Monday, October 10, 2005
The Day Arrives--But first.....
It's now Friday--the day before the wedding. All seems in gear--family and wedding party are arriving, settling in to the Victorian Bed & Breakfast and other places; all have found hotel space, despite the hordes of Texas fans, and the anticipated mobs for WaterFire have not appeared yet, so all remains relatively calm. First, the space must be decorated. This involves hanging yards of white tulle from the columns in the main space at the Cultural Arts Center. And despite lots of promises from lots of TBTB's local friends to help, only two show up: Shawna, a bridesmaid, and Dave, a close friend. Here they are preparing yards of tulle (25 yards to a batch):
MOTB does all the measuring, planning, and organizing (including, of course, taking the pictures). Shawna and Dave are helping measure, putting strings through the tulle to tie them up around the columns, and wiring together ivy strands that will hang from the columns as well.
All is very efficient.
But, you might ask, who does that leave to actually hang the tulle? From on top a fifteen foot ladder? Well, if you gues FOTB, you'd be right. Despite mild vertigo, up he goes.
And the tulle gets hung, the gallery gets decorated, and we all go home to relax. Until the rehearsal at 4. And the arrival of the tables and chairs and linens. And the caterers, to do preliminary setup.
Of course, all goes smoothly. It will turn out the next morning that three tables don't arrive, but everything else does. The one problem: the butterflies. TBTB has ordered live butterflies, to be released as Bride and Groom depart from the reception, Man and Wife. Butterflies will be given to each of the guests by The Butterfly Girl (TBTB's cousin Christopher's daughter, Yona), in paper packets. The butterflies will fly forth in a great cloud at the moment of departure. This is better than rice, not really permitted at the Cultural Arts Center because it gets in cracks between bricks. Bird seed is an option; TBTB prefers butterflies. They're ordered from a butterfly place in Florida -- which I think is Butterfly kisses, http://www.butterfly-kisses.com/index.html -- and will arrive today, on Friday. They are to be kept dormant, through chilling, until a couple of hours before release.
But we're not home to receive them. POTB are hanging tulle; TBTB and TGTB are gathering up family and friends at airport, transporting back and forth, making last minute arrangements. Luckily, TBTB's Uncle Brian, the nuclear engineer from California, has arrived. So he's to stay at POTB's home to receive butterflies.
But the butterflies don't arrive. We all return from decorating, meeting, etc., in early afternoon. And UB reports no butterflies. TBTB checks the order--and discovers that the wrong address is on the confirmation: street number is off by 100 digits. And the tracking systems reports that butterflies were delivered four hours earlier.
TBTB runs down the street. And discovers the butterflies, in their delivery box, on the porch of the wrong address. In the sun. On a 90 degree day. Unsigned for. Despite directions on box: do not deliver without signature. Refrigerated. To be kept cool.
Well. We open the box, to disover the dry ice has all melted. Ice is quickly added to box, and box is put in basement. We can but hope. There are some scratching sounds from the envelopes, so presumably butterflies are no longer dormant. We hope they become dormant again. Otherwise tomorrow, Bride and Groom, rather than having a cloud of butterflies surrounding them, will be pelted with dead insects.
Rehearsal goes without a hitch. Rehearsal dinner, at the Clay Cafe where everybody paints china, is great fun. Both documented on blogs with links here: http://navyweddingrehearsal.blogspot.com//
And the wedding itself works well on the day. Despite missing tables, all works perfectly. Bride is lovely, groom is dashing. Again, documented elsewhere, at http://columbusnavywedding.blogspot.com/ MOTB finishes wedding gown an hour before the wedding, breaking the tradition in the family (MOTB was a half hour late to her own wedding, as her mother finished sewing the gown as she wore it). ( And The Gown is itself documented at http://columbusnavyweddingdress.blogspot.com/ --as well it should be.) The reception goes well, with spectacular food from Dragonfly NeoV (www.dragonflyneov.org) --Magdiale also bakes the vegan cake. And despite threats from a few carnivores to bring buckets of KFC, they don't. And eat the terrific food --the griddle cakes are particularly popular so quickly that POTB and newly weds get only a couple of bites apiece. The string trio is tuneful, piano music (thanks, Susan!) during the reception gives a great atmosphere to the gallery space. So the wedding and reception are smooth and joyous, on all counts.
And the butterflies are alive, mostly. The grandmother of the Bride releases hers an hour ahead of time, not quite understanding what it is. (The packets are distributed an hour before needed so the butterflies can wake up.) But at the moment, the butterflies fly. Many alight on the Bride and Groom, attracked by their dazzling whiteness--she in lace and satin, he in dress whites. Here's one on Uncle Brian's hand:
And the Bride, a butterfly on her arm, and The Groom await the carriage. So the butterflies fulfill their mission--to take positive messages to the dieties on behalf of those who set them free.
The Wedding thus ends, with the newlyweds riding off in their carriage. It's too early for a sunset, but read on . . .
