Day 68, Tuesday, Mar 9, 2010: A LONG catch-up......

I'm not sure just where to begin....I am sooooo far behind with the wedding posts....AND, now my Archives is going beserk and I have lost posts from months ago, as well as many, many pictures!!!! DAMN!!!!!! Once again......I will place a link to my web albums for you to see the album called Jay's Wedding Week. The negative thing is that I had written about sooooo many of my posted pics on this blog.....and all of that was lost, so my pics were put into the album without any discussion/explanations.......UGH!!!!!

The Wedding Week was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!! WOW.....what an amazing four days it was.....from our "meet the families" dinner on Wed night to the wedding and incredible reception on Saturday night!!!!!

To recap: Wednesday evening Anne-marie's father, step-mother, her mother, the 1st Lady and I, and Jay and Anne-marie had a wonderful and fun-filled evening at a great restaurtant in the city center of Mobile. We had sooo much fun that evening....with great food, great wine.....and great new friends.......... Zeb, Denise, and Melissa!!!!

Thursday:



It was a busy day.....a trip to the airport to pick up Melinda....the 1st Lady's sister with her son, Justin, who had been selected to be a groomsman. While out there, I picked up the rental car that we had reserved for the remainder of the week.......so as to not have to try to park and move the large truck around the city to the various places we needed to go.



We also went with Jay and Anne-marie to pick up gifts for the groomsmen at a jewelry shop and then went to meet her grandmother. While there they unwrapped a lot of gifts that had been delivered to her grandmother's house......and it was fun to watch them enjoy this!!!!



Hurrying back to the hotels, we began to ready ourselves for the evening cocktail party at one of Anne-marie's relatives who lives close to her grandmother. Everyone who was invited met at The Malaga Inn.....and the chartered bus picked us up there. Of course.....we all stopped in at the Hospitality Room for a few drinks before we left.......the open bar and snacks with all kinds of drinks was open 24 hours per day during the wedding weekend!!! A great touch by the bride and groom!!!!!!!

The bus was filled to capacity.....and Anne-marie's grandmother acted as host and tour guide for the trip out to the Spring Hill residential area. She did a great job.......pointing out various historical buildings and where events happened as we rode in comfort to the party.

And the party......WOW!!!!!!! WHAT an evening.....WHAT a party!!!!! Probably 150 family and friends and wedding party members were there......the home was gorgeous! The patio was lit with lights, a fireplace was going outside, and the bar was set up on the patio. Food stations were everywhere.....with fresh hot gumbo, fish, shrimp, oysters, chicken wings,.....and there were the caterer servers bringing around huge trays of fresh shrimp and oysters along with many other wonderful finger foods!!! Everyone had an absolute wonderful time.......for about 3-4 hours.....just sooooo much fun getting to meet everyone.....and the "southern hospitality" was incredible!!!!!! It was just one of those evenings to remember for a long, long time!!!!!! The hostess soooo lovely and soooo friendly.....and everyone felt really welcome......ALL of the many, many people who were there. Of course.......everyone wanted to meet "Jay's parents".....and we were just overwhelmed at the wonderful things that everyone had to say about him......WOW!!!
There were two photographers who had flown out from NYC to take pictures of the weekend....and everywhere we went, flashes were going off......amazing!!! I have never been "shot" sooooo many times at any place.........whew!!!

The bus departed around 11pm for the hotels.....and then the party continued at The Malaga Inn Hospitality Room......where fresh foods were waiting, along with the bartender and all the drinks you could ever want....or, need! WHEW!!!!!!! The 1st Lady and I crawled back to the Holiday Inn across the street from The Malaga.....and crashed....BIG TIME!!!!

FRIDAY........

I was up early as the guys in the wedding party had to meet at 9:30 to go over to Fairhope, AL on the east side of the Bay where we would board a sailboat for several hours of sailing on the Bay. We car pooled over there....I took our rental car.....and followed Thad....Anne-marie's brother as I wasn't sure where the Yacht Club was located. We were then in about 30 minutes....and soon we were loading cases of beer, liquor, boxes of wonderful sandwiches and brownies and cookies......all from a wonderful deli!!!!!

We slipped out of the small bay where many, many sailboats were resting.....and soon we were sailing along with the sails unfurled.....skimming over the cold waters of the Bay. The wind was really cold coming across that water.......and coffee would have been great, but that was not to be....haha!! Still suffering from the chest and head cold that I have had for several weeks......I remained down in the cabin quite a bit of the time, just to stay out of the wind. The photographer was with us.......shooting pictures all of the time from various angles. WHEW.....I finally became used to being photographed with the camera at every angle everywhere I went and with each thing I did.

We returned to the small bay shortly after lunch time......and quickly headed back into Mobile....and to the west side where we had to try on the rented tuxes and get them adjusted/changed if needed. There we ran into another groomsman......a former political worker with Jay....who is from Tuscaloosa(sp?)....and is an attorney there now. I had met him in the late 90's in Montgomery when Jay was doing the Gov.'s campaign. Getting the tuxes....we dashed back into the city center and the hotels........as the wedding rehearsal was to begin at 5:30pm

We boarded the bus...and off we went to the Museum of Mobile where the wedding was to take place. A wonderful bulding.......and everything was set up for the rehearsal. All of the chairs had been put up, and had to be removed after the rehearsal for the Museum to be open on Saturday for the normal hours. The rehearsal went smoothly as they had hired a professional wedding planner to take care of all of the details. And soon..........we were boarding the bus and off we went to the club........a private club that is connected with the Mardi Gras here in Mobile.....and the members are all the old families of Mobile....for over a hundred years.

