Sunday, May 20, 2007

Kindness of Strangers

The day of the wedding was perfect, a nice biscuit breakfast and perfect weather in the offing.

The whole dress thing turned out very differently. I tired all the dresses on Sofie and had a dress reconsideration moment. They all seemed wrong. I knew the other kid would be in a fluffy dress and I did not want Sofie looking like the hippie child. So the "dress stress" began anew!

We all (Jamie, Sofie and I) went to the nail place on Saturday morning, thinking we were getting there when the doors opened, but we were off by thirty minutes and on Saturday morning, during prom season, thirty minutes is a lot. We were told to come back in the afternoon and when we said that wasn't possible, two teenagers gave up their spots for us, so we could get our nails done first. Talk about the kindness of strangers. I ran to Target (right in the mall area) and there was nothing. I was now thinking of bailing.

Sofie and I got red nails, which I hardly ever do, and her toes, which would be unseen during the wedding were bright orange with green glitter. She was a happy kid. We all ended up at Ross for a "quick look" and I found in less than five minutes, a white knit dress, with cute embroidery on it that was $9.99. For that, I figured even if she just wore it one time, it was a deal. Her size too, it was a sign.

We got home, showered, did the hair thing and got ready. Little white Mary Janes (her high heels) and all. I put her in a different dress for the early waiting part, before the guests got there, to keep her clean and we were off to the outdoor setting in Bahama. Pronounced, "Baa- hay- ma". Seriously. The pronunciation of places here keeps me guessing a lot. I usually mess up.

We got there early, Jamie was in charge of her computer and music (recorded via iPods or something) and so Sofie played. A half hour into that, her feet had already developed bad blisters from those damn shoes. With no socks of course. So we pulled out the orange Crocs and that was what she ended up wearing.

The wedding was wonderful, spiritual, loving and very grounded. My outfit was fine, perfect in fact, and I will get lots of use from the skirt I got. I thankfully did not look like the mother of the bride or anything.

Sofie started telling me she was starving five minutes into the meditation that opened the ceremony. I told her nobody gets to eat until they are married. Period, no discussion. She had already had a substantial snack, but she is eating a lot these days.

Sofie and Danielle (the other child in the ring part of the ceremony) were very cute in their white outfits, adorable. They had wreaths of lavender and daisies in their hair. They walked up the "aisle" and got the rings and handed them to Carol, who was the facilitator of the ceremony. And then walked back to little "ahs" in the audience. Very cute. Here she is with Sharon and Tracey, the brides. And Danielle, the other ring helper.




After the ceremony was completed, the bar opened, Sofie was thrilled I let her have a coke. Within ten minutes, she came over to me crying because she had spilled coke all over (and I do mean all) her white dress. No worries, we put the sundress that I had brought as back up on and all was well. There were a bunch of other kids, including a cute little six year old girl (from Oakland, no less) there and they all played happily until the food was served.

The caterers, bless them (or Tracey and Sharon for thinking of it) served the kids first, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, carrot sticks. Perfect kid food. The grown ups got salmon and pad Thai and marinated veggies. And the cakes, afterwards, were glorious. Instead of a big wedding cake (or the threatened cake from Costco they had talked about) they had eight smaller cakes, all different flavors inside, frosted in white with simple flowers on them for decor. On this magnificent cake stand. Very cool and they were delicious.

This wedding is right up there in the top three for me, of perfect, wonderful wedding ceremonies. Wouldn't you know, all three are same sex: Kerry and Wendy's in in Golden Gate Park in that wonderful Stern Lodge, Geoffrey and John's over-produced extravaganza with candles and gift bags and the whole nine yards, and this one, in a wonderful outdoor setting, with more joy and history of the couple than I have ever seen. Very wonderful. And I am forever glad that Sofie's first wedding was this one. What a high standard to try to match in the future.

I am hoping she wants to talk about it this week for show and tell. But she will probably want to talk about the tiny turtle they found, which she named "Swimmy" and wanted to take home. She cried because she had to let him stay there. My daughter is an animal lover, for sure.

It is 8:30 and we are off to a post wedding brunch at Tracey and Sharon's home in two hours, then to Shrek. Then I will have two hours of alone time, to organize my closet with summer shoes and re-make up the guest room for Barbara who arrives tomorrow for a few days. I am exhausted already!!!






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