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Helen and Greg
Greg and Helen - August 5, 2000 - just after the wedding
If you got this far you are interested in what happened to us on our wedding day so you have come to the right place. Here are the journal entries for that whole weekend.
So, we're here, getting ready to go to bed in order to get going to Nova Scotia in the morning. Michelle is staying over. Everything is ready to go and pretty much packed. Today the guys at work gave me a great lunch and a wedding romance gift basket. It was great and a lot of fun. So, gotta go to bed now! The wedding is so close now. It's exciting to consider. We' re leaving at three a.m. tomorrow morning! Yikes!
On the road 10 1/2 hours now. We're getting closer to Moncton by the KM. Almost home! Here I am, planning the decoration details - light by light and balloon by balloon. Wow! The driving is rather bumpy but we're all still in good moods. Listening to "Wedding Singer II" soundtrack. Giggle. I'm excited about decorating the hall.
The Plaster Rock Irving (gas station) had the streamer thing happening - it's how I want to decorate the hall. I still totally love it. Hope it works for us. I certainly packed enough food for the drive. Yummy.
We're going through Fredericton on our way home and to the honeymoon! Woo woo! Now I wanted to write all my memories of the last few wonderful days.
details about Wednesday
We got into Truro around 5pm local time on Wednesday, dropped Michelle at the Glengarry and then went home and surprised the heck out of Mom, who didn't expect us until 10 or so. We ate some snacks from our picnic basket and some of her bread.
I took out some of the decorations and put them together to my satisfaction. We sat and talked together until Janet got home from work. When Janet got home, I opened the "shower" gift. The "Helen Grows Up" photo story of my life. It was so sweet and wonderful and sentimental. Then we all talked more about plans and such. Greg stayed that night in the spare room and I slept in Janet's spare bed. It was uncomfortably hot and sticky in the house so sleeping was difficult but I slept ok.
details about Thursday
On Thursday, I called the Glengarry and the sales staff weren't in yet so I left a message. The cake place called for me to figure out what kind of color I wanted to match my ribbon. I told them lighter would be ok and said I'd be in later to check on it. That was probably 9am. Around 10 am we went into Truro (Greg and I) and to the church first to check on paperwork. It was all done and complete. It was a relief to see that. When we got to the church office, Father Currie was there so we asked to talk to him for a while. We got everything sorted out: vows, pictures allowed, etc. He was easy to talk to and it was great that Greg got to meet him prior to Saturday.
After the church, we went to Fraser's Pastry and verified the cake colors were what I wanted. They were even better than I expected. It is hard to get a nice burgandy icing. We paid the remainder of the cake bill and then went to get chips and cheesies for the dance and call Michelle. It turned out she was on the phone to our house when we called so she was ready for us when we popped in there 15 minutes later with no warning from us.
We took Michelle and went to get overhead supplies and good tape for decorating. Then we went home and had a 1 o'clock lunch. Michelle and I went and pouffed my dress and Greg waited for us patiently. We had another tour of the garden with Michelle after the one that morning with me, dad and Greg. There were plenty of flowers and I knew there would be enough to decorate the church and the hall. There was even enough baby's breath to do it all. I was happy about that. I think mom and dad were too.
Carol and Jamie came later that day and we did the garden tour again. Carol was thinking we should use the lily-like flowers for the vases. I knew we'd have something suitable.
We soon had supper. Michelle and Carol had tuna melts while we had hamburgers. After supper, all the guys left because they went to the golf driving range. I wanted the girls to just do stuff together like dye hair and paint nails so that is what we did. Janet dyed Carol's hair, I dyed Michelle's hair and Michelle painted Carol's nails all at the same time! It was pretty silly. Mom watched and took pictures. While we were doing that, cousin Coleen called - wanting to go out. I wasn't really feeling up to it but we later found out the guys had all gone drinking in a room at the Glengarry - with Rob to drive and they were going to play pool from 9-10pm.
