This is the last of my series of posts about the wedding.
As can be expected the morning of a wedding, it was buy and hectic. Yet I wouldn't necessarily call it as stressful as I feared. Most everyone had their tickets, the bridesmaids knew what they needed to do to get ready, and the outfits were all sorted out.
We got up at 6am (before the sun was even up) and spent the first hour and a half doing our hair. Then we met my parents downstairs for breakfast. We got to say a quick hello to other family and friends staying in the same hotel (with our hair all up in braids with flowers and circlets keep in mind) before we had to scurry back upstairs to finish getting ready. My mom came up to snap a few pictures before I asked if she would go get us a luggage trolley for my bridesmaids' things as they were going to a different hotel that night. It was only then, about 30-45 minutes before we had to leave, that things started getting a bit hectic.
My brother comes up to the room to bring up D's stuff and get our officiant so she could ride with D to the renaissance festival. Just at that moment, dad called being all stressed out. Apparantly my mom decided to go back to their room first in time to see dad all stressed out because his outfit wasn't fitting him properly somehow and that we should get our own trolley. My brother immediately left and got us a trolley as it was really getting time to go. We got most of the bridesmaids things loaded up, but our officiant's bags somehow got left behind in our room. It worked out in the end though because the hotel was moving D's and my stuff to a different room with a king sized bed, and her stuff just got moved with ours and picked up after the wedding.
I load up in the car with the bridesmaids and make it to the festival with plenty of time to spare, probably just when traffic was starting to pick up. We get to the festival, and my parents tell me that D is freaking out because he didn't get his VIP parking pass from my brother, and my brother had left my phone behind with me when he rushed off to get us the luggage trolley. We ran my brother around like a madman that morning trying to distribute last minute tickets, and he somehow got the parking pass to D in time. I probably won't ever know just how much effort he put in that morning, but I got to go in as soon as the festival opened and place the programs before cooling my heals before the wedding.
15 minutes or so before the wedding, a hoard of our friends dressed in full in-period garb came into the wedding area and told me D was coming and I needed to go hide. So I gather the wedding party to go hide behind some bleachers only to realize we forgot to grab my dad. A groomsman goes to retrieve him, and then we wait. We're not sure if anyone is coming to get us, but our event coordinator apparantly took charge and got someone where we were to signal us.
After that time, the day went (mostly) according to plan. Dad and I got our entrance complete with a trumpeter (noone knew where the other trumpeter was >.<; ) and honor guard with swords. D was waiting for me at the altar with a single yellow rose, such a romantic gesture. He even got on one knee to give his vows because he didn't do a proper proposal on one knee. I only had eyes for him, but apparantly a lot of people were tearing up during our vows. We exchanged vows and rings and a kiss, and we were married! We proceeded out to signify the end of the ceremony.
We went back in for pictures, but the actors for the king and queen and their royal court came in and stole the show. They mingled with our guests before leading us in a procession to the joust. We got a special announced entrance as well as a toast from the king. We got to sit on the main platform with the queen during the joust, and I got to hand out the medals to the winners of each contest. It was a lot of fun, and I could tell our guests were enjoying the show too (although maybe I should've warned more of them to bring hats and sunscreen).
The reception ended up not being this big deal. People drifted in and out the whole time we had it. As a result, not everyone was there for milestones like the cake cutting, first dance, and throwing of the bouquet. In the end though, it felt like this fun, informal party that people could enjoy coming and going as they pleased. Even though not everyone got to be there for the keystone traditions, it still ended up being a great time.
The receiving of guests later that night at the hotel really rounded off the "weekend-long party" feeling. Just like the reception people came and went at their leisure, and we wouldn't have had it any other way. We were both so happy to see that everyone had a good time at the festival in their own ways. But after all the excitement of the weekend, my readers can forgive me for taking nearly a week to just get back in a relaxed mood enough to feel up to writing all about it.
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