I know Im a bit behind in posting the entire month of June, but there's been a LOT going on! Two weddings, a wedding shower, and in the middle of everything, it was our huge sales meeting at work, so I was a bit of a lunatic getting work done before I was away (more on that later). So I finally just got a chance to go thru all the awesome pictures...
So Jen, the maid of honor and girl in the lovely orange skirt next to me in the picture, lives in Philadelphia, and she's an awesome floral designer and we've been trying to get together to start brainstorming ideas for the decor for the wedding. She said there was a flower show going on at the Hilton Garden Inn on SI, and she would come up, we'd browse some flowers, catch up a bit, do some planning, etc. This is not as far-fetched as it sounds, because Jen used to do a ton of work on SI and knows every room big enough to hold a wedding on the whole island. I know, I know, it seems ridiculous in hindsight that I was in the least bit surprised, but Jen is a bit of a force of nature, and somewhat schedule-unpredictable, and I simply wouldn't expect Barbara "Type-A+" Panepinto to have the persistence necessary to track down Jen (especially since she was camping in the wilderness of califonia for most of May), let alone work out an elaborate surprise together. Actually, Mom has since mentioned that the whole setup did give her more than a few grey hairs in the last few months. Also, Mom had been planting sneaky info double-espionage style leading me on to believe it was the NEXT weekend, and I fell for it...so yes, I was surprised.....until I saw what room we were headed for! (Danielle had her shower here last year.)
I was so happy to see so many people! I think it was the first party of my entire life that I actually knew everyone in the room! Weddings are kind of surreal like that, I am discovering. I am so glad we got so many pictures because it all went by so fast! It was so good to see everyone, and it made me even more excited for seeing everyone all over again (plus boys) at the wedding!
Mom did such a fabulous job planning it all. I don't know how well you know my mom, but, well, entertaining is maybe not a muscle she's ever spent time developing. But it was great! I know she just wanted it all to be so special for me, and it was, and everyone had such a great time. The decorations were these big Scarlett O'Hara-meets-Audrey Hepburn-hats and they were hilarious. Lynn Iovino, who used to work with my mom before she retired to do party planning and favors, made all the decorations and they were beautiful. And mom hired a psychic, which I never would have thought of, but was seriously the hit of the party! And she had everyone make scrapbook pages, and collect recipes, and she even made up a honeymoon map for people to mark down what part of the trip they were sponsoring from the registry. It felt like my birthday and christmas and the fourth of july all rolled up into one.
Thanks to everyone for coming, especially everyone who travelled far (either far in distance or in public transportation) and thank you to my gorgeous bridesmaids and almost-in-laws, everyone thank you for the generous presents, and I can't wait to see you all at the wedding!!! And thanks especially to Mom, she was a rockstar. (and thanks to Dad, the support team). I am putting a bunch of pics here, but I'm uploading them all to a photo site now so you can view them all, and keep any you want, and I'll send an email link out too. See you in October!!!
Wedding Photo page: www.marryingaboyfromiowa.shutterfly.com
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