Natty & Pepper's Wedding Weekend

I saw Up last night and loved it. It struck a simple chord in me; maybe it was hormones, maybe it was the wedding, maybe it was something else, but I lost it twice in the theatre.

Yes, the wedding! All I've done for the past three days is party, and I'm tired! Here's a play-by-play recap of my weekend:

Friday:

No work for S and I! I'd planned to head off to the gym at 6 AM and get started on the drive to Roanoke at around 8 or so, but that fell through, of course (No work? Friday? Gym? Yeah right!). We woke up at 8, didn't get started till 10:30, had to stop at my parents' place (a 30 minute detour) to get a couple of things, and then had to stop at a mall in Durham for Steven to buy a new cumberbund. We weren't really on our way until about noon, which means we arrived in Roanoke at around 3 PM.

Hotel Roanoke is a pretty cool place. However, the hotel charges their guests outrageous parking fees (wtf?!) and the edifice is perched on a big hill in the valley, which means one must lug one's luggage up a million flights of steps if one opts out of valet parking. So, we checked in and hung out for a bit before showering and getting ready for le rehearsal and dinner. We met everybody in the lobby for the first time - and there was my gramma! And my uncle! And a whole slew of childhood and family friends. I wore a little black dress, and the first thing gramma did when she saw me (my back was turned toward her) was smoosh my tattoo with her fingers. Heh.

We all headed up to Mill Mountain Park, where it was quite chilly and extremely windy. All of the ladies in the bridal party suffered since we were all wearing sleeveless, short dresses, but we shivered and moaned and made it through the mock ceremony, which was intended to last no more than 5-7 minutes. The view from the overlook was something like this, only more mellow, since it was sunset. Afterward, we loaded ourselves back up and drove to the rehearsal dinner, at Schaal's on Campbell. We had drinks and hors d'oeuvres, and then sea bass, beef tenderloin and spinach/parmesan casserole. There were a few impassioned speeches, some hilarious, intended and unintended innuendo, presents for all and plenty of wine. The bridesmaids received silk and jewel-embroidered purses, gift certificates to Onyx for our wedding day hairstyles, and the Maids of Honor (Lovely and myself) received DVDs of The Little Mermaid - but not the Disney version. The version we watched together as little girls was a beautiful Japanese anime, with a sad storyline true to the Hans Christian Andersen tale. I haven't seen it for maybe 15 years, and Natty managed to find two copies somewhere on the internets. Lovely burst into tears as soon as she saw what it was!

I started getting a headache at dinner, and by the time S and I arrived back in our hotel room, it was a full-blown migraine. I had a rough night.

Saturday:

My headache was twice as bad when I woke up, but it was a beautiful, calm day. S gave me a long massage and we went to brunch in our pajamas (I was PJed, at least). On the way back upstairs, I ran into C, one of the other bridesmaids, who was on her way out with Lovely to pick up our catered lunch and bring it to the spa. She gave me four Motrin, which I promptly gulped down, and then I faceplanted into our bed and slept for 45 minutes while S read The Deer and the Cauldron. I woke up feeling 80% better and made my way over to the hair salon...

Which was a complete disaster! Well, the hair part of it was. The rest of it - chatting with the other bridesmaids, getting followed by the photographer as we went about our wedding preparations, eating cookies, fruit and sandwiches - was great! When it was finally my turn, my stylist had no idea how to work with my hair, which is fine, thick and very long. She hairsprayed the hell out of it until it was a stringy, limp, crunchy array of hair-dendrites. I'd brought in a picture of what I was going for (old-fashioned, romantic waves) and I was shocked at how little my hair resembled the picture. It cost $55. As soon as I arrived back at the hotel, I apologized to Natty (who had contributed $30) washed my hair, and set it with hot curlers myself; I'm the only one who knows how my hair works, apparently. The other bridesmaids were more fortunate than I and their hairstyles looked fabulous. Natty's hair, which is incredibly thick, long, and chocolate brown, was a shimmering asymmetrical cascade of interwoven curls.

By the time I finished showering, setting my hair and putting on my makeup, S was already in his tuxedo... He was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. He helped me with my corset, shoes (golden 5-inch stilettos) and dress, and then we had to hie ourselves with rapid speed to the lobby, where I had to acquire my bouquet (orchids, ferns) and clutch it in a glass vase on my lap after boarding the Bridesmaid Mobile (a rented van).

