Part 3 (The Eve of the Wedding)
This day started early by both Paul and my standards. Neither one of us enjoy getting up early and he’s much harder to wake up than I am. So, I got in the shower first and got ready while we was trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes.
Rosemary (Adrianne’s Mom) had scheduled a “power breakfast” for those that were planning on working at the reception hall this day. We all met up at Stinky Barrel right around 7:30. Emili met up with Paul and I at the hotel (she stayed with my Sis) and rode with us over to the Barrel. We actually beat Adrianne and Camille there, which was a surprise to us!
We had a pretty good clientele this morning. Well, better than I thought it would be anyway. Justin didn’t make it to breakfast, but he’s not a big breakfast person anyway. He did, however, beat us to the reception hall, but I’ll get to that. My Sis didn’t make it breakfast either. She, like myself, isn’t much of an early riser, unless absolutely necessary. She stayed in bed and got an extra hour of sleepy-time, because she’d need it for later!
I ended up having an egg sandwich. Luckily for me it came open-faced, otherwise I would’ve sent it back. Really? Who eats lettuce, tomato, and mayo on an egg sandwich? It made me sick just to see mayo that early in the morning! I ate only the half with the egg on it, which was more than enough.
I’d had a splitting sinus headache (which is normal operating procedure when I’m in Owensboro. I had so many sinus problems when I lived there that I just stayed medicated) since I woke up that morning, so after breakfast Paul made a pit-stop for me at Hell-Mart (actually Emili needed something too, but that’s “unmentionable”).
We parked in the lawn and garden area, since I thought that would be the least busy area at 8:15 on a Friday morning. Well, I was wrong. While standing in line, Paul and I pondered the idea of climbing to the top rack and jumping down onto the bags of charcoal below. We decided it would probably still hurt like hell, so we didn’t do it. No, we weren’t “under the influence”, yet.
We also made a quick pit-stop at the hotel before heading to the reception hall, but finally made it there just before 8:30. Pretty much everyone else was already there and finding something to work on. There was really only one big project left, since we had all worked late the night before. Paul, Justin, and myself took on the task of finishing up the dance area.
The dance floor had been laid down yesterday, so all we had to do was decorate the rest of the area. It sounded simple, but soon proved to be just the opposite. What I thought would be an easy hour to hour and a half job, turned into nearly a three hour tour (like Giligan’s Island). All we needed to do was run this streamer stuff up four 15 foot columns, then thread it around two by fours that connected the tops of the columns. After we ran the streamers we had to put strands of lights inside the streamers. Once that was completed, we needed to string fishing line over-head of the dance floor, so we could hang Chinese lanterns. It all sounds so simple when describing it. I’m trying to figure out what took so long?
Well, part of it was wobbling on a 20 foot tall ladder and trying to get the stupid fishing light to
stay tight. Anyway, here’s a picture of the final result (from the side). In the foreground is our champagne fountain (actually it was a wine fountain, because Adrianne doesn’t really like champagne, so we filled it with her favorite wine, which worked out just as well). I think it turned out beautifully, especially since three guys did it themselves.
I had planned on being finished by 11 am, so that a group of us guys could go get some lunch, and then hit the links for at least 9 holes of shenanigans. Well, being a little behind schedule did not deter me. We made the necessary calls and had everyone meeting up at BW’s for some munchies prior to a golf outing.
By 2 pm we were out of BW’s and on our way to Hillcrest Golf course. We had six golfers and one “rider” (Paul doesn’t golf, but he’s one hell of a “putt-putt” player). Larry and Kenny were in the first cart. Justin and Paul were in the second cart, and Colman and I were in the third card. Eric decided he’d walk the links (personally, I said “Funk Dat!”, it was way too hot out there for me to even think about walking any more than I had to).
We paid our fees and headed over to the practice green for a little chipping and putting. It didn’t take to long before Justin and Colman were having a “conversation” about who the better golfer was. This playful banter quickly turned into a bet. It ended up that the winner of the round got to pick out a girl for the loser to dance with at the reception. I made sure I stayed out of this bet, since I was planning on dancing with only two women that night, my wife and my Mom.
