My Daughter's Wedding Day

I took my daughters out for breakfast at one of Sam's Town's restaurants. It was about 8 AM. My daughters and I had a hair appointment at 9 AM. We each were getting prepped and primped and pampered for the wedding. We were "finished" at around 11:45PM. Please note that I don't normally clean up this nicely. This is when we learned that we had to quickly corral the Matron of Honor and her daugher The Flower Girl so we could all race over to Paris to check into the Bridal Suite in order to get dressed for the wedding. We were to be joined by our photographer, my oldest daughter, The Mink.

We arrived at the Paris at a little after 1 PM. As we were all piling out of the car with all our various "stuff"...the wedding gown, the dresses, etc. etc. etc. we ran into some of the wedding guests who were exploring the Vegas Strip. Pictures were taken of the frantic Mother-of-the-Bride by two of said Mother's former Bride's Maids from 25 years ago. We checked into the Paris Bridal Suite which we discovered was a non-smoking suite. No problemo for me. I don't smoke. Unfortunately, the bride was horrified. She smokes. So does the groom. OK. I went down to the check-in desk and begged for a smoking suite. I got one. Yuck! Those rooms sure do stink. The smoker didn't seem to notice.

I left everyone smoking in the room (well...not the flowergirl...just the rest of them) while I raced up to the Wedding Chapel so I could meet the Wedding Co-Ordinator. My husband had warned me that the gal that we'd been working with all this time was sick and they had had to find a replacement. I hurried up to the reception desk and asked to see the co-ordinator for the wedding. The receptionist called back to the offices saying, "The bride for the wedding is here to see the co-ordinator." Blink, Blink? "I'm the Mother-of-the-Bride". I straightened that out and met with the co-ordinator, making sure that she had the names correct and the times etc.

Returning to the room, I found that we still had plenty of time before we had to get dressed for the wedding. I was already dressed (maybe this is why the receptionist thought I was the bride) because I didn't want to have to lug all my stuff back to Sam's Town after the wedding like the Matron-of-Honor and her daughter would have to do. My daughters and I went down to the casino, had a drink at the bar, and then I played a couple of quarter machines. I doubled my money, cashed out, and we all returned to the room to get ready for the wedding.

In all of our wedding attire, we arrived at the chapel to meet the co-ordinator at around 4:15 PM. My husband was waiting for us. The rest of our guests were waiting down in the casino, having arrived by chartered bus earlier then anticipated. We quickly hustled the bride and her attendants into the Bride's Waiting Room. A photographer (professional) came and took a multitude of pictures. A photograper (The Mink) had already taken a multitude of pictures. The professional photographer and The Mink discussed cameras. The bride drank a glass of water, wanted more water but was reminded of the difficulties that could present themselves should she decide that she had to go to visit the little girl's room in all of her wedding splendor.

Meanwhile, the co-ordinator was lining people up and pinning flowers on all the immediate family members. This is when we discovered that the ringbearer's pillow had been left up in the Bridal Suite. Thankfully it wasn't left at Sam's Town. The Mink raced (she really did race...she took off her shoes and ran) back to the Bridal Suite to get the ringbearer's pillow. Thankfully, I wasn't around when my husband asked the groom if he had the marriage license (he had left it up in the room at Sam's Town). Fortunately, this disaster wasn't too bad since they hadn't as yet left Sam's Town. The groom raced up to his room at Sam's Town and recovered the missing document. The Best Man did not lose the rings.

Everyone was seated in the Chapel du Paradis. The minister waited by the podium. The groom waited nervously at the front of the chapel. He quipped that he wished he had hired a juggler to take some of the attention off of him. The music started. In walked the Matron-of-Honor on the arm of the Best-Man. After a short pause, in walked the Flowergirl on the arm of the Ring-bearer. Music. More music. More music. I think they time the music for a larger wedding party. More bride's maids and groom's men. Then everyone is directed to stand and in marches my daughter, The Bride on the arm of her Father. She was so beautiful!

I'm sure the minister was a professional actor who happened to be a minister but that was just fine. He sounded like he really knew my daughter and her fiance. He sounded really sincere. He delivered a moving wedding speech. He didn't sound like he'd been giving the same speech night after night down through the ages. It was a beautiful ceremony.

Afterwards the guests were directed to head back to the chartered bus area while the wedding party and their families stayed behind for more pictures. More pictures were taken. The family was directed to leave so that even more pictures could be taken of just the Bride and the Groom and their attendants. We all headed down to the bus to wait for the Bride and Groom. Soon, the attendants joined us as we waited for the Bride and Groom. While we waited, we watched as my husband's father tried one of the slot machines. No luck. Oh well.

We oogled the limosine that was waiting to pick up the Bride and Groom and their attendants. Wow! A red stretch limo with flames painted on it's side and a leopard print interior. Sinful4 was the license plate. And then the fire alarms went off inside the casino. Thankfully it was a false alarm but the Bride told me that the elevators were sealed shut. They had to wait until the all-clear was given before they could join us downstairs. The wedding couple and their attendants entered the Sinful limosine and were off to Sam's Town and the reception. The wedding guests piled into the humble CoachUSA bus and followed them to Sam's Town and the reception.

The reception went well. The bride changed into a pair of running shoes studded with diamonds (not real ones...let's get real). The food was fabulous. The guests blew bubbles. The bride and groom kissed upon request. Wedding Confetti (Jordan Almonds) was explained for those who didn't understand the Italian tradition. The Bride's Father danced with the Bride. The Groom's Mother danced with the Groom. The Bride and Groom danced. The Bride threw her wedding bouquet...no-one caught it. The Groom threw the wedding garter...the Groom's 5-year-old nephew caught it. The Bride and Groom cut the cake and shared their first bites. Cameras flashed. Lots of Kodak moments. Champagne flowed.

Guests were swept out the door at 10:30PM. Many adjourned to Roxie's (a Sam's Town nightclub and bar) after the reception. Meanwhile, I rescued the cake-topper and all the rest of the numerous items that we wished to save until we don't want to save them anymore. My parents took the flowers and the rest of the wedding cake off to their house so that at least one layer of the cake could be preserved for the happy couple's first anniversary (it's sitting in my freezer right now wrapped in multiple layers of plastic). The unopened bottles of champagne were delivered up to my room (No...I did not drink them....not yet) along with the wedding guest book, all the extra wedding confetti, the cake knife and server, etc. etc. Thank goodness for bell people.

And so ends the tale of My Daughter's Wedding. The Friday and Saturday after the wedding was spent connecting with as many of our guests as we could because we didn't have nearly enough time at the wedding or the reception to talk to everyone we needed to and wanted to talk to before we had to say goodbye. Sunday was spent recovering from My Daughter's Wedding and it's aftermath, not to mention that I finally had time to play video poker.

Monday we left for home...after my husband played with my father's computer. Hoover Dam is really pretty after dark. There was little or no traffic on our trip back home. We arrived back in Phoenix at around 2 AM....Tuesday.

Today's Little Bit of Trivia

The father of writer Hart Crane is the creator of Life Savers candy. Clarence Crane.