Sunnyside details

Is everything ready at Sunnyside for this event? You tell me.

Are the buckets of flowers on the deck chairs pretty enough?

Did the color of the chair covers work with the flowers and her colors?

Are the drink wristbands out where everyone can take one?

Does the cake look good and are the heirloom knife and cake cutter out?

Did the flower petals get spread as planned around the candles?

And did the Ring Bearer get a potty break?

Bridal Portraits, part one

Music to read by: Going to the Chapel

Looking down from the second floor onto McKenna...I admit that I'm being slightly coy in not showing you her dress from the full front. You must have patience, Grasshopper.

or this one?

(and if you can't tell, this photo was mine as the pro was only up on the balcony taking shots of her like this. I wanted to see her up closer.)

And in all their bubblegum glory with the bride to be..

With her loving Daddy...

Her adoring Mama....

And these two...Bob's and my proudest achievements

The family....
And then we're off to the limo and to Sunnyside...

Early morning, Sept 6

September 6 finally arrived! We were up early because we had to be somewhat ready for the makeup lady, the hair lady, the photographer and her assistant, and the surprise-for-McKenna-and-Dave videographer to all show up. That means for some of us (me), getting up at 6am and put makeup on while the coffee was perking.

The following photographs are from the professional photographer. BIG difference between hers and mine. She has captured the excitement that was building all morning long with McKenna and her bridesmaids.

Here is she is getting the final touches to her hair after the tiara was put on.

And here? Here she is with the makeup application. Like she needs makeup.

I was constantly going over details in my head...garter? Check.

Rings? Check, check.

Alrighty then. Time to put this on. And these.

And finally time for me to help my baby girl put her wedding gown on. Oh Lord, the tears really were building up then. Not only for me, but for her Daddy and the bridesmaids as well.

I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. Crap...where's the kleenex?

Bubblegum Dresses

Music to Read By: Sex and the City*

Well, here they are, the bubblegum dresses. Some of these shots are from Friday afternoon when we were all together at the cabin and some are from the morning of the wedding getting ready. What a ZOO! Thinking back to when McKenna was in school and I was working, getting ready in the morning with two females wasn't bad at all. Try SEVEN of us; one being a bride and one being the bride's mother. No nervous stomachs there, no sir. Bob and Chris were the only males at the cabin. The estrogen level got to Chris; he volunteered to run errands. Bobby pins and curlers, mascara and eyeliner, missing shoes, hairspray, WATERPROOF mascara please, blowdryers, and 1008 conversations going on all at the same time. The girls were either screaming with laughter or crying in each other's arms. Some of the girls teared up when I just looked at them; some were somber; some were cracking jokes, but they all were as they were meant to be: there for McKenna.

I know some of you are wondering why this particular bit of music. I tried and failed to find something that I thought would be fitting. You know, 'You've Got a Friend', 'Wind Beneath my Wings'..I just kept crying listening to these songs. McKenna called and I asked her, "What song reminds you of your friends all the time?" Her immediate response was "Sex and the City"...at one time or another, each of her friends could easily have fit into those roles.