We arrived at Mill Mountain Park at around 5:45 PM, with the ceremony scheduled for 7:30. We milled around for awhile while the park ranger (and my mother) chased people out of the park, since Natty had rented it at significant cost. People didn't pay attention to signs that say "Closed May 30th for private event." They were having cookouts and parties all over the hillside. My mother was mad as a hornet, Natty was indignant, and the photographers, Bill and Kim, were amused and helpful. I was ready to kick ass and take names, but I was pretty slow-moving in my stilettos.

After the park was sufficiently cleared, my mother helped Natty into her wedding gown, and we presented her to Pepper (who was agog) and the groomsmen. She was as beautiful as a goddess. The wedding party and the photographers hiked up the hillside in our tuxedos, gowns and heels, to a small pool, where we were photographed in different arrangements for the next hour. We had the photographer proper, who did all of the formal shots, and the sub-photographer, who documented the process and all of the behind-the-scenes goings-on. Things were running late, and we had to run back down to get ready to begin the ceremony.

It was a marvelous evening; there was a light breeze with just a hint of evening coolness, and the sky was clear with fair-weather clouds tinged pink and yellow. Romantic mellow sunlight slanted through the trees and cast long shadows. I was the ring bearer, and I practiced sliding Pepper's massive titanium wedding band from my left thumb so that it wouldn't get stuck and go flying off the mountainside when I yanked at it. We slowly processed onto the overlook on a white runner strewn with red and white rose petals. There were only about 30 or 40 guests, all sitting in bamboo chairs; those, the runner and the petals were the only decorations. It was beautiful; cameras were clicking from all sides. Pepper's mother was weeping! The bridesmaids were misty-eyed. My uncle told me later that he's never attended a more photographed wedding. The officiant said a few simple words, read their vows to them, and pronounced them wife and husband... Natty insisted on having her name come first. ;)

We exited arm-in-arm with the groomsmen and gathered together to congratulate the newlyweds. I was So. Happy. Natty's wedding ring is exquisite - it's a thick white-gold band with rows of tiny white and pink diamonds and an arcing engraved pattern. It was so nice to see so many excited people all in one place. We eventually organized ourselves and the stuff we brought, found our van, and all trekked to Schaal's Metamorphosis for the reception. There was an open bar and a baby grand piano, and the entire full-length bar was made of translucent yellow-red agate that was lit from inside. It was such a beautiful venue with excellent catering; there was a station with Asian-themed hors d'oeuvres, one with French, one with more traditional American food, and a dessert station with decadent pecan chocolate cake, German chocolate cake, mousse and lemon pie. Pepper broke down and sobbed in the middle of his speech while saying: "If the roof came down on this room, the coolness factor of the world would plummet." It was a very emotional wedding experience.

After the food, booze, speeches and hugs, it was time to get our dance on. We danced at the reception until 11, and then walked a few blocks to Metro!, where Natty & Pepper's favorite DJ, ex-breakdancer Stylus Chris, was spinning. J (a bridesmaid) had called Metro! a few weeks ago and asked them to contact Stylus Chris, and he agreed to play at Metro! for Natty & Pepper. S and I did shots, danced until I had blisters, and somehow made our way back to Hotel Roanoke, beating the bride and groom even though they'd left before us. Natty & Pepper ended up running into a charismatic Rastafari rickshaw driver with an early 90s boombox strapped onto his back, and rode his rickshaw back to the hotel. He and Pepper hit it off so well in that 10-minute period that they were hugging and backslapping as they parted.

S and I crashed.

Sunday:

After a rude awakening at 5:02 AM courtesy of a massive thunder crash that echoed among the mountains, we slept in and realized we had 50 minutes to shower and pack before checkout at 11. We scurried and met the rest of the bridesmaids, their men, and a few sets of bride/groom/bridesmaid parents in the lobby. There were about 20 of us when we were finally assembled, and we wandered around downtown searching for a place to eat. Some of our number left to eat on their own, but the majority of us returned to Metro! for brunch. We stayed there and chatted for a couple of hours before walking back to the hotel, saying our goodbyes and booking it back to Raleigh.

S and I decided to keep the party going and went out for sushi before being blindsided by the awesomeness that is Up. I was so exhausted this morning from all of the excitement that I couldn't make it to the gym to burn off all of those hors d'oeuvres. Natty & Pepper are probably landing in San Francisco as I write these words. Oh man, they're going to have such a good time. Married! It thrills me to imagine how that must feel.

I'm happy. <3