Another day, another dress

My brother is married! Wow, it's weird to say he has a wife. I'm sure my siblings thought the same thing when I got married though.

We headed home early on Friday so I could attend a surprise baby shower for my cousin's wife. My cousin and his wife live in Florida, so I gave them burp cloths I made (easy to pack) and pitched in for a gift card.

We went to our hotel and got set up there. It is weird to stay in a hotel in my hometown, but we figured if Xander stayed up screaming then at least we'd only keep up strangers. Lo and behold, our neighbors were my other brother and his girlfriend.

We moseyed over to the church for rehearsal. That and the dinner went smoothly. It was just huge, since the wedding party was huge and everyone's significant other and everyone involved came. Afterward a lot of people went out to the bar, but I headed back to the room with Xander. Chris stayed out late and I can't tell you how many people mentioned how he was the life of the party. Apparently Mark (the brother getting married) had to sneak out while Chris was in the bathroom.

Saturday dawned bright and early and I was off to get my hair done. All of the other girls had lots of curls, but I had more of a slicked back thing done since Xander is a hair puller. Then off to the church to get dressed. And I will be writing another post about my shoes.

The ceremony was sweet and went well. Of course this is where I make my first Bridesmaid Flub. Our dresses were strapless and had a small train and a sash that trailed. Trisha was sure to make sure she wasn't standing on my train when we started the recession, but I didn't do that with the bridesmaid in front of me. Fortunately she just tugged on it a little and made a face (I've heard of strapless dresses coming off when stepped on, yowza). I apologized so profusely afterward.

We all headed out to the party bus to get more pictures taken. The bus was pretty cool, it had seats turned around with tables between. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy it because of my second Bridesmaid Flub of getting a migraine. I tried not to be a needy, attention hog but I ran off the the bathroom when people where getting pictures and kept standing out in the cold. Then I realized I'd committed another Bridesmaid Flub and lost my bouquet. Ack!

We headed to the reception on the party bus (nausea, nausea, nausea). I kept it together long enough for the introductions, but missed some of my favorite parts of the reception like first dance and cake cutting and food. But I didn't want to leave my brother's wedding reception. I mean, really, it's not something to miss. So I stuck it out and took a few walks out in the cold air. Fortunately, the migraine subsided and I was able to enjoy visiting with relatives I don't see often and some dancing.

By the end of the night I had committed two more Bridesmaid Flubs by breaking the strap of my dress (I added them at the reception) and Xander broke the necklace I was given to wear. I was a little worried he swallowed part of it, but I found it later. Fortunately my new sister-in-law was in no way a bridezilla, so I don't think I caused any issues with all of my problems.

Sunday we woke up and packed up the room and went to brunch at Mark's house to watch him and his bride open gifts. I'd hoped to get some more time in with my aunt's family but we had to head home after that.

Overall, a busy but fun weekend. I'll post a few pictures on Xander's site in a while.