What a fun memorial day weekend we had. Friday night was Camille's bridal shower at my house. We celebrated Camille and all of her favorite things. We had hors d'oeuvres of cheese, olives, peanuts, chips and salsa, chocolate covered strawberries (yes, this is an hors d'oeuvre) and much more. Then we had a main course thai themed: mandarin asian salad, thai curry chicken, green beans and tofu and spring rolls. We had a hot fudge sundae station for dessert. Delicious! We played some games and just had such a great time celebrating Camille. After the shower, Peter & I picked up some of our very favorite people in the whole world up from the airport the Begleys! Mike performed Camille's wedding ceremony.
On Saturday, we hosted the rehearsal in our backyard, then had a delicious rehearsal dinner at Marrakesh. So much fun-- 7 courses of deliciousness. And hilariously enough, I've now been to Marrakesh enough that the owner recognized me and came over to say hello. He told me I have a '10lbs laugh.' I'm choosing to take that as a compliment and not a subtle way of telling me to lower my voice ;)
On Sunday, Camille, Stacy (the other bridesmaid) and I met at the salon to get our hair done and get dressed. We also ate Chipotle for lunch at the salon. After we were all made to look fabulous-- we headed off in the limo to the church. We called Karen on the way. Karen, is another bridesmaid, but sadly couldn't make it because she was in a car accident in England. Karen--we really missed you!!! We got to the church took photos and were ready to start the ceremony.
I was the matron of honor and was thus responsible for carrying the ring down the aisle. As soon as I got to the end of the aisle I realized that I had left Jim's ring downstairs!!!! I am SUCH A MORON!!!! I looked at Stacy and said, in pure panic, 'Jim's ring is still downstairs'. Stacy just said--'don't move!!!' She gently excused herself and left the ceremony. Afterwards we were surprised at the reactions, many people were so focused on the happy couple they didn't notice, others thought she really really had to use the restroom, some thought maybe she felt sick. When Stacy left, Camille looked at me and said 'you have the ring, right' and I said 'No. Stacy is getting it' Lucky for me, Camille is so great, that instead of killing me or firing me on the spot, which, quite frankly, is what I deserved, she just burst out laughing and said 'I love you.'
Stacy returned with the ring without missing a beat. However, when Mike asked for the rings we all burst out giggling. We also sang one of the worst congregational songs known to man!!! We sang that song 'I'm trading my sorrows, I'm trading my pain, I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord.' Peter & Mary were leading the singing, and did an excellent job. However, the musicians (a cellist and violinist) apparently had never heard the song before and didn't have any idea how to play it. Peter just tried to sing through the funeral dirge of that song -- I thought it sounded like we were being accompanied by dying cats. It was awful-- no one had any idea what key to sing in, or pace to sing at. Those of you who know me, know I NEVER sing out loud in public. NEVER. My voice is really awful, and I can't hear keys, or notes very well so usually I just lip sync out of respect to those singing around me. This was so bad I sang as loud as I could, because I thought it would help!! Most of us were laughing at how horrible it sounded, including Jim & Camille. It's really great that they had such a good sense of humor about the whole thing.
Then they had a gorgeous reception on a riverboat that went up and down the Potomac as we partied the night away (including a wonderful first dance, bouquet toss on the top deck, and (of course) a 'first redux' of 'Trading my sorrows'...from the safety of my iPod!).
All in all, it was an amazing weekend of celebrating Jim & Camille. I'm so happy for them and felt really privileged and blessed to be a part of their special day. Thanks for including me guys, I love you!
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