November 19, 2008 5:35pm

Okay- final post to describe the wedding:

So we head down to The Crystal Point. It was perfect. We went down to where the reception would be held, and I slipped into the "bridal room" that is off to the side. There, Amy and our maitre'd, Joann, bustled my dress. Roger and I then walked around the room and just took it all in.

The CP did the cutest thing. They had charger plates at our Sweetheart table that has our names painted on them in gold paint. Not just on there for the night, but on there printed forever for us to keep! We now have plates that say "Roger and Elizabeth Hislastname" "October 17, 2008". How cute!

We got there in time to enjoy our entire cocktail hour, so we slipped into the room and immediately parted ways to "divide and conquer" the room and greeting responsibilities. I immediately went to those friends of mine who I wanted to spend the most personal one-on-one time with (as much as one can during a wedding). Interestingly, this meant going to friends who are not my closest. My nearest and dearest were either in my bridal party, at the rehearsal dinner the night before, or I see them on a regular basis anyway. It seemed silly to sit and talk to those people who I see all the time, so I visited with those who I haven't seen in a year, or who came all the way from W.V. to join us for the wedding.

Next on the list were work/hospital related friends, former teachers/mentors and the like. After that, I caught up with Roger again and scarfed down a plate of yummies put together by one of his friends for me.

The yummies that I actually got to see/remember:
Corned beef carving station (very big hit)
Vegetable crepes
Veggie crudite passed in its own little shot glass of dip (a few veggie sticks held in a shot glass with a dollop of dip)
Cheese display
Pigs in a blanket
Coconut shrimp
Brie in phylo
some kind of meat on a stick (why is it that you can put a piece of meat on a stick and suddenly it's gourmet by calling it "satay"? I'm going to serve corn dogs at my next gathering and call it "pork product Satay")
I think there were some hot chafing dishes of calamari and eggplant rolletini
And then about 8 other passed foods

There was an ice sculpture that looked like a lighthouse.

We had a jazz guitarist there for cocktail hour entertainment.


It was the fastest hour of my life. I didn't even get to try all the yummy things or talk to everyone I wanted to talk to before someone was telling me that they were going to be calling the guests into the next room in 5 minutes!

Off we went with our guests to the next room. We didn't ask our bridal party or parents to come parading out to be announced. Our families know each other. Our friends know each other. People who don't know our friends really don't care who the maid of honor is and what her name is. Our bridal party got to just relax and be guests. They were no longer on display. They could loosen their britches and relax.

We were announced as "Roger and Elizabeth" since Im not changing my name. We walked out and our song "For Once In My Life" by Michael Buble began. We were taking dancing lessons, so we had a perfectly choreographed dance.

We really didn't want to be introduced to something loud and booming like "Eye of the Tiger". At that point, we were married for about 2 hours. What obstacles could we possibly have had to overcome to warrant a theme song of Eye of the Tiger? Or even better "Let's Get Ready to Rumbleeeeeee"- bad, bad omen.

Oh oh oh! I forgot! When we were in our little waiting room before we were announced, we decided to try a few dance steps for practice.

Slow...Slow....Quick Quick....shit! I'm stepping on my dress! We hadn't realized that even with my dress bustled, it still doesn't come completely off the ground and when I have to dance (backwards steps) I step on it. It wouldn't have been more than one or two moves before I'd be putting the back of the dress off of me!

Then I remembered the little loop thing that helps to carry it around. Perfect! I put that on my wrist and we were able to dance.

Everyone hooted and hollered at the end of our dance when Roger did a very dramatic dip and kiss.

Then Roger danced with his mom, followed by the BM and MOH speeches.

Then came the food. We told our (wonderful) DJ to please play music that people can dance to during dinner. It's boring to just sit and wait for food. She did, and it was great! Lots of people were up between courses!

First Course: Assorted sliced melon with berries
Salad: Mixed greens with balsamic vinegarette
Intermezzo: lemon sorbet (most refreshing after dancing)
Main Course: Choice of Chicken stuffed with prosciutto, mozzarella cheese and spinach or Chateaubriant. Both served with veggies and Dutchess potatoes. Second helpings were offered, and you could try whatever you didn't order the first time around.

Roger and I were adamant that we would eat. We made sure we sat down between dancing and visiting tables to get our food. Honestly, though, we just weren't hungry. Maybe it was the excitement. Maybe it was jitters. Even the open bar didn't strike our fancy and all we wanted was to drink wanted and seltzer to rehydrate from all the dancing and talking!

We decided to skip the traditional wedding cake. We had platters of italian pastries brought to the tables, and then an ice cream sundae bar was set up. Waiters came by with a cart to offer espresso and/or port.

The maitre'd made up a GIANT sundae for us. It had every topping available there, and came in a huge stemmed glass (think one of those funky margarita glasses). Instead of cutting a cake, they wheeled our sundae out onto the dance floor on a cart and we fed each other from there. I think the photographer got some good pictures of us feeding each other cherries.

The ice cream sundae bar was a big big big hit with our guests!

We hardly sat! We were up dancing all night. The music was fantastic. The DJ did a wonderful job of bridging the generation gap, and making the music enjoyable for all.

It was all over by 11:30. I was tired of being in my dress. My shoes weren't comfortable anymore. My earrings were heavy. I wanted to take a shower and feel like myself again.

We loaded up Roger's car with our gifts and all of the decor that didn't belong to the catering hall, or that wasn't disposable. The maitre'd packed us up two nice dinners to reheat when we got home. She also packed up about 5 boxes of dessert pastries.

We went home. Roger helped me get out of my dress and I ran to the shower.

I think everyone has an image of their wedding night. Romance, sex, candles.

Ours was a little different.

There was lots of exhaustion, but just from the events of the day. Relief to get all the sweat from dancing off of us. Hunger from not eating much earlier.

After getting into comfy pajamas, we heated up our dinners and then opened up our gifts/envelopes.

Then fell sound asleep.

The end!

Well, actually.....

The beginning!