By 9 o'clock we had just finished out nails and decided we'd go meet them at Dooley's for pool. I was already tired and grumpy because I was stressing over my nails being too shiny. We went anyway.
Michelle, Janet and Coleen were in cahoots to get me drunk so I had a long Island ice tea and 2 double White Russians, which were on special. We also had wings and fries and must have stayed 3 hours. By the end, I wasn't grumpy anymore and was playing better pool, thus having a good time.
The sober people (Carol and Rob) drove the rest of us home and to the hotel. Greg stayed at the hotel that night. Roman was supposed to arrive on Friday morning at the hotel but he had broken down. (Roman is Greg's brother and a groomsman).
details about Friday
On Friday morning, I brough all the rest of the decorations downstairs and then started getting flowers and pots ready for the church and hall. We also organized the cars that things would get to the hall in. At one o'clock I went for a nap. At 2, I got up (I had only had a few hours sleep that night - worrying about all the details and still WAY too hot to sleep). Then we trimmed all the baby's breath for the little centrepiece vases. Mom, Janet and I did that. Then I got my clothes for the rehearsal together. We piled in cars and went to the hotel to drop the stuff, then we went to get the cake. It was 3:45 and it was supposed to be ready at 4. When we got there, the cake's icing was melting because it was so hot and they had no air conditioning. It was not ready. I started to fret. Carol kept cool and brought us back to the hotel where we started decorating. Man, was it hot!
I was all worried about the cake. They told us 1/2 hour, it'd be ready. Greg and Michelle were waiting for us in the hall when we returned. We decorated some, then went back for the cake at exactly 4:15. Still not ready. I was getting stressed. Carol was the voice of reason and said that we'd return in an hour. Fine with them. We went to decorate more. My list of exact decoration details helped a lot. It was going well, then we ran out of white streamers. No prob - called mom to get more. They were coming to the hall anyway and could buy some on the way in.
Finally we went to get the cake and this time it was ready and perfect. Greg and Dave helped. We set up the cake but didn't put it fully together because the top would have sunk into it. Mom and Dad came with the extra streamers. We still ran out again but there was enough to do the job nicely. At 6:45 we left for the rehearsal and the hoop of streamers was barely up. When we got to the rehearsal it was very fast and confusing. We had no idea what to expect on Saturday. I thought it was scary but it didn't really matter.
I think Geoff (a friend who was an usher) felt really out of place there. (Everyone else was family). I handed him the programs and the gifts for the choir so at least he had a reason to be there. Roman was still not there at the rehearsal but the guys had picked up their tuxes and I was ready to get married.
When we returned to the hall, I couldn't believe my eyes! The hoop and streamers were all up and looked gorgeous! The hoop hung from the middle of the room and streamers hung out from it in a circle. It made a tent-top effect with burgandy and white streamers. In the middle, we hung a bunch of burgandy and white balloons. I only wish I had taken more pictures of it. I loved how it looked! IT was perfect. Everything else was perfect too. The white mini lights that were in the trees and surrounding the special tables and the entrance were everything I had ever dreamed of, only better! And the set behind and over the dance floor made it a magical place. I loved it and took it all in. We then took out the rest of the food Carol had prepared and ate it in Coleen's room. I found Greg and his family in the bar and realized I needed to make up the General Intercessions for Henry to read! That was very last second. I wanted to leave at 9:30 for home but didn't get away until 10:05 or so. Then we got home and Janet and I stayed up and talked until midnight. So much for an early night.
Again it was too hot and I was worried about getting the readings to the church and EVERY other little thing so I couldn't sleep at all. By 4 am, I was awake, sweating and worrying a little. Carol and Jamie had stayed the night at Coleen and Kenneth's room so I got into the spare bed, where the room was cooler. I got to sleep in another 1/2 hour or so and woke again at 6:30 I think. I was too excited to sleep more! It was my wedding day, August 5 was finally here!
details of Saturday, August 5, 2000
All the 14 months of planning came to this day. The day was sunny and beautiful. I think it had rained a little overnight so it was finally a little cooler and tolerable heat. Such a gorgeous day. I was thrilled. I went down, had breakfast of a ham sandwich and juice and then wrote my thank-you list speech. The limo driver called to double-check time and place. Mom put balloons on our mailbox to help him out. I never even saw them while they were up but they must have been colorful. I did help blow them up.
