you who know Aya, know how creative she is.
Well, somewhere we both had found these little beanie baby-type toys – hers was a lizard and mine was a turtle. We always left them at the cash register. Well… one day I came in and my turtle was missing. In its place was a hand-written note. This note, in a suspiciously familiar handwriting, (look at Aya) gave me cryptic clues as to where my little turtle was to be found. I spent the first ten minutes of my shift hunting for my turtle. After I found him I decided to return the favor with her lizard. And that was our beginning.
Aya moved up here to MN and less than two years later I followed her. She graduated from college, and a year later I graduated. Aya was the first to get her masters, and in May I'll have mine. She was the first to be employed in career-type job. I'll be seeking permanent employment in May. And now she’s the first to be married. I'm single. If any guys out there are interested - I'll be here all night. (whistles and woots from the audience - *grin*)
Over the last ten years we’ve had quite a few adventures. Some wilder than others. If you're interested in hearing about those come find me.
We’ve helped each other through lots of ups and downs and survived multiple road trips together - which wasn't always easy.
Aya’s more than my best friend. She’s my sister.
Please join me in wishing both Aya and Daryk a life filled with laughter and love.
Cheers!