My day started way too early on Saturday morning. At 5:00 am I woke up and couldn’t seem to get back to sleep probably a symptom of the excitement and anxiety surrounding the day ahead. Begrudgingly I quietly got out of bed, got a glass of water, and headed outside for an early morning smoke thinking it might settle me down and calm my nerves. It did help a bit and I made my way back up to the room and cuddled up to Matt for some on again off again repose. At around 7:30 the day really kicked off with the kids rousing us from the comfort of our plush king sized bed. We got up, turned on some cartoons for Michael and Madeline, and began our normal morning rituals. While I was grabbing a glass of water in the vanity area, Matt came up behind me, grabbed me by the waist, and spun me around so we were facing one another. He then hugged me, apologized for the freak out the night before, told me he loved me more than he could convey and that he was so happy to be marrying me. I of course apologized for my part in the fiasco and told him that I loved him too. We made out a bit in front of the sink and then I set off to acquire some breakfast for everyone.

On the way to the coffee shop I stopped off at the gift shop and to get Disney autograph books and pens for the kids, so they would have them for the character breakfast the next morning. With this task completed I continued on my quest for sustenance and caffeine. I picked up some pastries and a Rock Star for us and cereal and orange juice for the kids. After dropping off the goods I went back down to the lobby and grabbed a cup of the complimentary coffee for Matt and took a quick smoke break out front before returning to the room. Once everyone had eaten we puttered around a bit, then set to work getting the bridal party gifts ready. I had gotten Australian Crystal and Jet jewelry, rhinestone accented hair combs, and flasks wrapped in pink leather with monogrammed oval plates filled with chocolate liquor for the girls, which I planned to package in silver bags decorated with a 3D fabric bridal gown. For the boys, Matt had bought rectangular brushed silver cufflinks inscribed with the groomsmen’s initials, and a bottle of Tuaca to pass around the dressing room. We got the gifts wrapped and thank you cards signed, while the kids colored. We then packed our day bags, which were to be brought down to our dressing rooms in Dreams C and Wonder A. By now it was 9:45 so we got the kids dressed in their swimsuits and called for the bellmen to transport our bags, my dress, Madeline’s dress, and the tuxes down to the aforementioned rooms. I accompanied my bellman down to the girls’ room so I could check it out and Matt took the kids to the pool for some swim time.

Our dressing room was huge, it had a full length mirror, a smaller vanity mirror complete with matching chair, three circular tables set with white linen tablecloths and chairs, a long banquet sized table against the back window set with the same linen and glass goblets, and two dress racks. I unpacked the princess plates, napkins and glasses I had gotten for snacks and beverages and laid them out on the big table. My parents showed up a few minutes later with some party subs so I placed half of them on the table and then sent my dad to the boys’ room with the Transformer party supplies and the other half of the subs. Just about then Rachael and Brion showed up with a cooler full of champagne, orange juice, and other mimosa mixers, so we set off to get my ice bucket and ice for drinks. With mimosa in hand I went back up to my room to shower and change before the rest of the bridal party and the hairstylists arrived at 11:00.

I had just gotten out of the shower when Rachael called to tell me that the hair people were there and wanted to talk to me before getting started on the girls, so I hurriedly got dressed in my black and white pants, red sports bra, and white zippered hoodie. The pants and sports bra were obviously nothing special, but the short sleeved hoodie was from Victoria’s Secrets bridal line and had been purchased specifically for the getting ready portion of the wedding day. It had a rhinestone and silver applique on the back that read sexy little bride, fake diamond ring zipper pull, and ruffles trimming the hood and sleeves. When I saw it in the store I thought it was adorable and it cracked me up, so I figured “why not” and got it. So there I was hair wet and make-upless in my pre-wedding clothes heading back down to Dreams A to consult with the girls from Hair Comes the Bride. I explained again what I wanted for my bridesmaids and they got to work on Rachael’s and my mom’s hair, while I blow-dried my own.

In the next twenty or so minutes the rest of the girls arrived along with Duncan, Lara, and Robyn. Lara had been kind enough to go pick up Karyn, Dave, and Devon, so the male contingent of Crisswell-Garret family joined Matt at the pool, while Karyn napped in the corner of the dressing room until it was her turn in the stylists chair. I jokingly reprimanded the rest of the bridal party for breaking one of my bridesmaids and then proceeded to thank everyone and pass out their gifts. After all the gifts were distributed, Sammy graciously offered to steam the dresses and my veil with the portable steamer Rachael had brought and got to work de-wrinkling everything. We all filled up our glasses with mimosas, (except for Danielle who was 7 months pregnant) and then Robyn, Danielle, Lara and myself headed over to the reception site.

