The whole event can be best described as flipping overwhelming, and I realized today, writing down everything that happened would be way too much of a daunting task.
I would end up turning this semi-legible blog into unreadable gibberish (which I hope I've avoided...so far).
So instead I shall skip over the week prior and concentrate on condensing the wedding day from a book length description to a reasonable blog length (I'll try but there's a lot...lol)...so here it goes...
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The wedding day was one of the craziest experiences of my life...Complete and total madness...lol
Not only did it turn out to be freaking hot day (which I was dreading since I sweat a lot!), but time literally felt like it was flying by and all I was doing was chasing after it like a dumb ass.
My morning started with me on my cell, talking with family, trying to get them from point A to point B, trying to fix appointments that had gone wrong, and trying to figure out where everyone can meet, all the while I was running around the city, hauling over 8 pounds of makeup on my shoulder, missing stops, getting on the wrong buses, all just trying to get to my hair appointment.
Oh and on top of that, I get on the one bus in NYC where the bus driver is gonna bust my balls because I'm on a cell phone...actually using the intercom to tell me to get off my phone!
WTF!!
I think if I wasn't so distracted with all those problems, I might have taken my heavy bag of makeup and knocked that driver upside her fat head, but then I'd be blogging from jail right now, so thank GOD for small favors...lol
I mean...my mind literally felt like it was in a blender, but like everything else, I pushed through the madness, and got shit done.
Family got where they needed to be, the problems got fixed, I made it to my appointment, got my hair done, and we finalized where we were all gonna meet.
Almost everyone was staying at the same hotel, to avoid driving drunk at 11pm, so we decided that was the place to meet up.
After greeting everyone in the lobby, my mother, panicked about our time, literally commandeered my aunts room for us to change in. It was understandable considering we were going to dress the bride on the boat before everyone else so we were tight on time.
It was insane!
We were literally running around the room in our undergarments, our clothing and all 8 pounds of my makeup scattered across the room. One of my aunts joined us later so we could hep her get dressed which just added to the madness. On top of that the bathroom was tiny even for NY standards, so trying fit 3 people in this bathroom to do makeup with the horrible corpse like lighting was a joke. My mother, my aunt and I literally played musical bathroom...lol
But the worst part was that not only did I have to do my makeup, and do it way over the top thanks to the pictures we were gonna be taking, but I had to do my mothers makeup as well, something I had never done before.
Being a perfectionist, it was a fucking crazy thing for me to attempt in the short time we had, but as luck would have it, I didn't fuck it up. But before I could congratulate myself for not freaking out and for doing a good job, we were out the door, running for a cab, doing a dive by to pick up of the bride, and where at the boat.
It was a nice sized yacht called the Star of America, but the moment I got on I noticed two things. One it was rocking like crazy, I could barley keep my balance, and two it was fucking HOT!!!
It was actually cooler outside then it was inside the ship, and I could already feel the beads of sweat forming on the back of my neck.
I was Fucked!
Between my hair being down, wearing a long dress, the physical exertion of just trying to keep my body upright, and the lack of air conditioning, I knew I was gonna look like a drowned cat within moments.
We headed to the main bathroom which was even hotter then the main cabin, and proceeded to dress the bride. Half way through the photographer told us she wanted some shots of the bride getting ready, so we moved back into the main cabin. Last thing you want when your hot, sweaty and uncomfortable, is a camera in your face, but if its for someone you love, then the term "Fuck It" has a way of running through your head, and that's just what happened.
The back of my head and neck were drenched (so much for getting my hair done), folds of my dress were darkened from the sweat, and my upper lip was covered in beads of moisture, but I just focused on what I was doing.
When it was all done, it was worth every moment because she was a vision...
No one would guess this woman who looked like she was in her 30's was actually going to be 50 in 4 months. Every piece that we had seen and chosen separately, came together flawlessly.
My job was done.
As the bride and groom welcomed the guests onto the boat I realized everything that we had been working towards was about to happen, and though my hair was a mess, my makeup was half melted, my dress was too long, I was drenched in sweat, and I couldn't stand in my heals anymore, I didn't care, I was happy.
I was with my family, people I loved, people I felt at home with.
Everyday that I walk out my door, there could be thousands of people around me, and I feel isolated, alone.
But when I'm with my family I'm surrounded with people who see me, who get me, who know what I'm gonna say before I say it. People who truly understand me and when I'm with them, no matter where that is, I feel like I'm truly home.
So I tied up my hair, kicked off my shoes, and said "FUCK IT!!"
The entire ride the boat rocked. Most of the time we had to hold on to each other or the walls to keep from falling, but we laughed every time.
After drinks, we headed top deck for photos, then once we arrived at the Statue of Liberty the ceremony began.
The brides son's girlfriend, a beautiful young 18 year old woman did the ceremony. She had gotten ordained specifically just to do this ceremony and she did such an amazing job that we will be calling her for future baptisms...lol. A few times I thought the ceremony was going to be ruined by the occasional party boat blasting Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" but they never got close enough to cause a real disturbance, just close enough to make me laugh.
Then the real party began. The DJ started spinning, and people started dancing (at least those who had the courage with the boat rocking). My uncle, who's notorious at weddings, was dancing with whomever he could grab, and god bless the women who were unlucky enough to get captured by him cause my uncle is dangerous when he dances on dry land, let alone at sea. If you don't believe me, ask every pair of ripped dress pants that man has gone through...lol
After some dancing we had the reception below deck. The lower you go, the less the boat rocks so perfect place to have a meal. There was a speech by the groom, but not a lot of hullabaloo, just elegant, to the point, and a tear jerkier. The food was amazing, as was the cake, but my favorite part was that I got to sit at the troublemakers table and was quite honored by it. My aunt the bride, being a bit of a troublemaker herself, had our table right next to hers, which was nice since usually at weddings the trouble makers are sat as far from everyone else as possible...lol...but that's just how our family rolls...;-)
One thing I did notice was that the power on the ship kept browning out, as did our speed, which could be the reason why the boat was so rocky. It also didn't help that the DJ decided to play music from the movie "Titanic" while we were eating. Either he was a complete idiot, and didn't connect how bad a choice of music that was, or he was a bit sadist. I'm just glad everything turned out ok, or I would have throttled that guy myself...lol
After the reception it was back to dancing. I helped the bride out of her dress and into another more comfortable dress, then headed to the party that was already swinging on the top deck. By this point, almost everyone had gotten used to the rocking of the boat and between the booze and the food, everyone felt ready to dance.
I think we could have gone till the wee hours of the morning, but by 11pm we were back at the south street seaport, ready to dock, and the party was over.
It was one of the best weddings I've ever been too, and one of the happiest moments of my life. If I had to do it over, I'd only change two things, the length of my dress, and I would have taken some pictures with the beautiful vision that was my aunt the bride.
(Photo of Grace Kelly on her wedding day by rhamlin, Photobucket, and directly linked)
) with only a day break in between.