The Wedding.

We begin our tale on Thursday, when we flew to Hartford by way of Philadelphia. Everything was going fine until USAir decided to switch the plane we were supposed to use with one that was going to Los Angeles, and so we sat in an airplane in Philly for a solid hour while they removed the fuel from the plane so it would be light enough to land in Hartford. All this resulted in us getting to Hartford late, and then Chris, another of the bridesmaids (to whom we are greatly indebted) picked us up and drove us to our hotel. After all these adventures, O. and I decided that what we really, really needed was food, and so we had breakfast at 1 AM at the all-night diner across the street. Praise the diner!

The next day O. slept in while I went to the bride's house for an excellent lunch; we hung out and chatted while sewing combs into the headpiece of her veil. The bride, two of the other bridesminions, and I all went to college together and have been friends for, oh, 13 years now, and it's always great when we can all be in the same place for a while. That evening was the rehearsal and dinner, at which the bride gave us all presents: sock kits! How awesome is that, and how well does she know us by now? :) Mine is the blue-striped one in the middle.

After a long evening, many Cosmos and glasses of pinot grigio, and lots of photographs (by the pros, not me), it was time for bed. (Well, after another quick trip to the diner. We were still eating on Mountain Time.) I set the alarm for God-help-me in the morning, and woke up an hour early. Imagine a long string of profanities unsuitable for a Catholic wedding.

We dragged ourselves to the salon to be Beautified. Beth has documented the process; take a good look, it isn't likely to happen again. They put my hair in these giant roller things and spritzed madly and then stuck me under a giant helmet and the bride and I shouted at each other for a while and ate bagels. Then eventually the stylist pulled me back out and stuck a hojillion bobby pins straight into my head. Ow. Beth suffered something similar, while Chris cleverly escaped with her sleek bobbed hair intact. She couldn't hold out forever, though, and thanks to Beth's make-up kit we were all soon wearing more cosmetics than I wore to my own wedding.

I have so far failed to mention that it was freezing cold and pouring rain. Well, it was. The salon was across the street from the church, but with no crosswalk and all the wet, it wasn't close enough. So the stylists called up their friends at the police station and had them block traffic for us! We made it safely across without dropping the skirt or train or bouquets in any puddles, and my clever husband photographed the whole scene.

After some fussing and tidying we lined up and paraded into the church, only a little late. Well, kind of late, but that's okay. None of us tripped in the aisle, and we all made it to our assigned places and sat down. Then a whole lot of Catholic things happened. It's not really my scene so I just smiled a lot and remembered not to take communion. See, that's me (and Chris) not taking communion. The flower girl, who sat next to us, was a little shocked to find out that we weren't Catholic, but hopefully she'll get over it in a few years. At the end of the ceremony Beth's husband sang a hymn and wow, that guy can sing.

And then there was SMOOCHING in CHURCH, and it was all over! Well, the churchy part - there were still plenty of other things to do. For instance, see that artfully arranged skirt? That was bridesmaidly duty. And then there was the bustling of the dress and veil so they wouldn't drag all over the parking lot. And then we all went to the reception.

The most interesting thing about the reception, aside from the terribly yummy cake (lemon with vanilla frosting and raspberry jam) and the chance to see another college friend and her insanely adorable daughter, was that it was held at the Spinning Wheel Inn! And the bride isn't even a spinner! Beth and I got our pictures taken in front of the great wheel in the entryway. After a good look at that monster I'm very happy with my little Lendrum.

After much dancing and picture-taking and watching the newlyweds be ridiculously happy, it was finally time to depart. We spent a lovely evening at my mother-in-law's house, had her excellent blueberry pancakes for brunch, and flew home. We're very tired, and I'm afraid I may have caught a cold, but I wouldn't have missed this wedding for the world and I wish them every happiness.