And Then There Were 4: Wedding #2 Recap

Sorry, it has taken a few weeks to get pictures together and to find the time to blog, but here is a recap of my older sister Sarah's wedding.

Thursday, October 25, 2007: We had a wonderfully relaxed flight from Seattle to Long Beach. However, while waiting for our luggage, Taylor decided to have a huge explosion in his diaper, thus his cute outfit that I picked for the day was gone, along with about 20 wipes that it took to clean up the mess. Got picked up from the airport by my good high school friend Kristy! Spent a brief 2 hours with her and her husband Joe, enjoying some delicious tamales and introducing Taylor to them. Then took off to Santa Ana to brother-in-law Rob's grandma's house. Tried to hurry and unload the car, get changed, and get Jason and Taylor organized for the evening, as I would be going out. Taylor on the other hand decided to be super crabby and started crying uncontrollably. I was trying to rush because Mary (younger sister) and I were late at that point for the Bachelorette party, but I tried to stop and feed Taylor to calm him. Finally had to tear myself away, leaving Jason with a very unhappy Taylor. Sped to Downtown Disney with Mary, and thankfully we still had our reserved table at the Rainforest Cafe. Had a fun evening with the bride, bridesmaids, and a high school friend of the bride in town for the wedding.

Friday, October 26, 2007: Up early to try and get us out the door on time for breakfast with family and friends at Ruby's on the Newport Beach Pier. Caravaned behind Mary and Rob, trying to keep up amid LA morning traffic. Got the the restaurant late, but only two minutes behind the bride, so all was well. We all sat up on the second floor, and since we had a stroller, got to take the secret elevator the size of a port-o-potty upstairs. Had a wonderful breakfast overlooking the ocean, which Jason and I have missed terribly. It was such a beautiful day, I just wanted to lay at the beach and soak up the sun which has disappeared in the Seattle area.

Breakfast at Ruby's

After breakfast Jason and Rob returned to the grandma's house to hang out, while Mary and I met Sarah at her place to pick up stuff for the reception site. Made the drop off at The Catch of Aneheim, where the reception would be held, then hurried to the mall for mani's and pedi's. Biggest pet peeve, when you go to those places, and the ladies start talking about you in their language. And you can tell they are talking about you because they look right at you, then look to their friend and say something. Occasionally they will point at you, and at one point two of them were gawking at my small pinkie toe nail. Then they speak to you in English, but you have to have them repeat themselves about 6 times before you understand what they are saying. I was a bit scared on the cleanliness of the place as well. Overall, it was fun just being together as sisters.

Mary and Sarah getting Mani's and Pedi's

After that we were off again, this time to hurry and get ready for the rehearsal. We made it on time, thankfully. A few run throughs of the walking and all that and we were good to go. Well, actually, I sat out the last walk through because I had to feed Taylor before he made a scene. The church wedding coordinator looked a bit annoyed, but what are you going to do. This being my fourth bridesmaid appearance, I was sure I had the whole walk slowly/ smile/ fluff the train thing down.

The Bridesmaids

Sarah and Mark

Then it was off to the rehearsal dinner at this great steak and seafood place. There was a private room all set up for us, which was great. Because it was so close to Halloween, all the waiters/waitresses were dressed up. Kind of funny at a rehearsal dinner. We enjoyed great steaks, delicious strawberry lemonade, and lots of laughs. The waiter made Sarah and Mark a ball and chain out of aluminum foil, and also a great balloon hat for them to sport. Lots of fun. The restaurant also had a nightclub, so the music was really bummin' each time I walked by to the restroom. Supposedly we could have gotten in for free since we ate dinner at the restaurant. Sweet! Maybe next time. :)

The crazy couple

Saturday, October 27, 2007: The big day arrived! I slipped out early in the morning while Jason and Taylor were still sleeping. Mary and I hurried to the salon where we would all be getting our hair done. When we arrived, Sarah was already getting curled and pampered, and my mom was getting shampooed. We spent the next few hours there as each of us went through our beauty transformation. Sarah's hair and makeup turned out very pretty. What a glowing bride! (Note the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cup in the background. Yes, it was my idea to go get some since I love it and they are not in Seattle).

The Glowing Bride

Next it was off to the Nixon Library, where we helped Sarah into her gown and freshened up for her photo shoot. Once she was prepped and off with the photographer, the rest of us kicked it into high gear and got our makeup done and dresses on. Mary helped us all with our eye makeup since she is a pro.

Mary helping Tara with eye makeup

Then it was to the gardens to meet Sarah and family for pictures. There was a threat of rain showers, but I think it barely sprinkled for 10 seconds. Great for pictures because we weren't all squinting. The gardens were beautiful. The perfect place for pictures. Rob, Jason, and Taylor showed up a bit later for family picts. All was well till Taylor decided to spit up all over Jason's pants. Photographer not too thrilled. Good thing for Shout Wipes!

Posing for pictures

"Everyone bunch up close!"

Family shot

Jason and Rob getting Taylor ready

And finally it was off to the church for the big event. When we got there the parking lot was full. Early guests? No, just the congregation having a gathering. Nice and peaceful you may think, but this was a Danish church with lots of Europeans, so there was lots of drinking and yelling over a soccer game. Thankfully they kicked everyone out just in time for the ceremony, though some of the lingering people gave the bridal party a loud round of applause as we walked through the auditorium to the sanctuary. The music was beautiful, none of the bridesmaids tripped, the pastor did a fabulous job, and I didn't fall out of my way-too-big-on-top bridesmaid dress as I fluffed Sarah's train. There were vows, an exchange of rings, communion, lighting of the unity candle, and then finally the kiss! Hurray! Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Sarah Fitzpatrick!

The Kiss!

Off to the reception to party! But first, I had to finish my speech. Once again, I procrastinated and was working on it on the way to the restaurant. I was struck with a very creative idea while we were taking pictures at the Nixon Library, so I'd been working on it frantically since. Once at the restaurant, I sneaked in to the banquet room and asked the DJ to help me out with some background music. A few minutes after they let all the guests in to sit, we were all introduced, and then it was my time. "Alright everyone, it is time for tonight's Top 10 Countdown!" (Like Letterman, get it?) I counted down the top 10 reasons why Sarah was the best older sister in the world with memories like her welcoming me home from the hospital by nearly biting my hand off, and when she would get frustrated with me, only digging her nails into my arm deep enough to make a mark, not break the skin. I ended it with some loving words and tears. Mission accomplished: I made them laugh, I made them cry, and hopefully it was memorable. I was glad when it was over.

After dinner was the slew of traditions, like cutting the cake, the bouquet and garter toss, first dance, and father/daughter dance. Taylor was getting his boogie on the dance floor a bit before the rest of us. But then we all danced the night away. Unfortunately as I was feeding Taylor in the bridal room, we missed out on a pretty fabulous conga line. When I returned many guests had left, so the sisters and all the husbands had a little boogie session on the dance floor. So fun. Taylor took a brief little nap in Nana's arms, but he held on strong till 11:30 pm when we finally said our good-byes. Hard to leave, since we wouldn't be seeing Sarah and Mark again till Christmas.

Overall it was a wonderful wedding with no mishaps to speak of and lots of great memories. Welcome to the family, Mark! So long to the days of the Evans Sisters. You can call us Honer,Fitzpatrick, & Jenkins (just don't mistake us for a law firm).

The girls at the head table