The Post-Wedding Post

I am so relieved that the wedding is over!

It wasn't a hardship, and I wasn't exactly dreading it, but all the planning and talking did absorb a significant portion of my energy on a daily basis, and I'm looking forward to channeling that towards other projects.

For some reason when I was thinking about how to describe how it went (without going into too much detail), all I could think about were all the things that didn't happen. Maybe this is because I've never been a starry-eyed bride, so when I was planning it I spent a lot of time focusing on excluding all the things that I hate about weddings.

Happily, this resulted in a pared-down, relaxing, beautiful night. Here is a list of what we didn't have at the wedding:

-a long-winded officiant (the ship's captain stuck to the script)
-scripture or poetry readings
-live musical performances
-ushers or a wedding party (Dumpling's sister and my brother stood up with us)
-the chicken dance (nor was there any polka for that matter--possibly a first in the history of Minnesota weddings)
-a DJ (I made my own playlist and hooked up my iPod to the sound system)
-the garter-removing scene
-the cake-cutting ceremony
-a breakout of hives, pimples, or panic
-drunk Tamara
-thunderstorms

Re: the last two items, it had been in the low sixties and thunderstorming the two previous days/nights, and more showers were predicted for our big day. But we woke up that morning, and the weather just sort of miraculously cleared up: mid-seventies, sunny, still water. We really couldn't have asked for better weather for a cruise on Lake Superior, and everyone was really excited about it. Some of my family mentioned that maybe it was my dad smiling down on us from heaven, and while that is a lovely sentiment in a chicken-soup sort of way, I choose to believe that it was the collective thought power of everyone in attendance visualizing perfect weather that made it happen.

Also, I did sort of have this fear in the back of my mind that the pressure of the day would prove to be too much, and that I'd overindulge in drinks and wind up making an ass out of myself. Fortunately, I was way too busy smiling for pictures, talking, kissing my new husband (my family is a big fan of the glass-clinking trick), and basking in good wishes to even finish my second drink. Whew!

Now that I've survived my own wedding, I actually feel like I have a lot to share on the topic. Without intending any negative connotations, it was definitely a learning experience. I briefly toyed with the idea of becoming a wedding planner, but I would never do that while living in New York. I think I'll just try to distill my newfound wisdom into a few (hopefully) helpful blog posts for any betrothed readers who may stumble across my pages.

For now, it's back to work! The cat has forgiven us for abandoning her for five days (a friend took care of her), the mail, e-mail, and suitcases have all been sorted out, and I have a list of thank-you cards to write and mail. If time and money allow, we'd love to go on a honeymoon trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong in late autumn, but our immediate focus is on the restaurant's official Grand Opening, slated for Friday, August 21!

I'm looking forward to catching up with my favorite blogs and keeping up with my own--not to mention getting back to my book, which was sadly neglected in the last couple of weeks before our nuptials.

Exciting times!

You know it was a good trip when you have happy memories, and you're also happy to be home again ;)