I woke up in the bridal suite to a flutter of ladies starting to get ready and try on hats. It was fantastic. The bridal/bridesmaids luncheon was scheduled for lunch time at Arnaud’s Restaurant with the moms, bridesmaids, aunts and cousins. After the “lunch” portion was over, we had invited all ladies invited to the wedding to join us for afternoon tea.
Our plan was to leave at 11:15 am from the lobby of the hotel and walk to Arnaud’s. Starting around 9 am the bathrooms were full of ladies putting on makeup and doing their hair. Everyone was showing off their hats and trying to figure out how and what angle they should wear them.
You might be wondering if the hats were a tradition or something…and the answer is no. I think it was Ashley who said a few weeks before the wedding that she wanted to wear a hat to the bridesmaids lunch. From there it just snowballed and all the ladies when hat shopping right before the wedding.
The hats became our thing and we want to rock it…
Right on time at 11:15 am all the ladies met in the lobby of the hotel. We were a sight! Such a little hen party with all the fabulous hats!
Of course we had to take one silly photo before leaving the hotel.
I requested that the mothers and Aunt Sue catch a cab as I needed them to bring two boxes and I did not want to make them walk as it was getting warm. They happily excepted and met us at the restaurant. As we walked, a nice gentleman saw us coming and said casually said to us, “You ladies look lovely and I am looking for a wife.” Sadly none of the ladies took him up on his offer. We could have had a dual wedding. :)
Once we arrived, I set up the frames in the boxes. It was a little surprise for them and I wanted them to see it before they were on display at the wedding.
We mingled a bit and then dove into lunch. It was so delicious! I was able to chose my favorite meal at Arnaud’s! Pork medallions with truffle mashed potatoes, shrimp salad and some amazing desserts!
After we ate, Cynthia had a little presentation all planned out. She told everyone that the girls needed something special because the boys all had luchador masks. She then proceeded to show each how the strengths in the popular princesses lined up with the strengths of my bridesmaids. Each bridesmaid was matched up with a popular princess and Cynthia showed us all the similarities. She did such a great job!
After Cynthia’s awesome presentation, I had a little presentation of my own. Since Cynthia had the great idea to line up popular princesses, I dubbed my aunts and cousins with official princess titles also.
The one special one I want to share is the one I gave for my Aunt Sue.
Technically she is not my real aunt, but she has known me my entire life. She was my mom’s roommate in college and was there the night I was born. When I was young, I would go spend a week/weekend at her house each summer and hang out with her and Uncle Billy (her hubby). They have always been in my life.
When I was very little, Aunt Sue would give me a small diamond every year for my birthday. They were loose diamonds that were kept locked up. My mom and dad told me about them when I got older and said I could use them anytime. I kept them locked away and could never find a good enough reason to use them.
When Doug and I got engaged, my mom secretly pulled doug aside and told him about the loose diamonds. She told him he could use them for my wedding band if he wanted, but no pressure. He gladly accepted the diamonds and on my birthday (during engagement photos in city park) he pulled out the wedding band and showed me the finished product. My band is beautiful. He worked with Symmetry Jewelers and they used the diamonds from Aunt Sue to make it sparkle.
Back to the bridal luncheon…I told the crowd about this story and dubbed Aunt Sue my Fairy Godmother. Not only did she provide the diamonds for my wedding band, but also graciously offered to host the bridal luncheon. Again, I am surrounded by the most wonderful people in the world.
After all of the presentations were complete, we took some fun photo and awaited the new arrivals for the tea party!
A photo with the bride and the mothers!
Aunts and Cousins!
And then it was Tea Time! We had a few ladies join us: Tammy, Nhung, Mrs. Cindy and Lindsay. It was so wonderful being able to talk and hang out with them. I am glad we had time to visit because there was no time at the wedding!
Light tea sandwiches and desserts were served with tea! It was such a fun, relaxing time.
We finally packed the party, put the moms and Aunt Sue in a cab and walked home. We had such a great time and I want to thank Aunt Sue one more time for such a wonderful luncheon! I am so honored!
As we walked back to the JW Marriott, I mentioned to something to Cynthia about not being surprised if you girls had planned a flash dance at the wedding or something crazy like that. From what I understand that set Cynthia off into a crazy planning mode where she approached each of the bridesmaids to see if they were willing to do a flash dance. Evidently, they all said yes and they planned to scheme later that day.
We arrived back at the JW with about 2 hours to spare before the welcome party. We rested and hung out in the bridal suite. It was so relaxing not to worry about planning any more details and to just finally enjoy. Evidently the ladies were working on a flash dance and teaching each girl while I was just resting on the sofa. More on this later.
Next Up: The Welcome Reception at the JW on Friday Night.
Love and Hugs, Lizzie
No comments:
Post a Comment