A postscript: the carriage route takes the Newlyweds through downtown Columbus, on a circuitous route to avoid heavily trafficed streets. The carriage drives past the Cirque du Soleil, set up north of the Cultural Arts Center by about a mile, then turns to go around Nationwide Arena, and passes the Columbus Convention Center. As the carriage nears the Arena and Convention Center, 4000 Honda dealers emerge from the Center, leaving a sales meeting to go to the Cirque. The carriage and the newlyweds drive through the mobs of Honda dealers--who respond to the romantic scene with cheers. So the newlyweds drive, in a carriage, through cheering throngs. Is that not a perfect ending?
MOTB does all the measuring, planning, and organizing (including, of course, taking the pictures). Shawna and Dave are helping measure, putting strings through the tulle to tie them up around the columns, and wiring together ivy strands that will hang from the columns as well.
All is very efficient. But, you might ask, who does that leave to actually hang the tulle? From on top a fifteen foot ladder? Well, if you gues FOTB, you'd be right. Despite mild vertigo, up he goes.
And the tulle gets hung, the gallery gets decorated, and we all go home to relax. Until the rehearsal at 4. And the arrival of the tables and chairs and linens. And the caterers, to do preliminary setup.
Of course, all goes smoothly. It will turn out the next morning that three tables don't arrive, but everything else does. The one problem: the butterflies. TBTB has ordered live butterflies, to be released as Bride and Groom depart from the reception, Man and Wife. Butterflies will be given to each of the guests by The Butterfly Girl (TBTB's cousin Christopher's daughter, Yona), in paper packets. The butterflies will fly forth in a great cloud at the moment of departure. This is better than rice, not really permitted at the Cultural Arts Center because it gets in cracks between bricks. Bird seed is an option; TBTB prefers butterflies. They're ordered from a butterfly place in Florida -- which I think is Butterfly kisses, http://www.butterfly-kisses.com/index.html -- and will arrive today, on Friday. They are to be kept dormant, through chilling, until a couple of hours before release.
But we're not home to receive them. POTB are hanging tulle; TBTB and TGTB are gathering up family and friends at airport, transporting back and forth, making last minute arrangements. Luckily, TBTB's Uncle Brian, the nuclear engineer from California, has arrived. So he's to stay at POTB's home to receive butterflies.
But the butterflies don't arrive. We all return from decorating, meeting, etc., in early afternoon. And UB reports no butterflies. TBTB checks the order--and discovers that the wrong address is on the confirmation: street number is off by 100 digits. And the tracking systems reports that butterflies were delivered four hours earlier.
TBTB runs down the street. And discovers the butterflies, in their delivery box, on the porch of the wrong address. In the sun. On a 90 degree day. Unsigned for. Despite directions on box: do not deliver without signature. Refrigerated. To be kept cool.
Well. We open the box, to disover the dry ice has all melted. Ice is quickly added to box, and box is put in basement. We can but hope. There are some scratching sounds from the envelopes, so presumably butterflies are no longer dormant. We hope they become dormant again. Otherwise tomorrow, Bride and Groom, rather than having a cloud of butterflies surrounding them, will be pelted with dead insects.
Rehearsal goes without a hitch. Rehearsal dinner, at the Clay Cafe where everybody paints china, is great fun. Both documented on blogs with links here: http://navyweddingrehearsal.blogspot.com//
And the wedding itself works well on the day. Despite missing tables, all works perfectly. Bride is lovely, groom is dashing. Again, documented elsewhere, at http://columbusnavywedding.blogspot.com/ MOTB finishes wedding gown an hour before the wedding, breaking the tradition in the family (MOTB was a half hour late to her own wedding, as her mother finished sewing the gown as she wore it). ( And The Gown is itself documented at http://columbusnavyweddingdress.blogspot.com/ --as well it should be.) The reception goes well, with spectacular food from Dragonfly NeoV (www.dragonflyneov.org) --Magdiale also bakes the vegan cake. And despite threats from a few carnivores to bring buckets of KFC, they don't. And eat the terrific food --the griddle cakes are particularly popular so quickly that POTB and newly weds get only a couple of bites apiece. The string trio is tuneful, piano music (thanks, Susan!) during the reception gives a great atmosphere to the gallery space. So the wedding and reception are smooth and joyous, on all counts.
And the butterflies are alive, mostly. The grandmother of the Bride releases hers an hour ahead of time, not quite understanding what it is. (The packets are distributed an hour before needed so the butterflies can wake up.) But at the moment, the butterflies fly. Many alight on the Bride and Groom, attracked by their dazzling whiteness--she in lace and satin, he in dress whites. Here's one on Uncle Brian's hand:
And the Bride, a butterfly on her arm, and The Groom await the carriage. So the butterflies fulfill their mission--to take positive messages to the dieties on behalf of those who set them free.
The Wedding thus ends, with the newlyweds riding off in their carriage. It's too early for a sunset, but read on . . .
A postscript: the carriage route takes the Newlyweds through downtown Columbus, on a circuitous route to avoid heavily trafficed streets. The carriage drives past the Cirque du Soleil, set up north of the Cultural Arts Center by about a mile, then turns to go around Nationwide Arena, and passes the Columbus Convention Center. As the carriage nears the Arena and Convention Center, 4000 Honda dealers emerge from the Center, leaving a sales meeting to go to the Cirque. The carriage and the newlyweds drive through the mobs of Honda dealers--who respond to the romantic scene with cheers. So the newlyweds drive, in a carriage, through cheering throngs. Is that not a perfect ending?
