Tuesday: Will We Ever Make It?
I'd been waiting for this vacation for a long time. I worked seven days in a row to make up for beinggone for a week, so I'm pretty much over the restaurant, over the city, over sailors (thank you, Fleet Week!), and just ready to escape for a bit. Sean and Tina picked me up and we got to JFK, checked in, and it only took 3 minutes in the security line for someone to notice Tina's poofy garment bag containing THE DRESS, and her shirt with "Bride" bedazzled across the chest. Sean was being a little too sarcastic so early in the morning (well, it was 10:30, but still...). Tina was understandably overprotective of her dress, which got caught up in the front flaps of the X-Ray machine, causing the security guard to lay the pristine white bag directly on the conveyor belt (clearly, she had never gotten married before). It was the only thing I could do to push Tina through the metal detector so she wouldn't dive in after the dress. Sean insisted that Tina pre-board with the screaming children and old people in wheelchairs so as to find the proper spot to store her dress (JetBlue doesn't have coat closets on board). After much bickering and arguing over the subject (you'd think they were already married), Tina was preactically carried on board by the ticket agent. And since he had already been wrong about multiple discussions already in the day (including the size of Dunkin Donuts coffee cups...don't ask) I wisely advised my dear brother to "Wipe that smug look off your face before Tina turns around and sees it. She may call off the wedding." After we got on board and in our seats, I sent a text to my father: "The dress and Tina made it on the plane. Unfortunately, so did Sean."
After an uneventful flight, we arrived in beautiful...cloudy?...San Diego. The weather was 60 degrees, overcast, and remained that way the ENTIRE week, much to our dismay and frequent bickering. I think I came back paler than I left. I met up with Nic, whom I hadn't seen at all the week before because of a leadership conference in Arizona. We didn't care that there wasn't any sun, and i drove with the top down in our convertible rental to the hotel. We stayed at the beautiful, if a little too stuffy US Grant in the middle of downtown. Our suite was spacious, had classical furnishings with a contemporary twist, and the staff frequently used the phrase, "It would be my pleasure." (Q: "Can we have our car brought up?" A: "It would be my pleasure." Q: "Can we have 3 buckets of ice brought up? We're having a party." A: "It would be my pleasure." Q: "Can you quack like a duck while playing hopscotch?" A: "It would be my pleasure"). The day was capped off with a BBQ at my parent's rental condo in Pacific Beach, along with Aunt Margaret, Uncle Bill, and cousins Max and Sophie.
Wednesday: Perhaps A Bit Too Glutonous
We began our day with Tina and Nic needing to shop for rehearsal dinner attire (we met up with Sean and Tina in Forever 21...why T was looking here for rehearsal dinner dresses is beyond me). Then Nic and I resumed the heavy drinking from the night before with HUGE margaritas in Old Town with Mom and Dad. I mean, these things were no fishbowls, but they were pretty substantial. Again, no sun. After gawking at some Mexican wrestling masks (a la Nacho Libre), Nic and I went in search of a grocery store to stock up on some grub (and let's face it, more booze).
I'd like to take a minute to give my opinion on grocery stores. I didn't know how good I had it on the west coast when it came to grocery stores and supermarkets until I got to New York. I miss the days when I could fill up a cart with stuff, completely stock my home with groceries and whatever else I might need (one stop shopping!), and not have to return for another two weeks until it was time to restock. Those days are no more. In New York, one has to practically go to the store every day to purchase food. Sure, there are home delivery opportunities, but they cost, and fresh direct usually isn't so fresh, or direct. The best bet is to only buy what you can carry and return the next day for more. You only buy what you need right then and there. AND, grocery stores never sell liquor, and only sometimes sell wine and beer. When I walked into that Ralph's in San Diego I felt like I was walking into heaven. The largest produce section I had seen in a long time. All of the liquor and beer and wine I could want. An ENTIRE AISLE of cereal. Good lord.