Jay and Anne-marie had made most of the arrangements for the rehearsal dinnr/party for the 1st Lady and I.......and when we took the elevator to the 3rd floor and emerged......OMG!!!!! WHAT a gorgeous room(s) to behold!!!!! We were introduced to the manager(s) of the club.....and told to let them know if things were not going the way we wanted them to go....etc., etc. Sooooo gracious they were.........and we were just in awe at the decorations of balloons everywhere in such wonderful colors of turquoise and light/lime greens...the tables set with beautiful cloths and the chairs......just beautiful!!! Soon, music began by two young men who did a wonderful evening for us.......soooooo great!!!!

The bar was open....and as people began to arrive, the drinks continued to be made/poured for the next seveal hours. Once again, servers were passing among the crowds of people with serving trays full of fresh seafoods...........and as the many, many people arrived, the fun began. Down here, EVERYONE who has arrived for the wedding, as well as family/friends who live in town, are guests at the wedding rehearsal dinner. Sooooooo, we must have had 150 people there or so......not sure there was ever a head count.

After about 45 minutes of cocktails and meeting and greeting, I took the mic and welcomed everyone that had arrived.......and after a bit of small talk, I encouraged everyone to partake of the food at the various food stations spread around the HUGE room. All kinds of various foods from incredible roast beef prepared perfectly to more seafoods to rice dishes, grits, finger foods, veggies.....you name it, it was on the tables!!!!

Following the dinner and more drinks for everyone......I took the mic again, offered a toast to the new couple.....and my toast was then followed by Anne-marie's father, the best man, the maid of honor, and a few more.....and then the dancing began.....and more drinks flowed!! A GRAND EVENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then around 11p or so......the bus began to make shuttle runs back to the hotels for everyone. Oh.....I didn't mention that baby sitters had been hired for all of the young kids back at the hotels......as this was strictly an evening for the adults....and it was just super!!!!

Returning to the hotels.....many again were at the Hospitality Room for more food and drinks! But...the 1st Lady and I fell into bed not too much later.

SATURDAY....WEDDING DAY!!!

A beautiful day......and after some hurrying around, we boarded the buses for the trip back out to Spring Hill for the sit-down luncheon being hosted by about 10 of the family friends at this absolutely huge/gorgeous old home with very large rooms and wonderful furnnishings. As we got off of the bus, we were greeted in the long hallway by each of the hostesses....and ushered to the back veranda which overlooked the gardens, not in bloom due to the unusual cold weather. Three bartenders were serving Mimosas and Bloody Mary's.......and after an hour or so of meeting and greeting, being introduced to many of Mobile's older families, the 75 people were seated graciously in the various rooms for lunch to be served. We were in the main dining room....and it was a fabulous lunch!!!!!!! Soooo graciously served by caterers with all of the old family china being used in our dining room. It was a wonderful, wonderful lunch.....a wonderful way to begin the big day.......and again, the southern hospitality was in full display!!!!!!!!!

Boarding the bus again....we were back to the hotels. The 1st Lady had a hair appt. at The Malaga Inn as Anne-maire had hired beauticians and make-up ladies to take care of the wedding party women/girls. Before we knew it....it was time to board the bus to go to the Museum. I drove this time, not knowing if we might need the car to transport the younger kids back to the hotels, should the evening grow late.

The wedding was gorgeous, simple and complete. Two members of the Mobile Symphony, a violinist and a cellist, provided beautiful music.....absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!! Three poetry readings were given during the ceremony....and with 12 bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen, five flower girls, three ring bearers......it was a wonderful 6pm wedding!!!!!!!!!!! When it was over.......everyone emerged out of the Museum for the reception.........

The street had been blocked, a huge white tent with clear roof had been erected and tons and tons of food, champagne, drinks, bars, wandering servers in white coats, food, drinks, food, drinks: roast duck, lamb chops, a huge 6 foot long shrimp boat with ice and fresh shrimp in it, oysters, fish, rice dishes, you name it....it was there!!!!!!!!!! There were several hundred people there.......and an hour later or so, the Museum area had been transformed again into a beautiful setting for the dancing and more drinks!!! And with the most incredible band which played for 2-3 hours, followed by a DJ, the evening was just marvelous/fabulous!!!! At midnight, Anne-Marie and Jay, stepped into an antique vintage Ford and were driven to The Malaga.....and after a few short hours in the courtyard there, they were whisked off to New Orleans in a car with driver to catch their plane to Nicaragua for a week.

And soooooo, the Wedding Week came to a close. We left Sunday afternoon and went out to the RV park where we had stored TheHowserHouse for the week. We remained there overnight.....RESTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then we went to Panama City Beach, where are now, for a week. We will be here until next Monday.