Since Matt and I had opted to purchase our own favors, seating cards, placecard holders, placecards, table cards, disposable cameras and centerpieces separate from the Disney package we were responsible for getting them set up in the room prior to the reception. Thus the trip over to Sleeping Beauty’s Pavilion with the girls happened so early in the day. Once we got there I started to go through the boxes so I could get everything organized and explain what needed to be done. I first pulled out a martini glass from one of the big boxes, an individual cosmo mix packet, and a baggy filled with blue crystals, acrylic diamonds, and a plastic pearl strand. I explained to the girls that I had individually bagged the filler for each glass and that all they needed to do was dump one baggy in each glass, put the cosmo mix packet in, and set one glass at each table setting. Then I pulled out a place card holder, which was a bell topped with a castle, a bag of mini bows in light blue, dark blue, pink, and white, and a package of glue dots. I proceeded to tell the girls that each holder needed to have a bow stuck onto the bell to denote what that guest was eating. I demonstrated how the glue dots worked and then gave them a sheet that told how many bells needed to be done for each color. Lastly I pulled out one of our castle centerpieces and told them that they just needed to be placed in the center of each table with the exception of the head table. They all seemed more than happy to help, but I still thanked them profusely, explained that I tried to make everything as easy as possible (eg the pre-filled baggies), and promised to send someone over to re-fill their glasses in a little bit.

Feeling confident in my friends’ abilities to complete the task I headed back to the dressing room to figure out where our other cart of boxes with the ceremony bags, water bottles, and program fans was. I got ahold of Kelly and she assured me that the cart would be on its way shortly and within 30 minutes it had arrived. When the cart got there I noticed that an additional box and card had been placed on it. I opened the card first which read, “Matt & Michelle- Congratulations! Thank you for choosing to spend your special day with us here at the Disneyland Resort. May the two of you live happily ever after! Kelly, Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings” and then proceeded to open the box which looked like a book complete with a faux satin bookmark. On what would have been the spine was printed “Our Fairy Tale Wedding Vol. 1” and on the cover was a picture of Cinderella and Prince Charming. On the inside was a page that read “Timeless Beauty and Memorable Moments Will Be forever Cherised As You Share Your Lives Happily Ever After” and behind the page were matching silver his and her watches with the Disneyland castle in silver on the faces. I was blown away since I had not expected a gift from the Disney folks and the watches were really very nice. Everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed at them for a bit and then I took them out to the pool to show Matt, who was also very impressed. Shortly after this Matt’s Dad and Pam arrived to tag Matt out, so that he could go to his dressing room and relax with the boys a bit before having to get ready. With this plan in motion I returned to the dressing room and got back to unpacking our second cart of boxes. These boxes contained personalized water bottles with our names on either side of a large W, our program fans, confetti wands, and light blue, dark blue, and white organza wine bags with silver metal W charms on the ties. I explained to Christie, Duncan, Sammy and Brion that the fans without bows needed them and that the bags needed to be stuffed with one of each item. They got to work on the bags, which were to be placed on each seat at the ceremony and we continued on kibitzing and drinking as the bridesmaids took turns getting their hair done.

A little while later Ethan came over to visit and ask if we had means for procurring beer for the boys. Happy to provide something with a lower alcohol content than the Tuaca I asked around. Sammy offered to call her man Steve and see if he would be willing to pick up some beer, to which he kindly agreed. At about 2:30 it was my turn to get beautified and one of the stylists got started on my make-up while the other finished up my Aunt’s hair. The photographer arrived just as I was sitting down to get started so I talked to him for a few minutes before continuing on with my make-up session. Around 10 minutes later Madeline came in still wet from the pool, so I took a break to get her into some dry clothes and ask Rachael to blow dry her hair. The stylist finished up my make-up as the other stylist put the final touches on Madeline’s hair. I then asked Duncan to escort Madeline over to show her dad how pretty she looked while I took a quick pee and cigarette break before getting started on my hair. Madeline returned with Duncan a few minutes later, ate, and curled up with a pillow and blanket for a nap, as my hour long hair styling session kicked off in full force. Duncan teased me a bit by telling me that the boys had the clippers out and were threatening to shave Matt’s head, to which I replied “no, they’re not”. Despite my vehement unwillingness to believe him he continued to deny the falseness of his words and finally relented saying he wanted to be in charge of running all the errands to the boys room because they always made him do a shot before he was allowed to come in.

With about 2 hours until the ceremony and me stuck in the “hair chair”, Rachael who had calligraphed our place cards, table cards and envelopes picked up the seating chart from me and set off to the reception room to set them out. Brion who had finished up with the ceremony bags decided that we needed to cut the cake with a sword and called Valrik to see if he could bring one. The hilarity and ridiculousness of this phone call is impossible for me to recreate, but it consisted of Brion insisting a sword be brought, Valrik telling Brion to stop f*cking with him, and me yelling from the styling chair not to listen to Brion. After 5 minutes or so Brion accepted defeat and hung up the phone. For the next 45 minutes or so until my hair was done we all talked, drank, and generally enjoyed ourselves. According to Matt at about this time over in the boys’ room my dad showed up and looked around at the room full of intoxicated groomsmen, empty beer bottles, and still zippered and hanging tuxedo bags. Matt became a bit disturbed by my Dad’s surveyance of the room, finished his beer, and announced that everyone needed to start getting dressed. Back in our room my stylist commented a few times about how relaxed we all were, how well everyone got along, and how helpful everyone was. I found this funny because I would never have expected anything different from my friends, my family, or myself, but apparently according to her weddings usually make people act like asylum patients…who knew?