Janet went for her shower at the time she was given (in the schedule I made her). Then I went for my bath. As I was drawing the water, Carol, Jamie and Michelle got there and Michelle gave me a joyous hug before I got in the tub. (Even though I had been naked already and just put on a towel when she INSISTED I needed a hug.)
I took my 1/2 hour bath, bubbles and all, then put on my face and hand cream. I put on my new silk dressing gown to go downstairs once more before getting ready fully. So all four of us girls went upstairs and got our makeup on, our hair dried and set (I struggled to get the tiara nice but once it looked good I cemented it there with hairspray.)
We all put on our dresses and jewellery and then I looked at myself. I had transformed into the princess I hoped I'd be! Everything was perfect! We did a few staged pictures, putting on corsages and necklaces and veils and stuff and then we went down. It was 11:12. The photographer arrived moments later, freshened her batteries and then started looking outside for a photo site. I was standing there, feeling silly waiting but I also felt beautiful.
We went down under the trees and took lots and lots of pictures. It was fun. I was in every photo! (smile) The girls were being silly and bugging the photographer. The most fun was when the girls were peeking out from behind the trees. We had a final shot of the family with Rob on the swing. We were right on time then (12:25).
She left for the church. We ate. The limo arrived early at a couple minutes to 12:30. We got in, with photos from Mom and Rob being taken. I got in second, with Michelle. We rode backwards - sweating the whole time, chewing gum. When we got to the church we found my thank you speech to tear bits from to spit our gum in! The photographer (Lisa) was there for pictures right away and snuck in the limo and snapped some pics of me fixing my lipstick. Then we went in the back way to the chapel of the church and she took a pic as we went inside. We were 10 minutes early, as planned. It was perfect!
I could hear the organ playing and enjoyed it. We waited a little and I asked if the readings were at the podium. The intercessions were not. Mom had me re-writing them as the message got to Greg that he had them. He returned with them before I got to the second one so no harm done. Then we waited more because Janet had gone to the bathroom. Finally we were starting. I wasn't at all nervous. I was glad! Michelle was more nervous than I was! The music started. Janet, Carol and Michelle walked in and met their men. Then I stepped in. I could only see the photographer until she moved. I saw Diana and Henry, Lynn and family and Bonnie, I think, specifically as I went up the aisle. Then I saw Greg! He looked so great. All cute, all dressed up! Sweet. I kissed Dad and Mom goodbye (they both brought me up the aisle) and Greg was supposed to come down and meet me then but he didn't move. I got nervous, and glanced around for him to "get over here, you fool"! but he didn't move. I got desparate. It felt like I was standing there forever by myself so I hand gestured him over to me, to which he jumped a little and scurried over. That made the on-lookers laugh. I'm glad it happened. It made things special for us. The rest of the ceremony went flawlessly.
We did our own vows to each other beautifully. We read them, rather than reapeating them after the priest. I liked that a lot better. The readings by Netta, Lynn and Henry were really well done. Father tied a knot over our hands with his garment when he blessed us and joked about us "tying the knot". The Allelulia was so beautiful, it brough tears to my eyes. The choir's singing was all beautiful. They did the parts of the mass that I knew so I could sing along with them. I grew up singing with the choir. They did a really pretty "Peace is Flowing" hymn. The "Ave Maria" was sung solo by Gordon McIntyre and it sent chills down my spine. Beautiful. Our kiss was short and sweet.
