Francisco's and my wedding happened thanks to tons of people, but thanks especially to Mama Leopard, who catered the whole thing (even through sickness--she went to the hospital for, I think, the first time since she gave birth to Ilana; okay, okay, it was just the urgent care center, but still), and Stearns, who spent three weeks before the wedding in Williamsport, sewing me the prettiest veil ever, listening to me rant (by far the hardest part of the job), and going to Sam's Club 800 times (and endless other tasks). I love my friends and family and my mother's friends and church, all of whom chipped in. There's something wonderful about the collaborative wedding--it feels really old-fashioned, like a barn raising. Gypsy made coleslaw; Diana photographed the reception; Hopkins arranged the flowers. But, boy, it was so. much. work. This is why I'm a teacher and not a wedding planner--it was not my favorite kind of work. A break from academia was nice, but by the end I just wanted to read a journal article or teach a class.
The wedding weekend started with a family dinner--all of Francisco's relatives who had already arrived came out to my parents' home for a Fourth of July picnic, followed by congregating in downtown Williamsport for fireworks. Almost all of his family had difficulty finding Williamsport, which made sense, but made me feel terrible. I also felt bad for pulling his family from humidity-less California to muggy PA in July. But his family did love the "fireflies," as they called them (to us, they're lightening bugs). And the food--my mother is quite a cook--there were snap peas from the garden and there was chicken from the grill and chocolate mint dessert, to name a few things. After the rehearsal dinner, one of Francisco's aunts said to me, this dinner was good, but your mom's was great.
2 comments:
That sounds fantastic -- and I think weddings are exhausting no matter how they're pulled together, unless you're among the lucky demographic that really enjoys party planning. My mother has no interest in parties so I had to pull my wedding together with a little help from my aunts, and oh, I was so tired.
Interesting about lightning bugs/fireflies. I wonder if it's an east/west of the Mississippi thing? Growing up in Chicago we called them lightning bugs, but in Utah and Washington they seem to be mostly fireflies.
We all benefit from the fact that your mother's love language is food. She is a legend.
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