Just as the stylist was finishing up with my hair Matt called to tell me that since the tuxedo’s had no pocket the boutonnieres looked silly on them and wanted to make sure it was okay to just axe the boutonnieres. I of course said that it was fine, that I loved him, and hung up. Our flowers had just arrived as well, so after the stylists pinned on my veil, I strolled over to the table to check them out. They were all beautiful, with white roses, blue delphiniums, and blue ribbon hand tied stems. The only difference between my bouquet and the bridal party bouquets was that mine was bigger and had crystals scattered amongst the flowers. Happy with the flowers and in desperate need of a smoke before getting dressed I put on my shades, grabbed my flask, and headed out front. I was sitting outside, smoking, sipping on my flask, and contemplating the day when I saw Devon, Mason, and a tuxedo clad Michael walking towards me. I quickly put out my cigarette and a moment later Michael caught site of me let go of the other boys’ hands and took off in a full run to me. When he reached me he jumped in my lap and gave me a big hug. I told him he looked so handsome to which he smiled proudly. We hung out for awhile, took some pictures, and then I told Devon and Mason that I needed to check out the reception room and get dressed. Michael hugged me again and Devon prompted him by saying what are you supposed to tell Michelle. Michael looked at him dumbfounded and then Devon explained that Matt had told him to tell me that “Daddy loves you”. With this reminder Michael recited the phrase and emphatically added “I love you too” at the end. It was beyond sweet. I gave him a kiss and told him I loved him and daddy too and then headed back into the room to find Christie. I got back into the room and sequestered Christie, who was happy to take a smoke break and walk over to the reception room with me so off we went. As we were entering the building we saw Valrik, Asa, Robert, Jennifae, Becky, and Ron, so we hi-jacked the group and drug them along with us. We got up to the reception room and it looked fabulous, so we set off back to the dressing room to get dressed, and sent Valrik and company to visit with the boys.

All the bridesmaids got into their dresses, which were black with a blue sash and underskirt, except for Rachael’s which was blue with a black underskirt and sash. We roused Madeline from her nap and Duncan and the girls helped her get into her dress. Madeline’s dress looked very similar to my own white with pick-ups on the skirt portion. I had added some white flowers with rhinestones to her neckline and a blue satin sash to tie her in with the bridesmaids. With Madeline on her way to being ready, I began getting ready myself. I started duct taping my boobs while the peanut gallery made all sorts off-colored comments and once this was done put on my white fence-net panty-hos and white panties which were made of chiffon and had blue ribbon laces up the front. Next to put on was my garter. It was blue with lace and a silver heart charm. I had chose this particular garter because the satin fabric that made up the bulk of it was decorated with the faces of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, which I found amusing considering my past occupation and the location of the wedding. With my boobs taped and undergarments in place it was finally time to put on my dress. My gown was of the two piece variety with a satin pick-up skirt that had a 5’ train and a blue, white, and silver beaded back lace corset. I got the dress for a great price considering it was a couture gown from an organization called Brides Against Breast Cancer. It is a non-profit group that takes donations of gowns from individuals, bridal shops, and designers and then sells them at regularly scheduled sales around the country. The prices are 50%-75% less than the retail value of the gowns and 100% of the proceeds go to a make a wish foundation for terminally ill breast cancer patients. Talk about a win win situation, I got an amazing dress for a great price and my money went to a good cause. I procured a few of my bridesmaids to assist me in getting into my petticoat and skirt and then Rachael, my maid of honor laced me up as Patrick, the photographer clicked away.

I had bought a bottle of Dom Perignon post- New Years on sale from Costco with the intention of having it in the dressing room, so we popped the cork and I poured a glass for everyone. I toasted my bridal party and everyone else who had helped and then as previously promised sent a glass over for Matt along with a card, which said a bunch of mushy stuff that I signed “I love you. See you at the altar”. Duncan returned while I was posing for pictures and said Matt was very happy with his champagne, which made me smile. At this point my mom gave me a hankie of my grandmothers to stick down my cleavage that would serve as my something old. My something borrowed were ¾ carat diamond earrings of my moms that I wore in my second holes. I had lots of blue on and everything else was new so those two were covered and for all intensive purposes I was ready to go. I put some lipstick on Madeline who looked adorable and my Dad arrived shortly there after and told me I looked beautiful. What seemed like moments later Kelly came through the door and said it was showtime. I started walking to the door and it dawned on me that I hadn't looked at myself in the mirror with my dress on, so I begged a few more seconds and went and checked out the finished product. Pleased with how everything had come together and how beautiful all of the girls looked, I thought this is it, and made my way toward the dressing room door. Kelly and Bernadette were talking back and forth with our wedding day manager via ear-piece walkie talkies and the Patrick was taking photos as we made our way to the exit of the Dreams Tower. I stepped outside and almost instantaneously was ushered back in the building and to the back exit because the boys were approaching as well. My Dad and I made nervous small talk in the back of the tower with the Disney folks until the bridal party had all made there way down the aisle and it was time for us to make our approach. We followed Kelly and Bernadette out the door and stood about 20 feet from the entrance of the Rose Court garden waiting for my music to start.

