A Year and a Half Later
We are finally done with the wedding! We got engaged in April of 2005, married in August of 2006, and had our Chinese banquet this past weekend on September 30th. It has been a long, exhausting, and stressful time and the end couldn't have come any sooner. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the festivities. I definitely did. The Bermuda wedding and reception were perfect and the banquet went off with nary a problem. Of course, little hitches come up during big events, but nothing disastrous happened.
We ended up having around 370 people attend our banquet. That was about 50 fewer people than we had invited. If all 420 had come, I think we would've had to spill onto the lower floor of the restaurant. However, that wasn't the case so we were able to pack all 37 tables onto one floor.
Guests started rolling in at around 6:00 PM. We were a bit behind schedule at that point so I was going a little crazy trying to figure out what to do with these people. Things got straightened out pretty quickly and our guests were able to find their tables promptly.
I was in my red traditional dress for the first half of the banquet. In this dress, I was able to greet guests, be introduced, have my first dance, have the father/daughter dance , watch the slide show my mom put together, and take formal pictures. By the time all of this had come and gone, I still had yet to take a bite of food. Then it was time to change into my other dress. This was also traditional, but orange and gold. In this dress, I made the rounds to all 37 tables to toast with our guests. This is when the party really got started. He and our ushers drank way too much during these toasts. They drank to the point of projectile vomiting in the middle of the restaurant all at different times, but all embarrassingly in front of the guests. This includes the groom. Yes indeed, He yakked in public as well. I'm happy and proud to say that the ladies of the wedding party were able to hold our own and knew when to say when.
After the toasts, people were getting more and more intoxicated so that's when they threw their inhibitions to the wind and made their way onto the dancefloor. My parents were, as usual, cutting up the rug and looking damn good doing it. We 20 and 30 somethings could only hope to dance as well as they did that night. Even my grandparents got up and danced with us. That was extraordinary.
A group of His friends pitched in and bought us a trip to New Orleans in November for a weekend stay that includes a football game and some spa time. They gave that present to us in the middle of dancing. I was very surprised and so appreciative. I can't wait to go since I've never been before and I'm also in dire need of a vacation after all this wedding nonsense. Yes, I realize I just got back from Bermuda, but that didn't feel like a real vacation. This Louisiana trip is a blessing.
So the banquet didn't end until around 11:45 PM and at that point, I still had yet to eat more than a few bitefuls of food. Then we were off to a club called Pure. I have no idea how any of us had the energy or sobriety to get ourselves there, but somehow we did it. We stayed until closing and I got home at around 3:00 AM. After having thrown a 10 course banquet for 370 guests, I crawled into the kitchen and made ramen noodles with dumplings since I wasn't able to enjoy any of the food! That's okay though, the food was definitely secondary to the celebration with our family and friends.
Now, 3 days later, I'm still feeling the effects of the banquet. My face broke out in an itchy rash and I think it's because I had an allergic reaction to the make-up that was used on my face. I got it professionally done and paid an arm and a leg for it. What a waste! At least it didn't bother me until AFTER the big night.
The only thing left to do now is to open up all of our presents and send thank you cards out. Then we can really put this wedding stuff behind us.
I swear, if I ever get married again, I'm eloping.
We ended up having around 370 people attend our banquet. That was about 50 fewer people than we had invited. If all 420 had come, I think we would've had to spill onto the lower floor of the restaurant. However, that wasn't the case so we were able to pack all 37 tables onto one floor.
Guests started rolling in at around 6:00 PM. We were a bit behind schedule at that point so I was going a little crazy trying to figure out what to do with these people. Things got straightened out pretty quickly and our guests were able to find their tables promptly.
I was in my red traditional dress for the first half of the banquet. In this dress, I was able to greet guests, be introduced, have my first dance, have the father/daughter dance , watch the slide show my mom put together, and take formal pictures. By the time all of this had come and gone, I still had yet to take a bite of food. Then it was time to change into my other dress. This was also traditional, but orange and gold. In this dress, I made the rounds to all 37 tables to toast with our guests. This is when the party really got started. He and our ushers drank way too much during these toasts. They drank to the point of projectile vomiting in the middle of the restaurant all at different times, but all embarrassingly in front of the guests. This includes the groom. Yes indeed, He yakked in public as well. I'm happy and proud to say that the ladies of the wedding party were able to hold our own and knew when to say when.
After the toasts, people were getting more and more intoxicated so that's when they threw their inhibitions to the wind and made their way onto the dancefloor. My parents were, as usual, cutting up the rug and looking damn good doing it. We 20 and 30 somethings could only hope to dance as well as they did that night. Even my grandparents got up and danced with us. That was extraordinary.
A group of His friends pitched in and bought us a trip to New Orleans in November for a weekend stay that includes a football game and some spa time. They gave that present to us in the middle of dancing. I was very surprised and so appreciative. I can't wait to go since I've never been before and I'm also in dire need of a vacation after all this wedding nonsense. Yes, I realize I just got back from Bermuda, but that didn't feel like a real vacation. This Louisiana trip is a blessing.
So the banquet didn't end until around 11:45 PM and at that point, I still had yet to eat more than a few bitefuls of food. Then we were off to a club called Pure. I have no idea how any of us had the energy or sobriety to get ourselves there, but somehow we did it. We stayed until closing and I got home at around 3:00 AM. After having thrown a 10 course banquet for 370 guests, I crawled into the kitchen and made ramen noodles with dumplings since I wasn't able to enjoy any of the food! That's okay though, the food was definitely secondary to the celebration with our family and friends.
Now, 3 days later, I'm still feeling the effects of the banquet. My face broke out in an itchy rash and I think it's because I had an allergic reaction to the make-up that was used on my face. I got it professionally done and paid an arm and a leg for it. What a waste! At least it didn't bother me until AFTER the big night.
The only thing left to do now is to open up all of our presents and send thank you cards out. Then we can really put this wedding stuff behind us.
I swear, if I ever get married again, I'm eloping.
posted by Leslie @ 4:38 PM
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