Now, I’m not going to give a play by play of the entire nine holes, but I’ll hit some of the high points. First off… I hit one good putt all day, and it was on the practice green. I let Paul do all of my putting, until the last few holes.
Next, Justin and Colman decided that they’d add in some fun rules here and there. On one specific hole they decided that if either one of them could hit the water tower, then that person gets to take two strokes off of their score. Now, I’m not saying this is what happened, but I have no other explanation for it (other than Justin and Paul put the ball in the middle of the fairway), but Colman and I both hit our tee shots right at the water tower (mine was unintentional however). I found my ball just past the water tower, but Colman’s was somehow out in the middle of the fairway, about even with the water tower. I saw where his shot was going, so there’s no way it could’ve landed where it was unless something else happened. So, we decided that he, indeed, hit the water tower, and reduced his score by two strokes.
Lastly, Colman and I both started really hitting the ball well on the last three holes we played. On this one particular hole, which was straight as an arrow from tee to pin, they had a white line painted right down the middle of the fairway. I hit it about 25 feet to the right of the white line, but Colman put his within 2 feet of line. It was a really great shot. If he weren’t 10 years old, and could hit the ball a lot harder, he would’ve been in position for an easy chip in.
We finished up and Colman ended up beating Justin by two or three strokes ( I can’t remember which), due to some creative scoring on my part. Yes, I was the official scorer. We all were waiting in anticipation to find out who Colman was going to pick for Justin to dance with the next night, but he hadn’t decided when we finished up. However, Justin was immediately asking for a rematch!
We left Hillcrest right around 4:30, but had a few stops to make. First we had to drop Justin off at his house, then we had to take Colman home, then we had to pick up my suit from the cleaners. All of this had to be done before we could head back to the hotel so we both could take showers and clean up. We were supposed to be to the church for rehearsal by 5:30 (I think).
Well, somehow, we made it on time. Actually, we beat Adrianne and her crew there. There was one huge snag though. The church was locked up tight. We were able to get into the reception hall, luckily, since it was nearly 90 degrees outside and 300% humidity! Some people had already beaten us to the church and tried to get inside. Truthfully, I was irate. I was pissed. I’d never heard of churches being locked. I thought they were sanctuaries for people, so they could pray whenever they needed to?
Well, we tried every door on the building. More and more people showed up and we were just stuck outside. Finally, Kenny was able to get in touch with the parish priest and was able to get us inside. That’s not where the fun ends though.
For some stupid reason the air conditioning was turned off inside the church, and the lights weren’t on, at all. We scoured the entire place looking for the A/C controls and the light switches. The only thing we could find was a big locked box that we certainly knew housed the controls we needed. It was kind of dark inside of the church during our rehearsal, but we made it through. It was entirely too hot in there though, so we moved as quickly as possible through everything. Here’s a couple of pictures:
I think God must’ve been angry with me this day, because my malaise did not end with the dysfunction of getting in the church, nor having no light or A/C. The funniest part of the whole event was me being left at the church by myself. Both of my best men had taken off to set up a video display for us at the rehearsal dinner. Adrianne left with a carload of people (mostly bridesmaids and the like), while I stayed to help my Grandma get in the car. Once I got her in and my Dad, Step-Mom, and her left, I realized that I was the only one still there.
I made a couple of calls and Justin quickly returned to get me. I made my usual grand entrance (made even more grand since I was the last person there) and was quickly engulfed in the beginning of some mass insanity (AKA The Wedding).
Up until this point it hadn’t truly sunk in with me that I was getting married. Obviously I knew what was going on, but not until I saw nearly 60 people at The Briarpatch to enjoy our rehearsal dinner did I really “get it”.
I didn’t feel like I had enough time to say “Hi” to everyone. I tried to make my way around to every table, but as soon as I would say to Adrianne “Hey, I’m going to go over here and say ‘Hi’ to someone” we were pulled in a different direction.
