(post) wedding day woes

so the big day finally came!.. and before i could take a sip of my sangria, it was over.
just like that.


all the months of planning and the numerous sleepless nights doing pre-wedding prep... all the brainstorming, the yelling, the disagreements, the dress fittings... well my fittings because by way of ridiculous mom superstition the bride was NOT ALLOWED to try on or even touch her dress until the day of the wedding...  serious! so for all you cry-baby brides out there who think you have it tough because you've tried on 100 dresses and still can't find the one? quit your whining cuz that ain't nothing!


anywhos.. it was a marvelous day. anything that could have gone wrong, did. any post dinner festivities planned were forgotten. i didn't get to eat any dessert or appetizers - there was a wood burning oven people! freshly made pizza! :( not a bite! that's tragic. i missed all the dancing and was almost left behind twice! though that's not surprising since i was almost kicked out of the family table to begin with. 


but no one would change anything. do it all over again... well maybe i would give myself just a bit more time to get ready. i was still doing the bride's hair at the time she was supposed to be at the church. and then i was the last one to get ready. like i was still in the bathroom putting on my dress while the bride was outside ready to cut the ribbon. well it's hard to do things when 20+ people are coming in and out of nonna's house barging in and talking to the bride while she is supposed to be doing her make up, getting her hair done, fitting her dress and taking photos! italians don't understand. actually no... italian families don't care, not don't understand.


so here are just a few photos...

the lovely dress which the bride did not touch or try on until 1 hour before the wedding. thanks to atelier pisani it was fabulously made and fit like a glove. in european churches you can't bare your shoulders so pisani also made a bolero jacket. the bottom of the dress was detachable for night time entertaining.


my dress and shoes. 

i didn't want the typical floor length silk satin bridesmaids gown. and i knew the weather was going to be hot so i opted for a shorter dress. my friend's mom made it and i love how it turned out. tulle is my new best friend (i never did ballet as a kid). and my shoes looked pretty good too (see wedding diy's for more detail).

we made our way to the church via this 4 seater ferrari!

 only 30min late - which is forever in groom time. 

and we made him wait just a little more because someone forgot the bouquets at nonna's, along with the photo permit. 


but with an impatient italian military dad, flowers are no reason to hold off a wedding. 


here they are still in the fridge next to the jager. bride demanded a bottle. i didn't even get to toast with my own sister before we left since i was getting ready. but my friend did! she has more pictures with the bride than i do!

after the ceremony it was straight to the photo venue - permit in hand. the newlyweds only had 15min to get to villa d'este before entrance closed. quick sprint around, snap here, snap there it was off to the venue. i tagged along for the ride since the driver of the ferrari was taking them on the highway. 190km/hr. i could have soiled myself sitting in the front... it was awesome.
the rest of the night was a blur... actually the whole day was a blur! i swear it didn't even happen.
here i am at the end of all the chaos. changed into my second dress just ready and waiting for someone to get me a decent drink. i'm finally off duty people! keep 'em coming!

photo opp

afternoon skies after rehearsal

that's okay, i'll sit in the corner

after leaving for the b&b last night, i thought the seating chart was finalized and the only thing we had to do was make the board.
so when i came back today, it was quite a surprise to find out that i have been EXCLUDED from the family table. 
i wouldn't have minded as much, but since i am the sister of the bride, i would like to sit with my family! 
the culprit who would do such a thing?... oh no one important really... just my own father!
if i hadn't come back to help draw the seating chart, i wouldn't have known that i wasn't sitting at the family table!


here's how it went down:
me: who are these people?
sister: i dunno. some of pa's old relatives. he hasn't seen them in like 50 years.
me: ohhhh okay... so why the hell are they sitting at the family table?
sister: oh you haven't seen the new list have you?
me: no, why?
sister: yeah... you're not sitting at the family table anymore.
me: what?
sister: yeah... pa moved you to the cousins table. 
me: ... what?
sister: yeah... he thought you'd like to sit with the younger people
me: ...what?! why!
and then more words were exchanged which i will not post.


i understand my father meant well... but if you're going to replace your own daughter, you don't do it with old relatives you haven't seen in like 50 years!! but firstly... you don't exclude your daughter from the family table period! not only am i the m.o.h. - i'm the sister!


okay that's my rant.
don't even want to know what tomorrow has to offer...

hell week - day 5 confusions & exclusions

the day before the wedding = crunch time... or any possible confused/frantic/stressful emotions served on a platter.
jeez!