Tuesday:

It was a crazy whirlwind of a week beginning with a 7:00 am flight out of PDX. We got up at 3:30 were out the door by 4:00 and arrived at the terminal at 4:30 still groggy. We managed to get everything checked in without having to pay a cent extra…thank the gods for southwest, they even let me carry on my dress!!! We had a brief layover in Oakland, where we procured some much needed coffee. At around 10:30 am we arrived at Ontario airport, had a quick smoke, were greeted by my dad, got our bags, and were off to the car rental place.

We made our way to the car rental place, but when we got there we were told the car we had reserved, a Ford Explorer, was not yet on site, but would be there any minute. So we got our paperwork all filled out and proceeded to wait another 30 or so minutes until the vehicle finally arrived. The delay incurred at Hertz threw my diligently created schedule off, so as soon as keys were in hand we headed down to the Santa Ana County Clerks office, praying we could get in and out with our license in time to miss rush hour coming back to my folks house in Corona. We managed to get there after a few missed/wrong turns and a serious lack of parking availability. The office was in the original old county court house a big building made all of red brick reminiscent of an older slower paced Southern California. Once inside the Clerks office it was apparent that these slower days were a long gone memory because the office was all hustle and bustle. We found an open computer wherein we inputted all our information and then grabbed a seat to wait our turn. The people watching was quite spectacular at 12:30pm on a Tuesday in July and to our surprise it seemed that lunchtime during the week was a very popular time to venture down to the courthouse and get hitched. Matt kept teasing me that we should just do it then and forget about the big wedding Saturday to which I kept replying in various phrasing no. Finally about 45 minutes later it was our turn and 5 minutes later we were 65 dollars poorer, licensed, and ready to go.

We did manage to miss traffic, arrived back in Corona at around 3:30, and dropped off my dress for cleaning/pressing. We sat and talked to my mom for a few minutes and met my Aunt Madelene whom I had never met in the flesh until then. She is my dad’s little sister from Rhode Island and she was a hoot and a half. After a few minutes of chit chatting we drug ourselves off to bed for a much needed nap before dinner. Resting on our pillows was a card adressed to us both and a beautiful statue of two people embracing inscribed with “Love, Honor, and Cherish” and under the window was another card addressed to Matt leaned up against bride and groom teddy bears and a little illuminated crystal laser cut with a bride and groom dancing. We opened the card addressed to the two of us first, it was a beautiful card which read “To a Daughter and ‘Son’…” and enclosed within it was 500 dollars cash to which we both exclaimed “whew now we can afford the week”…lol. Next Matt opened his card which read “Welcome to our Family” and we discussed how neither of us realized they made a card like that and how cool it was that they did. (On an aside…have I mentioned yet that I truly believe that I was seriously blessed with the best parents in the world, no… well I do and they are!!) So after the excitement of the card opening Matt suggested in a mostly serious manner that we not engage in pre-marital relations until they could be termed marital relations. After about 30 seconds we both shrugged off the idea, climbed into bed, and “got ready” for our nap. (Now don’t worry I will not trouble you with the knowledge of every time we had sex over the course of the week, but the fact that Matt tried to pretend it was a good idea for us to run around stressed out and sex-deprived for 4 days is amusing to me.)

We woke up from our nap, puttered around for a bit, and then the girls took a trip to Michaels to pick up some ribbon, a card box, and other miscellaneous items. We then met up with the boys for a fabulous dinner at Citrus City Grill, which has amazing food, great ambiance, an open kitchen, and a kick ass bar/wine selection. As per usual at this restaurant everything was fantastic we went through 2 bottles of white wine and because my steak came about 5 minutes behind the rest of the entrees the manager gave me a free glass of a decadent pinot noir with my meal that if purchased cost as much as one of the bottles of whites we polished off. After dinner we headed back to the house re-confirmed all the stuff we had to get done in the next couple of days and then proceeded to take some much needed jacuzzi time before heading off to bed.

Wednesday:

Although we had a great desire to sleep in late the sun managed to pierce its way through the thinly veiled window of the guest room at around 8 am. Matt got up a bit before me and started on his cup of coffee before I was ready to brave the day. At around 9:00 I forced myself out of bed and went out back to begin my daily diet coke and cigarette ritual. I was sitting on the back porch enjoying my bad habits when out of nowhere my two goats Heidi and Ali came running to greet me. Funny thing is the goats are always locked up in their spacious 15x20 pen unless someone is outside to keep an eye on them, so I was baffled by their sudden appearance. As it turns out the door to their pen must not have been latched properly the night before and upon hearing my voice Heidi managed a jail break to come and see me. So I sat out back and petted them for awhile enjoying the morning weather before it got unbearably hot.