Adrianne and I had brought some presents to the dinner for our parents, our wedding party, our ring bearer and flower girls, and our ushers. Adrianne wanted to start with our gift to Larry, and she had a big planned speech, but as soon as she said “Larry” she started crying, leaving me to fill in the blanks. Luckily we had already talked about what she wanted to say, so I finished it up for her.
Next she wanted to give her Dad his present. Just like before, as soon as she said “Dad” the tears and choking up took over. Again, John to the rescue! It’s really a good thing that we communicate so well, otherwise I would’ve been standing there not saying anything other than “Here’s your present!”
I can’t remember if we gave my Mom her present next or Adrianne’s Mom, but both were very emotional for us. My Mom has always been my inspiration, and I tried to explain that, all while choking up and crying like a little girl.
Adrianne’s Mom was a bundle of tears the entire time too. I can’t remember exactly what Adrianne gave her, but I know it was very, very special.
I gave my Dad his present, but really couldn’t think of anything to say. In the back of my mind I was still thinking about “that” phone call, but I was also thinking about how much I loved my Mom. I know that is really harsh of me to say, but it’s how I felt at the time. Little did I know that wouldn’t be the last time this weekend.
We went through the list of people and gave them all their gifts. After we got through our parents it was pretty smooth sailing. Adrianne actually got me a little handkerchief with my initials on it and our wedding date on the other side. I didn’t expect any presents that night.
Next up, my Mom wanted to say a little something to everyone in attendance, and we stood up beside her for support. She was quickly in tears, as were both of us, as she recalled the first time I called her and told her about Adrianne and our first date.
After my Mom finished up I retold the story of how Adrianne and I first met and our “first” date. I didn’t know so many of my good friends had no clue how it all began. Of course, the same as my blog here, the story took forever to tell, and I’m sure I lost half of the crowd in the middle.
At some point in time I actually got to eat a steak and have a couple of Crown and Cokes. Man, I needed them!
I’m not sure what time it was when we left, but I walked Adrianne out to Larry’s truck where the rest of the bridesmaids were waiting. I knew this would be the last time I got to talk to her or kiss her before we became Mr. and Mrs. Condray, so I had to make the most of it. She put her stuff in the back of the truck and I grabbed her passionately and gave her a huge kiss. As I did this, the girls all started singing “Going to the Chapel and we’re gonna get married”. I gave her a couple more kisses as they kept singing.
Paul and I walked to his car so we could be on our way. The girls just kept singing the song. I didn’t know more than just the nine words that I quoted above, but they knew the entire song, word for word. Paul actually knew more of it than I did and made fun of me for it. How’s that work out? I don’t know the words to a girlie-assed song like that, and I get made fun of?
Oh well! We ran over to the hotel to change clothes (out of our dress clothes back into shorts and t-shirts) so we could head back over to Justin’s for a couple more cocktails and relaxing before the BIG DAY.
Okay, I’m sure I left out a ton of stuff, but I had to type this twice, and it’s 1:15 pm, and that’s all I’ve done today at work. Have I mentioned lately that I hate our internet at work? I had the entire story up until the end of our golf outing typed into Blogger when the internet went down and I lost everything. Of course I hadn’t saved it and I didn’t type it in word first. The second time around I typed it all out in word and pasted it into Blogger. I don’t know why I don’t do that everytime?
Well, you know what’s next. Are you ready?
Last thing, an extra special "Thank You" goes out to Dr. Truett for having a ton of pictures available for viewing (before we got back from our honeymoon). I know he'll never read this rubbish, but thank you anyway! Here's the link if you want to see more pictures (even though I'm going to post some more, as the story progresses):
A&J Wedding
stay tight. Anyway, here’s a picture of the final result (from the side). In the foreground is our champagne fountain (actually it was a wine fountain, because Adrianne doesn’t really like champagne, so we filled it with her favorite wine, which worked out just as well). I think it turned out beautifully, especially since three guys did it themselves.