Anyway, we had a little cocktail gathering at our room later that day for some of Nic's friends and co-workers who were in town for a leadership conference, then met up with Alex Moffitt from Naked Voices for a lovely seafood dinner (actually I had a burger. They had seafood). I loved being so close to all of the downtown action in our hotel! The only issue is that it was a little too fratty...like State St. in Santa Barbara on college night. Ah, well.
Thursday: Tux Nightmare
This was the day all of the wedding festivities began. We all met at the Men's Warehouse to pick up our tuxes. We went with MW because we were all coming from across the country, and all we had to do was go to our local MW location, get fitted, and give them the account number that Sean and I set up for the wedding. Then we all got together to pick them up at once. I was a bit nervous going into it because I felt like MW was waiting until the last minute to get us our monkey suits. What happens if something goes wrong? Well, we were about to find out.
Sean, Lynz, and I decided to show up 20 minutes early for the appointment so they could have ample time to pull all of the tuxes for us. It was then that we found out this week was the busiest week of the year for wedding and prom tux rentals. There were probably 20 pubescent high school boys there with their parents, dates, whomever, milling around to pick up their orders. But that was only the first of our worries. All of the tuxes were there except for two: Sean's, and mine. My tux was sent to a different location across town (the store numbers were one digit off, wouldn't ya know it), and Sean's was "still on the truck." He called ahead earlier in the week to confirm everythign would be in order, and they all were "still on the truck." And whose tux would be the most important of all to have, and to have correct? THE GROOMS! They assured us that his tux would be delievered (to the correct store) the next day at 11. So on we went with the day, which concluded with Nic and I attending...
THE BACHELORETTE PARTY. All I will say about the bachelorette party is this: It was a hell of a lot better than the bachelor party. That I organized. I'm not sure what that says...Friday: Practice Makes Perfect
Friday I met Sean at Men's Warehouse at 11, and low and behold, they didn't have his tux! This is when the snowflake begins to turn into a snowball as the final details and events of the weekend begin and we start to lose control over everything. I still feel bad about the guys who showed up with incomplete tuxes because they had to piece Sean's tux together from other existing orders. But let me tell you, that tux looked pretty sharp on Sean. They did what they could with my tux, reimbursed us for our troubles, and sent us on our way. From there, Nic and I got ready to get to the rehearsal by 4!!
We showed up EARLY to the rehearsal at The Prado in Balboa Park, and as everyone started trickling in the excitement began for the events that were going to ensue. The venue was beautiful, and it was great to see everyone finally together!! Come 4:15, we were all there except for....Sean and Tina. Ugh. I noticed two women walking around with a binder looking at the venue, and could tell that this is a popular spot for weddings and that they too were checking out the venue for a Big Day in the future. Then the younger woman approached my mother and had this conversation:
Woman: Do you have a rehearsal here at 4:30?
Mom: No, it's at 4.
W: Oh. We have one at 4:30...
M: Oh dear. We're just waiting on the bride & groom.
W: Is your reception tomorrow? What time? Is it at 4 or 6? I'm told sometimes they have two ceremonies here on a busy Saturday.
M: Ours is at 6 I believe.
W: Oh, so is ours. Are you in the large or small banquet hall?
M: The large.
M: The large.
W: Shoot, so is ours! It appears as though everything has been double booked! I'm going to go find the venue coordinator and see what is going on. What is the bride's name, so I can tell her?
M: Tina Hanson.
M: Tina Hanson.
W: OH MY GOD (flips binder around, showing sign saying "Mahoney-Hanson"), I'm Kiley, the wedding planner.
After we all cleaned up the messes we made from soiling our pants over the whole ordeal, Sean and Tina arrived, saying the rehearsal was at 4:30 but they were instructed to tell everyone 4 so we could actually start on time. That's a great idea, except it should also apply to the bride and groom, we were getting a little worried. Needless to say, the rehearsal went well, didn't take too long and wasn't very painful. Then it was time to partaaaay!