Finally we signed the register and a million photos were taken. I was last. That was cool to see all the cameras. I just kept smiling. I enjoyed it all. We left the church and Jamie must have run with the video camera because he has us walking down the aisle! I never even noticed him there with it. Very great. Then we had a photo op and a receiving line. People didn't realize it was the receiving line so we had to tell them. We thanked everyone for coming and introduced everyone. Then we got into the limo and drove to Victoria Park. We had a little champagne going over. Fun! Pictures were right on time again. It seemed Michelle got lost but she was with John on the other side of the park. We didn't need to hurry and took all sorts of pictures. The kids got done first and then went for a limo ride. They loved it!
We finished with pictures and went to the hall, figuring we'd make a grand entrance then but Michelle wasn't there so I went in and mingled. We made our grand entrance at 4:50, when Kenn (the M.C.) introduced us. Everyone clapped for us all. Especially for me and Greg. It was all so wonderful and just what I wanted. Then we had the salt bread and water from Greg's grandmother. My Mom said grace and then we ate.
I got lots of ham, coleslaw, salad, meatballs, a piece of French bread and chicken wings. It was simply delicious! Then they started clinking glasses. We allowed it to go on. Then Kenn got up and explained there'd be rules. That got a groan. He told them about the Pictionary game and Joe van Bommel was first to draw. They had to draw a wedding-related pictionary word and get the group to guess it before we would kiss. The first drawing was "Limousine". Joe did a quick job of that and everyone had fun. I had no problem eating all of my first plate of food with little interruption. Then everyone had got their first plate so I decided to be first in line for seconds at my own wedding. It worked great with the buffet on the dance floor. I got more ham - this time the lady knew I'd want "LOTS!" Ummm... it was soo good. Everyone had LOTS to eat and the staff did a great job, serving coffee etc. Then I went for dessert. Basically I got food while people were drawing. After dessert, people were really getting into the Pictionary. They were clinking again before the kissing finished. It was a lot of fun! I even snuck Janet in as Drawer, by telling Kenn to pretend that he had picked her name. I thought that was perfect, especially when I found out she had started that round of clinking.
That all ended when we had dessert and the food had been removed. The DJ had been playing perfect dinner music all along. He did a really good job of that, I thought. So we had the first dance announced and we danced to "I wanna Grow Old With You" from the "Wedding Singer II" soundtrack. First dance as Husband and Wife. Wow! It was really early for most people to start dancing (6:30 or so) but we started anyway cuz there was nothing else to do.
Oh, there was also Danny's welcome comment, Dad's speech, Greg's thank you and my thank you speech before our first waltz. After it, Carol made a toast to the new couple. I'm glad she did that. Danny was supposed to but didn't feel comfortable in front of a lot of people to do a toast.
We danced and partied until about midnight. Then we actually helped tear down. Odd, but no big deal. Mustn't forget the Conga line that I led like a crazy fool around and around. I hiked up my dress, threw up my heels and had a blast - round and round the room. I ended up, as if it had been planned, by circling the dance floor, round and round, getting smaller and smaller until Greg and I were in the middle and EVERYONE was around us on the dance floor! It was so Amazing and totally Cool! Everyone had joined it. I couldn't believe it.
After we wound down and got all the decorations packed, we went to our honeymoon suite, and crashed. My feet hurt and my smile muscles were sore but I was super happy. Everyone commented all day how wonderfully happy I looked and how beautiful my dress was. That was nice.
details about Sunday
Sunday we woke, swam and sat in the hot tub. We said bye to Dickon and Tamara and Michelle and John as they left then. We ate breakfast with Carol, Jamie and Kenneth. We packed up , had Tim Horton's on a whim, went home, had lunch, opened beautiful gifts, showed them to the neighbors and then went to see the tidal bore (something Truro is famous for and Greg had never seen). Then we went out for supper with mom and dad. We also toured around the NSAC campus to show it to Greg and ended up at the Fundy Dairy Bar and had ice cream. It was a touristy day and a lot of fun.
details about Monday
Today we packed the car and returned the tuxes. Now we're in Edmunston for supper - headed for Quebec for the night, home tomorrow and honeymoon starts on Wednesday. I feel great! It was perfect! Being married is really nice.