We puttered about and conversed with the family for awhile before really getting a start on the day. Around noon we called Reverend Beams to solidify the plans for the wedding day and ceremony. In a weird twist of coincidence he was actually in Seattle for a few days and was trying to find a parking space when we called, so we discussed parking in Seattle for a bit before getting on with the wedding stuff. Matt got on the other phone and Rev. Ron proceeded to ask us if we were still in love and still planning to go through with the wedding on Saturday to which we both kind of giggled and responded “yes”…okay so I giggled and Matt chuckled since it isn’t very masculine to giggle, right? Next he prompted us by saying “you have the ceremony in front of you right”, to which neither of us giggled or chuckled and we both responded “no” in confused tone. Rev. Ron seemed as surprised as us and apologized profusely saying he had thought we had already finalized the ceremony details. Fortunately neither Matt nor I are normally very tightly wound people and we just went with the flow and discussed all the options with the Reverend and made our choices when prompted to do so. About 20 minutes later we had a ceremony we were excited about, thanked Rev. Ron, and hung up. I think it was about this time that a switch got flipped in my head and I was like “oh my God were getting married on Saturday” and for the first time I felt a twinge of nervousness. Luckily, we were too busy for me to indulge myself with that feeling for long.

After getting Matt fed with some In & Out which he had been coveting since our CA arrival, my mom , my aunt, and I headed down to Laguna Niguel for my hair & make-up preview appointment. We arrived a bit early and poured over wedding hairstyle books. I found a few I liked, took pictures of them with my phone, and set them to Matt for input. I did this because while he did not want to actually go on the excursion with the girls he DID want to have some say (read veto power) in how I was going to have my hair and his only real guidance before I left was "don’t have any tendrily curls by your face I hate that look". Fortunately we agreed on a style almost immediately and my two hour hair styling session began. The stylist was very nice and we all chatted about this and that until my hair was finally done. Next she tortured me by not letting me see my hair until my make-up was done, but 20 minutes later she turned me around and I was absolutely amazed at how gorgeous my hair looked. I thanked her profusely, approved the style and make-up, she took a couple quick photos, and we were off on our way back to Corona. It was at about this time that I realized I hadn’t eaten all day, so we drove through Weinersnitzel, got my glucose levels stable, and got back on the road.

When we arrived home Matt said a bunch of wonderful things about my hair and how beautiful I looked all the while pointing out how he was dead on about the style choice…lol. Because he is such a wonderful man he had organized all the boxes while we were out and I proceeded to check out all the stuff I had spent the last 6 months of my life ordering. We all gushed for awhile over the size of the pooh bears I had ordered for insanely cheap off of Disney Outle dot com and then I got to work assembling the welcome baskets. About half way through we ordered pizza and had a relaxing meal complete with Corona Lites and lime, while sitting on the couch kibitzing. I finished up the last of the baskets and began to remove the 100’s of bobby pins that were inhabiting my hair. I think Matt started to sympathize with my plight and began picking the pins out of my hair about half way through the task. We endured some monkeys grooming each other comments from my family, but by the end of it I no longer had a population of metal sticking in my head so I was okay with the teasing. We again headed off to the jacuzzi and for the most part called it a night after soaking away our aches and tension under the stars.

Thursday:

Once again the bright California sun intruded upon our hopes of lazing in bed until mid-morning. So much like the day before we got out of bed before we really felt rested and began our day slowly with coffee, diet coke, cigarettes, and socializing. Around 10:00 my dad took Starbucks orders and he and Matt traipsed off to supply the girls with some tasty, slushy, caffeine infused beverages. Upon their return Matt loaded the Explorer with the welcome baskets and we headed out to Anaheim. On the way we stopped off at Wallgreens to see if they had a brace for Matt’s elbow that had been mildly hurting him the duration of the trip. Although we did not procure said brace Matt found himself a pair of blue lensed sunglasses that would match his wedding attire perfectly, so we bought the glasses and got back on the road.

On our way to Anaheim we stopped off in Santa Ana Canyon and picked up all the boys tuxedos from Men’s Wearhouse, and we were pleasantly surprised by gifts waiting for us from Dave & Karyn (Matt’s Best Man and his wife who was one of my Bridesmaids). They were very cool leather wrapped flasks with our names engraved on them, Matt’s was orange and mine was pink. Apparently Dave had tried to convince the Men’s Wearhouse employees in Portland to convince the employees in CA to fill them with Baerenjaeger to no avail…lol. We, however, did fill them with Tuaca and used them throughout the day on Saturday. With tuxedos in hand Matt dropped me off at Hallmark to buy Thank You Cards for the wedding party, my parents, and the Reverend, while he hit target in search of a brace. We fullfilled our respective missions and continued our journey to Anaheim to drop off the welcome baskets at the various hotels the wedding guests were staying in.