The rehearsal dinner was my parent's domain, and took place at the Woman's Rowing Club in San Diego, right on the water. It was a gorgeous, intimate cabin setting, open bar (with Abita Amber and Purple Haze, thankyouverymuch), lots of fun people and fun times! I was getting a bit down on myself because I didn't feel like I was doing much for Sean as his Best Man. I was discussing this with our friend Barbara, who recently got married herself, and she advised me to just let him know that I am there for him if he needs anything. She also recommended that I take his cell phone the day of, to make sure he can focus on the event and not the subsequent stresses, and make sure he remembers to eat and drink before the ceremony, etc. I thought that was very poignant and practical advice, and it really made me feel better about the situation. It was at that moment that I felt a shift and really took charge of my role in their big day. The dinner was capped off by a sweet little toast by Dad and Sean, and we all headed out to continue the celebration! Tina and the bridesmaids went off to Sean & Tina's suite to prepare for the next day, while Sean and a few PACT folks (and our significant others) headed to an awesome rooftop bar to catch up and enjoy the evening.
Saturday - I Do!
The wedding day started off for the guys with a 'groomsmen brunch' at The Tractor House. It 
was certainly a Man's Brunch with bloody mary's and margaritas, and dishes served in skillets featuring elk, wild boar, and the largest servings of corn bread I have ever seen! We headed back to Shar's apartment and got ready for the ceremony and headed over to the venue! Sean and Tina had a 3PM photo call. Of course everyone was running behind, but thankfully wedding coordinators always take this into account! Sean has some precious moments of adrenaline rushing and anxiety over the day going smoothly...and it did, with the exception of a minor freakout over thinking 
we lost the rings. :) Everyone had a fantastic time, we ate amazing food, enjoyed the open bar, we danced the night away...I sang for them and read my Best Man speech, both of which were amazingly received. The day couldn't have been more perfect!!
was certainly a Man's Brunch with bloody mary's and margaritas, and dishes served in skillets featuring elk, wild boar, and the largest servings of corn bread I have ever seen! We headed back to Shar's apartment and got ready for the ceremony and headed over to the venue! Sean and Tina had a 3PM photo call. Of course everyone was running behind, but thankfully wedding coordinators always take this into account! Sean has some precious moments of adrenaline rushing and anxiety over the day going smoothly...and it did, with the exception of a minor freakout over thinking 
we lost the rings. :) Everyone had a fantastic time, we ate amazing food, enjoyed the open bar, we danced the night away...I sang for them and read my Best Man speech, both of which were amazingly received. The day couldn't have been more perfect!!Sunday - Recovery and Wrap-Up
The next morning, we headed over for 'brunch' (Sean and Tina, in my opinion, if it's held before 10AM, it's still breakfast) with the family, and to see S & T off on their honeymoon. We enjoyed a quick meal with them (best way to battle a hangover? Mimosas!), and saw them off. Nic and I tried to convince them that we were going to meet them there, and I think they almost bought it, up until I blew it with a comment like, "I hope you guys don't mind sleeping on the cot we ordered for the room."
After the breakfast, Nora joined Nic and I for an exploration of Coronado Island, one of my favorite areas of San Diego. Sure, it's super touristy, but can you imagine actually living there! It'd probably get a little old having to drive over the bridge every day to get into the city, but it was so beautiful and laid back there. I could get used to it :) We had a fun time invading the souvenier shops and taking photos with the repulsive 
merchandise and attire they had for sale. After we outstayed our welcome at a few shops, it was back over to the family condo for one last gathering, where my mother spent most of the time trying to stuff beer, snacks, burgers, and leftover wedding cake down our throats. That woman just never wants to end up with anything to take home with her! It was a great evening, everyone really loved Nic (how could you not?), and it was fun coming full circle and ending the trip right where it began.To Sean & Tina!!
5 comments:
Aww, that was great -- and there were some stories in there that I'd missed amid all the hubbub. Great times.
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