final airport pick ups for 4 done - including the missed flight aunt and uncle (still an unsolved mystery, but they made it!)
3 last minute overseas guests cancellations. this may be my first wedding i've helped plan, but i'm pretty sure more than 24hours notice is the courteous thing to do when canceling!
and so the dreaded seating chart needed revisions - which is a whole other story i'll get to.   


the bride did request a peaceful day at nonna's - meaning no visitors! 
however, i guess what she really meant was please, everyone come by while we still have to make the headpiece, fix the seating chart, attend the rehearsal, pick up wedding dress and drop off items/finalize everything with catering and florist. 
nonna's place is no mansion. and you really see that when you shove 12 people in the one room which serves as our living/dining/bedroom/workspace for the trip.
in all politeness... get out!

after that little chaotic mess, church rehearsals were underway. if you ever want to see a freaked out groom, make him stand at the altar for rehearsals. complete nervous wreck. apparently that's when reality hits - maybe cuz this whole time he's been partying with the boys!

can only imagine tomorrow! :)

afterwards i headed back to nonna's. no one was around. perfect! so i painted my nails and washed my hair. needed to practice curling for tomorrow. and since no one in my family likes to tell me what's going on ever! - as soon as i stepped out of the shower they told me they were going up to meet everyone for gelato and talk about the plans for tomorrow. 

umm... 

hi? remember me? your daughter/m.o.h! i would like some gelato too! i actually haven't had any since sunday!.. that's a long time ago! 

so i spent the evening with nonna. i don't mind at all... but i really would have liked some gelato! 

blasted family.

well... less than 24 hours to go!

well... that's awkward!

so for the next three nights i'll be staying at a bed & breakfast with my friend. i didn't know tivoli even had bed & breakfasts! you just don't notice them. maybe cuz i'm always focused on what stores are opened and what's new and crap. 


but anyways...
the one we're at is actually really nice. each room has it's own theme. ours is the sunflower room or something. i dunno. it has sunflowers all over so i could only assume. 
after a terrible bathroom experience in london at the st. giles hotel - try showering with your flip flops on standing outside the actual shower because the floor's dirty and the drain's backed up! - gad. stupid st. giles...
where was i?
oh yeah. so bathroom is number one on my checklist for adequate accommodations. and this b&b had a nice bathroom. big. spacious. tub and shower - bonus since most italian showers are like a square foot and sometimes you're not even enclosed with a stall! weirdos. 


of course when i go to use the bathroom that night i turn the light on and much to my surprise i can still see my friend... even though the door is closed!
well... that's awkward!
this is what it looks like from the outside...

seriously?? see through doors? in front of the toilet? what genius had this idea! why would anyone want to see anyone on the toilet? single, married or what have you... that's just unnecessary! almost as bad as the "magic glass" in the bathroom in hong kong - there was this magic glass switch beside the ordinary light switches by the bed. if accidentally pressed it turns the bathroom glass completely clear and you can see everything. shower and toilet... why?... weirdos.

of course we had a good laugh and then missioned to steal some bed sheets from the cleaning closet to cover the door. we've known each other for almost 10 years now, but we're not that close and comfortable.

hair dye & hung to dry

my sister bought some hair extensions for the wedding. we're first time buyers and users so this whole process was new to us - tg for youtube. she got the 18" ones without the clips, so it wasn't cut yet. probably about 2 arms length worth of hair. quite gross if you think about it - i don't know whose hair i'm touching!


anyways, i ended up doing the cutting and sewing myself. it wasn't as difficult as i thought. i got 9 pieces out of the whole thing, but i doubled the hair to make it thicker. so it was technically 18 pieces. which i think was definitely worth the money. it cost less than $80 for the hair and the clips were $2.99 for a pack of 3. and i know some extensions cost well over $120. 


so then we had to dye the hair to match her colour. something we probably should have done at home and not two days before the wedding... and did you know hair dye is hella expensive here in italy?! friggin 11.20 euros! that's 7 gelatos! should have bought that at home too. oh wells.

since we had no place to do it in nonna's without messing everything, we took it outside. 


we tried those new mousse dyes. not bad. i found it easier cuz you can cover more and it had less drippage since it's foamy. i'd probably use it again. 


the neighbours definitely thought we were crazy though. i haven't seen anyone in tivoli with extensions and here we are hanging and dyeing gad knows whose hair on a clothesline... whatevs!