The trip down was uneventful and we managed to get all the baskets dropped off and a few of the tuxedos as well. Matt was in extremely good spirits about the whole ordeal, especially given his fervent dislike for this type of task. Even though he was joking around and being silly all day I kept checking on him to make sure he was handling the outing okay. He responded to me each time by saying how thoughtful and wonderful it was that I had thought to do something like this for our friends amidst all the other stuff we had going on and that he was totally fine with running around because he really appreciated being with someone who would think to do something like that. Needless to say this response made me really appreciate being with someone like him as well. At about 3:00 we headed back to my parents house, this day, however, we were not so lucky with traffic. It wasn’t horrendous, but it wasn’t non-existent either.

We got back to Corona a little over an hour later and picked up my dress which looked absolutely beautiful all cleaned and pressed. The lady was so funny and told me it took all day to press it so I better not mess it up. They then gave us a loaner garment bag to take it home in that belonged to another customer, since mine wasn’t “big enough for the freshly pressed skirt”. We got the dress home, hung it up immediately, and returned the bag five minutes later. Next we took a quick trip down to the tanning salon and then proceeded to get ready for the family bridal shower/party, which would be beginning at my folks house at 6:00.

People started arriving at the house right at 6:00. The guests in attendance were all friends of the family save my parents and Aunt Madelene, but because I am an only child as is my mom, these friends really ARE my family so to speak. My mom’s best friend Kathleen and her two daughters Anna and Amy arrived first. Kathleen would have been my godmother if my family was of a religious inclination. She was there when I was born making sure I had all my fingers and toes, she attended all of my birthday parties growing up, and in like manner had postponed her move cross-country to Florida to be at the wedding. The Smith family was the next to show up. My mother had all of the Smith children in her fourth grade class and we spent countless Christmas Eves at their house over the years. Suzie whom taught with my mom for 20 or so years arrived next followed by Lora a close friend of mine for the past 8 years. We sat around and socialized while my dad grilled hamburgers and hot dogs on the BBQ. People ate their food on the back patio at a leisurely pace while telling stories of the past and giving well wishes for the future.

Later on in the evening the party moved inside where I opened gifts from everyone in attendance. I received everything from skimpy lingerie to Mikasa glasses and my mother even gave me her bridal lingerie as a sort of gag gift. After opening all the gifts the girls helped me assemble/decorate the program fans that were to be part of the ceremony goodie bags for guests. Finally we ate a delicious ice cream cake my mom got for us from Cold Stone that had Best Wishes Matt and Michelle written on it in frosting. After we all satiated ourselves with the rich beyond words desert guests started to file out with hugs and kisses. Too tired to make use of the jacuzzi that night Matt and I drug ourselves off to bed at around 10:30 knowing that the real craziness would start in the morning.

Friday:
We needed to be on the road by 8:00 am, so unlike the previous few days, we could not wait for the sun to rouse us out of bed Friday morning. 7:15 came bit too early for us both, but we got our caffeine and nicotine fixes, and very soon following started our drive down to Disneyland to drop off the castle centerpieces and martini glass favors. The drive was thankfully uneventful and we arrived at our destination in a little over 30 minutes. With no real parking available Matt pulled the Explorer into a non-existent spot and we made our way inside the Fairytale Wedding/Disney Vacation Club building. Our wedding coordinator Kelly and our entertainment coordinator Bernadette met us down in the lobby and rounded up a cart for us to use to unload the 2 huge boxes of martini glasses and the 11 smaller boxes of centerpieces. The look on Kelly’s face when we returned with the cart full indicated to us both that she was not expecting to have to store so much stuff, which made telling her that Matt would be back in a few hours with another load all the more difficult. She was gracious about it regardless of how she really felt and told us she would store it in the meeting room since there were no planning sessions scheduled that day. With the first drop of the day done we headed back to Corona to pack the Explorer for round two.

After marking the next set of boxes that were to go down to Anaheim and helping Matt pack up the SUV, so he could get back on the road, I took a shower, and got ready for my 11:00 nail and pedicure appointment. My mom got a full set and a pedicure, as did I, and my dad got a manicure and a pedicure. My aunt came along for the ride and proceeded to take pictures of my dad snoring in the pedicure chair while soaking his feet. I opted for a pale blue polish with iridescent sparkles in it for my feet and had them do a white flower design with rhinestones on my big toes. On my hands I did a french manicure, but instead of the plain white powder I have always gotten on the tips I opted to try a powder that had iridescent glitter mixed into it. The effect was very understated and could only really be seen if you looked at the nails up close or if the sun hit them just right. It gave them that little bit extra I knew I wanted, but wasn’t sure how to achieve and did so without making them looking gaudy and obnoxious. Needless to say I was very pleased with the results.

