Thank you thank you thank you!!

I can't say it enough, but "thank you" to everyone who came, everyone who helped, everyone who wished us well, to everyone... just one huge THANK YOU!!!

We had the rehearsal Friday evening and it went much faster than we'd anticipated so once we'd done a "dry run" of the ceremony and decorated the church, we headed over to Boston Pizza. Two problems. 1) There were 21 of us and we'd made reservations for 16 and 2) we were there an hour early and during the dinner rush. So we stood outside and waited, but it was worth the wait. The staff was great and the food was really good. We gave all the groomsmen (including Francis and Ash) Buck knives as their thank you gifts while the girls got a shopping basket with local, organic and fair trade chocolates, pastas, coffees, teas etc.

Neither of us really slept the night before, despite taking a sleeping pill. We were both up and nibbled at breakfast by 6am. Kathy picked me and the rest of the girls up before 9am and we headed to Puressence Salon for hair and makeup. The guys came over to our house to get ready. Chelsey, our photographer extraordinaire, met the girls at Liane's house and we did some candid shots in Liane's basement and back yard. Keith came and got us and took us to Assiniboine Park for photos of the wedding party together in the conservatory. (We're not superstitious or honestly believe that our marriage is doomed if Brendon sees me in my dress before the ceremony!!) We did photos for about two hours, took a break for cokes and granola bars, before heading back to the church. The next hour was a bit of a blur as I waited downstairs with my parents and my beautiful bridesmaids while Brendon and his guys were in the rectory, joking around with Father Mark. All of a sudden "it's time" and we heading upstairs to start the walk down the long long long aisle. It's a lot longer when people are staring at you, instead of when you're there on any other Sunday!! The ceremony was quick, or it seemed quick to me. Ash did first reading (Ecclesiastes 4:912), my parents did the psalms (34) and Francis did second reading (John 3:18-24). Father gave a wonderful sermon before it was time to exchange our vows. We were both tearing up at this point but we hadn't started crying (yet!). When it came time to sign the license, my hands were shaking so much that I misspelled my name. Yeah, I signed it "Elean" so I had to ink in the missing "i". Whoops!!

After the ceremony, we did more photos of the family at the church and headed over to the Irish Club for the reception. Just like last night, we were early so the dj hadn't arrived yet and there wasn't any music. We hid inside the coat closet while we waited for the dj to arrive, then the mike broke, then he blew a fuse so we waited a little longer for him to fix that. We did our 'grand entrance' and started the evening. Ash was our MC and he did a fantastic job, from his hilarious opening speech, to getting people up and playing charades to cracking jokes the whole way through. I'm still hurt that he thinks I'm a pizza hut driver.... (PhD... LOL). Francis gave the roast to the groom while Kathy gave me her roast. Both speeches were absolutely hysterical and everyone was laughing! We did our first dance (Faber Drive's When I'm With You), and were then joined on the dance floor by the wedding party. The dance floor was full the rest of the night and we closed the place down with people still on the dance floor! Leave it to my girl friends to make the night truly special!!

The Irish Club came through in spades for us. We had our concerns about them hosting the reception, but we couldn't have asked for a better spot! The food was absolutely indescribably delicious. Perogies, baked chicken and cabbage rolls; it's a Manitoba dinner at its best. Everyone was having a great time, mingling, drinking, eating, dancing.

My only regret is that I wish I'd spent more time going from table to table seeing family and friends but there was so much to see and do that night. If I missed talking to you, I'm very sorry and I'm very thankful that you made it to our party. Thank you for making it a wonderful night!

I could write on and on thanking everyone in turn for everything they've done to make our wedding day the most amazing, special and fun time we've ever had and making the day so memorable. Thank you!