Rehearsal Dinner

~~~New feature here, folks. Music to Read By. I'll be downloading music for the rest of the wedding posts for your entertainment pleasure. I'll let you know which song to click by the titles I use, ok?~~

Finally! An event that I can relax at and didn't have to do anything for! The Berg family hosted the Rehearsal dinner at Jake's At The Lake, a great spot on the beach in North Shore. The weather was perfect and the tablemates? You tell me. This is Erin...after a couple of glasses of wine.

The whole fam-damily was there, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course, dear dear friends that we consider family.

They were so gracious and loving. And surprizingly surprizing! This little redhead below? Oh, yeah.....wait until you hear what she did!

And then the toasts began with Dave's....

Again, he endeared himself to us, thanking us for being part of the most important thing in his life: his marriage to our daughter.

His brother, Craig toasted the couple and brought tears to one and all.Notice the paper he's holding? Oh, yeah, it was a long, loving tribute to his baby brother.

And little Miss did her share of tearing up, too:

Here they are, the night before they wed.

A Montage

I'm channeling Spielberg here, with lots more to learn. Obviously. Hey, it's my first attempt. If you could only see how I accomplished this. Three cans of Planters honey roasted peanuts stacked with my camera on top to get the most screen wide shots synchronizing my iTunes playlist. Oh, God. And the music? Forever Young. This will always be the song about McKenna. It was put to the video of her highschool state championship basketball tournament. Whenever I hear it, I think of her and I'm amazed that I still tear up to this day over it. It was an accomplishment that her family for THREE generations dreamt of. And why do you ask, that I use it here for her wedding weekend? Because. Look at the faces of these precious people. It feels like yesterday that I was that age. I still feel young and I'm sure that you do to. When I look at MY wedding photos, I'm like, God, we were SO YOUNG. But it didn't feel like it at the time. Did you feel that way? And these two beautiful souls....standing together, loving each other being witnessed by their families and friends. They can conquer anything; they are Forever Young.

Wedding Rehearsal

Bright and early Friday morning we all got up for the WEDDING REHEARSAL. This is where everyone takes a deep breath and thinks...jeez, it's really happening! Off we went to Sunnyside where we would meet up with the cast and crew of the wedding itself. Everyone was either driving up from Reno (Or like some, had either just flown in from Vegas, driven from Vegas or flown in from Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming!) and, boy, was it getting warm outside! The forecast was for gorgeous sunny HOT weather. We met with the minister, "Just call me Chip".

At first he seemed ok.

Cue the dramatic music.

Our wedding coordinators, Jessyca and Kristen were there with the timed run down for the ceremony and was explaining it to people. But Just-call-me-Chip wouldn't have anything to do with it. And he wouldn't have anything to do with the coordinators. I thought that it and he were rude. It was his ceremony, people, and it would be his way. Including the fact that the groomsmen would not walk the bridesmaids down the middle aisle. "It's better this way. I've done a lot of weddings and this works for me." Just-call-me-Chip didn't bring the vows that McKenna and Dave had selected from his own pamphlet. Thankfully, I had brought everything I had concerning the wedding with me and I had a copy of the vows...jeez. Finally it got down to Jessyca and Kristen standing there helpless while Just-call-me-Chip ran the show. He was not listening to anyone and was at a point dictactic. I finally called McKenna over and explained to her that her wishes for the look of her wedding was not happening and if she wanted it, she and Dave (the clients) needed to pull Just-call-me-Chip over and explain the facts of life to him. They did and Chip acquiesced to the look. He was still off-putting in how he spoke to people but as long as Kenna and Dave were happy, I shut the hell up.

Here we also met for the first time, Dave's family; Dee, Bob, Courtney, Maria, Jerome, and all the kids. We had met his middle brother, Craig, before when he was in town. They are all wonderful people and McKenna is so lucky to call them her in-laws and to have them in her life. Believe me when I say this, it makes all the difference in the world if your in-laws are great people as opposed to some of the horror stories we've all heard about. I kept trying to figure out who Dave looks like in his parents....I'm thinking Bob now but with his mom's smile.

Jessyca and Kristen got everyone lined up as per McKenna's wishes and down the aisle they came:

Christopher and Lindsay,

Ashley and Jerome,

Shaina and Craig,

Erin and Jeremy,

and finally Meredith and Leo.

(the girls would look different tomorrow in their bubblegum dresses!)

And now, the two that made me lose it AGAIN that day:

This was a moment that you wonder about in your head when you're raising a little girl...watching her father walk her down the aisle and how you would feel about it at the time.

I was so very happy for her and for him....words escape me to describe it to you. My heart was full.

And then? Then Bob came over to me, where we both teared up looking at each other and remembering our own wedding.