With my freshly painted toes and nails my dad and I headed off to run a few more errands while my mom finished up at the salon. In 30 minutes flat we managed to get some last minute items at Michaels, paper plates/napkins for snacks in the dressing rooms (princesses for the girls & transformers for the boys), and a pair of shoes for Danielle, whom had called me distraught about the non-arrival of her bridesmaid shoes the day before. With bags in hand we headed back to pick up my mom and aunt from the nail place at which time my aunt gifted me with a tiny angel in a box that said an angel for the bride on her wedding day. My aunt had found it while browsing in a nearby store during our nail appointments and given her affinity for angels she “just had to get it”. It was adorable and I carried it with me in my purse all day Saturday. On our way home Matt called to say he had gotten towels and floaties for the kids to use in the pool at the hotel and was at my folks getting ready to jump in the shower. We arrived back at the house five minutes later and I began packing a bag with all the stuff I would need for the next two days. Matt finished his shower and proceeded to show off the towels he had bought including one for me that had Johnny Depp as Captn’ Jack on it. My phone had been ringing off the hook all day, which had been causing me some stress, so Matt made me turn it off until we got to the hotel and situated. Although I was slightly resistant to this suggestion at first, I can’t even explain the amount of relief I felt when I pressed the power button off. We then loaded up the Explorer for the final time that day, taking particular care to lay out my dress as best as possible, so that it wouldn’t get too messed up in transport, and headed down to the Disneyland Hotel to check in.


Our trip was broken up with stop-offs at two different stores with the hopes of procuring a few bottles of booze that we planned to consume with the bridal party while getting ready the next day. Unfortunately, the bottles at the first place we stopped at, a hole in the wall liquor store, were too small and horribly over priced and the next place we stopped, a mexican supermarket, didn’t have liquor at all. Somewhat hesitantly I turned my phone back on and called my parents who had just left for the hotel with my aunt. Since they were just pulling out, I asked them if they could stop by Bevmo and pick up a bottle of Godiva chocolate liquor for the girls and a bottle of Tuaca for the boys. They agreed, so instead of continuing our quest for alcohol we proceeded to the hotel to check in.

We arrived at the hotel at about 3:30, got ourselves checked in, requested sleeping bags for the kids for the night, and headed up to the room. It was obvious upon arrival to the room that finding a place to hang my dress was going to be an issue considering the size of the train. After much discussion we eventually decided to hang it on the lever on the back of the door high enough to prevent the train from touching the ground. At this point, our stress was beginning to show, which in me manifests as hypersensitivity and in Matt manifests as despotism. This can be a bad combination if we are both stressed out at the same time, so Matt suggested we “relax” for a bit until it was time to get ready to go down at meet people for the rehearsal. After “relaxing” for a bit we got freshened up and put on some nicer clothes. I had bought a cute white ruffled mini skirt that consisted of a spandex slip and three tiers of ruffled gauzy fabric. It was mid thigh length and I wore it with a black long-sleeved shirt unbuttoned ¾ of the way down with white tube top underneath and black wedge heels. Matt put on his pale blue long sleeved button down shirt with a nice pair of jeans.

Dressed and ready for the evenings festivities we grabbed our sunglasses, which matched our outfits and headed down to the Lost Bar for some dirty martinis. Since this particular bar was of the outdoor variety and was directly behind the Rose Court Garden we figured we would be able to flag people over to the bar as they arrived, so we grabbed a seat. The martini hit me like a truck and it was at that point that I realized I hadn’t eaten all day, so we ordered some nachos to tide us over until dinner. About 10 minutes later at 5:45 people started arriving. I think Nikki & Jay were the first people to show up, followed shortly thereafter by my folks, my aunt, Tom & Pam, Michael & Madeline, Danielle & Duncan, Rob & Lara, Christie & Robyn, Eric & Lil, Tony & Harmony, Dave & Karyn, and Ethan. As luck would have it Dan and Wanda who had come down a day early to go to Disneyland happened to walk by and joined us for a drink as well. Rachael my maid of honor had got caught in traffic for a good majority of her drive from Northern California, so she was running a bit late. The ceremony location, however, was still occupied by a wedding party that was taking post-ceremony pictures so we couldn’t start on time anyway. Given the circumstances, we all proceeded to have a few more drinks and chatted amongst ourselves while waiting for Rachael to arrive and the site to clear out.

At about 6:15 Rachael met up with us and the now buzzed bridal party headed over to a mini gazebo with our wedding day manager to practice. First we lined up and practiced walking in at the mini gazebo and then as one big slightly intoxicated ameba we walked over to the actual ceremony site to run through it. In a classic moment while we were going through what would happen after Matt and I walked up the steps to the alter area she turned to Rachael and explained to her that her job was to be my fluffer. By fluffer she of course meant that Rachael would need to fluff and fix my train, but in true Rachael form my wonderful Maid of Honor replied with a grin “now that is a job I handle”. She then giggled and announced quite loudly to the rest of our group “I get to be her fluffer!”. At this point our wedding manager forced some nervous laughter and continued on with her instructions. All in all the rehearsal went smoothly with only a few instances of alcohol induced chaos during the first walk through, which did not reoccur during the practice at the actual location. When the whole thing was over I was quite confident that everyone would do just fine the next day. Our wedding day manager, however, appeared a bit frazzled and concerned. I honestly felt kind of sorry for her, she was obviously wound kind of tight and she was definitely not used to our kind of people. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything to say that would reassure her of our competence, so we said goodbye and with crew in tow headed back to Lost Bar for another cocktail before heading out to dinner.

