Man, what a weekend. Despite heeding Katie C's words to live in the moment at the wedding, it still all seems like such a blur. Following is what I can remember, with pictures to come as soon as I get them.

Janet's parents, Aunt Sylvia, and cousin Su-Anne (the maid-of-honor) arrived on Thursday afternoon, so we and my mom went to pick them up and shuttle them to the hotel. We visited for a few minutes, but they were all exhausted from the 24-hour flight so we left shortly thereafter so they could get some sleep. Kristin was supposed to get in that night, but she missed her flight by mere minutes thanks to the slow-ass NYC subway system. Luckily, she was able to catch a flight early Friday morning.

Janet and I had breakfast with her family at the nearby Denny's the next day. Afterward, I drove her father over to the Enterprise car rental place and he got a white minivan that seats six. Janet rode with him back to the hotel to make sure he got used to driving on the right side of the road, then they all followed me back to the apartment, which they had never seen before. Janet gave them the nickel tour and introduced them to Pepper. They wanted to go shopping at that point, so Janet went with them over to Crossroads Plaza, while I stayed behind to finish up studying for the coming week. A couple hours later, they dropped Janet off at the apt, and went back to the hotel.

The rehearsal was at 6:00 at the Wagner House, and Janet was worried her Dad would get lost trying to drive around a strange city at night, so we went and picked them up at the hotel, finding out that Janet's brother James had just arrived from Sydney, taking everyone by surprise. We ran a little late, but still went through the ceremony twice and got everyone straight on what was happening by 7:00. Then it was on to the rehearsal dinner at Red Hot and Blue for some yummy barbecue and other Southern foods. After some coordination on who was going where, we left at 10:00 for a drink at Ri-Ra with the wedding party. Before getting there, we and Jason M (my best man) dropped Janet's family back at the hotel, and I left my car there so my parents could pick it up (since Jason would be driving Janet and me to the wedding the next afternoon). Jason M drove us back to my apt so we could pick up Lena, who was crashing on my friend John L's couch.

What we found out when we got there was that it was taking much longer for Lena to get here from Maryland (she's at Johns Hopkins right now). Since Janet's tummy was a little urrrghy, and she wanted to stay home in case Lena called, I went on to the bar with Jason M and met up with Derek and Katie C (Jamie and Steffi were a little tired, so they passed). The place was pretty smoky and loud, however, so we only stayed for one Black and Tan. When I got home around 12:30, Lena had just gotten in and was chatting with Janet. She stuck around and watched a bit of Conan, then I took her up to John L's place.

Saturday morning, Kristin picked up Janet to get her hair and makeup done, and I sat around in my underwear watching "�Mucha Lucha!" After, I shaved, clipped and filed my fingernails and toenails, trimmed the nose and ear hair, showered and threw a bunch of gel in my hair. When Janet got back to the apt, I was absolutely stunned by how beautiful she looked. I mean, wow. Her mother and aunt also got their hair done, but for some reason, it took much longer, and then they got turned around trying to get back here so they could follow me to the Wagner House. Jason M got here at noon, and we left at 12:45. I was stressing a bit because the photographers were supposed to get there at 1:30, but we made it by 1:15, right after my parents and sister got there. Upstairs to change, on with the black Hidden Dragon jacket, slacks, and Kenneth Coles. Downstairs, where the photographers lined up me and my best man and family in front of the gazebo for a multitude of shots. Then when Janet came down, I was again struck absolutely dumb by how stunning she was. More pictures of her with her family, then some with me. Then it was upstairs again to hide before the guests arrived. In the groom's changing room, there was a TV, and we watched an early Jackie Chan movie while waiting to be told when we were needed.

Then the big moment was there, 3:00. We went back downstairs and watched Jamie and Derek escort our parents to their seats. Anita the harpist was playing some classical music, and when nearly everyone was escorted out, Kristin sang a really beautiful song from Jekyll and Hyde, accompanied by the harp. It was hard to hear in the house, but I managed to make it out, and she sounded great. When she finished, Pachelbel's "Canon" was started, and Reverend Kayelily walked out, then Jason M and Su-Anne, then me and Janet. Everyone stood when we came down the stairs, and it was absolutely amazing to see all these people there. I think around sixty people made it to the wedding, and it just filled me up that they were all there to support Janet and me and celebrate our big day. Kristin told me later that I had a giant smile on my face.

The weather could not have been better; it was right around 60F and not a cloud in the sky. We went through the ceremony that we customized almost from scratch, and didn't stumble through our lines or trip over our feet. It lasted about 15-20 minutes, just like we wanted, then Kayelily pronounced us, and we walked back into the house, husband and wife, for the reception. People came in and congratulated us, then got food. We took a few more pictures then went upstairs to change, me into a red dragon jacket and Janet into another dress. We came downstairs and were announced to applause, which was a little weird, then we got some food and started mingling. I got to see college friends, former coworkers and family from both my mom and dad's sides. I got to spend some time with Ol' Mike and Elizabeth and Jamie and Steffi and make plans to all go to Bulls game sometime. Everyone left right around 7 p.m., and we went out to my car, which had been soaped with hearts and "Just Married" and filled on the inside with balloons and confetti. (I should have seen it coming.) When we got home, Janet and I pretty much crashed, though we still had enough energy for the wedding-night frolic. :)

Sunday morning was a brunch at my parents' house for family who came from out of town, so we gathered Lena from John L's apt (since she's like family for both Janet and me), and headed over. Yummy biscuits from Bojangles, donuts, fruit, and much needed coffee. We opened up the wedding gifts, which took over an hour, then took some more pictures before people had to leave for flights back to Illinois and drives back to New York and South Carolina. Janet's family wanted to go shopping at Cary Towne Center, so they followed us back over to near the apt, and I dropped Janet and Lena off with Janet's family. I was in dire need of a nap at this point, but I drove over to the nearby self-service car wash, vaccuumed out the interior and washed all the soaped messages off the outside; the car hadn't been that clean in a loooong time, and of course, it has rained today. After a few hours, the Chuis came over and showed James the apt. Then they left to start their brief road vacation, heading up to D.C. for a few days.

Janet, Lena and I had a blast last night, talking about writing, Clarion friends, and new relationships. We watched three South Park Christmas episodes in a row, then put in Swingers, one of my all-time favorite films. It was around 11:30 by then, and we were all wiped, so I got out some sheets and a comforter for Lena to sleep on the couch, and we all went to sleep.

This morning, we went to the Shiny Diner for breakfast, then headed to the train station. Lena left around 11:30, and it was sad to see her go; she was the only fellow Clarionite to make it to the wedding, and it was really nice to have her here, since she was there when Janet and I first started dating. After she got on the train, Janet and I came back and just sat on the couch for a while talking. I called in to work and said I'd be working from home, brought the laptop out to the living room, put on some music, and wrote some author intros. Before the bank closed, we went and deposited a few checks, took a quick trip to Quail Ridge, then came back and took a nap. When we got out of bed, neither of us wanted to go back out to the grocery store, so we ordered Chinese food.

Huh. Guess I remembered more than I thought I would. It was an amazing weekend, thanks in big part to my mother's insane organizational skillz; the reason things went so smoothly was because she did such a good job putting it all together. So thanks, Mom.

Update: Many photos were taken: candid and posed.

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