Once everyone had a drink in hand we began our walk over and through Downtown Disney arriving at our final destination, Naples Ristorante. We got to the restaurant at 7:45 and were immediately led up to our private area outside on the upstairs balcony. The rectangular balcony was set up with three long tables for seating and on each place setting was a menu headed with “Welcome to Matt & Michelle’s Rehearsal Dinner”. Behind the table closest to the back was a fountain that had a Green Man type face which spit water and all along the outer railing and trellised awning hung white globe lights. Very shortly after we arrived, Kathy, Anna, and Amy joined us, completing the party. The meal itself started at sunset with bottles of buttery Chardonnay and appetizers, which consisted of Belgian Endives, stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese and caramelized pecans. Following the first course we were served Insalata Mista; a salad of baby greens tossed with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers in red wine vinaigrette. While everyone was eating their salads, Matt called Rachael over for some quick coaching on the toast he was about to give. Once everyone had finished with the second course he stood up, welcomed everyone, and expressed his gratitude to my parents for hosting the dinner. He then toasted them while saying “More than anything else I really want to thank you for her”, while motioning to me. It was very sweet. By this time the sun had completely disappeared into the horizon and the party was entirely lit by the candles on the tables and the twinkling white globe lights surrounding us. The ambiance created by the location, lighting, and homestyle dinner was warm and romantic. I don’t doubt the constantly flowing wine also helped to achieve this effect. Everyone chatted amongst themselves while platters of baked Ziti with Italian Sausage, bowls of Ravioli Fromaggi, and bottles of Chianti were delivered to the tables. During the eating lull between the entrée’s and desert, Robyn and Duncan sequestered a balloon sculptor to come and make balloon creations for the kids. He made Michael and Devon each a set of pirate accessories complete with hat, belt, sword, and parrot. For Madeline he made a princess crown and ring. With the children all decked out in their newly made balloon costumes I gave the waiter the go ahead to begin bringing the coffee and deserts. Huge trays of Cannoli and Tiramisu were presented at the head of each table and the wait staff poured piping hot coffee, while we served ourselves up one of each dessert. As we finished up the last course of our meal the boom of the first of the Disneyland fireworks pierced the air and in an instant the night glowed with colors of amber, sapphire, ruby, and emerald. Not wanting them to miss “A Fantasy in the Sky” I took the kids to the side of the balcony to get a better view of the jewel colored sparkles falling from above us. Once the show finale concluded we all made our way out of the restaurant to wait for Sammy, who was due to meet us any moment.

Our wine buzzes were going strong as we smoked, chatted, and listened to the live music playing ten feet away. The warm midsummer night air and crowded walkways gave the false impression of an earlier hour and much to our surprise it was 10:15 when Sammy came into view of our intoxicated group. With our new additions in tow we all made our way back to the Hotel for a nightcap at the bar. When we arrived at our tower the rest of the group went off to the bar and Matt and I traveled back up to our room to tuck the kids into bed. With Michael and Madeline off in dreamland, I had intended to go down, have a drink with everyone, and fill Sammy in on the details she had missed. Matt, however, did not like this plan, and given our aforementioned stress induced tendencies this resulted in a rather unpleasant 30 minute pre-wedding freak-out session to which we both contributed. Thankfully, the kids were dead to the world, so we were able to get the unavoidable melt downs out of our systems and see them through to resolution. Finally, exhausted yet with great anticipation for the next day, we cuddled for awhile in bed before falling asleep snuggled up to one another.

So for those of you who missed the public announcement on Myspace and LJ...Matt and I are getting married next summer on July 12th at Disneyland! Just wanted to share the good news!!

With twisted expectations explained by profane images
I writhe beneath the esoteric illusion of a free mind
My will is intact, yet my heart is fragmented
The pieces scattered amongst rose petals & ash
I don’t know where I'm going and I am not sure that I care
The monotony of the mundanity surrounding me is suffocating
To breathe, to wake, to feel, is exhausting

Brightly colored shapes and shadows creep along the walls
Invading the niches of my thirsty soul
I am tired of human frailty & fear…'mostly my own
But more than that I am tired of getting by on half truths, half loves, and mild dislike
To be in love or hate with the concept of their namesakes is redundant
At least apathy is one end of the pendulum
Something that you can feel to an extreme…'the absence of passion

Partial passions are worse
They are an excuse used by cowards who won’t risk
Staggering along musty squares, pushing pawns & taking rooks
To what end? An obscure rush to say “check mate”?
That is not passion either, just a meaningless victory
The fear of failure or the need to prove will only extinguish the fire
If the outcome of the game is this...deal me out

Yet those who know what will not, know better what will
The spark is the greatest part of life, it is what separates us from the boredom
Questing for a piece of flint found in the pupils, or voice, or flesh
So that with a glance, an utterance, or a touch creation is born
One moment in flames is greater than time in between
It is better to be beaten and impassioned than victorious and trapped
The possibilities are endless