Sunday, September 9, 2018
Wow, what a day, one of the most satisfying ever , as well as one of the more stressful, especially before the big event.
The day began early at 5:30 a.m. I'd only slept a few hours but I had so much on my mind that staying in bed wouldn't have been productive. I really needed to meet the wedding coordinator and touch base on how everything would play out. I was told she wouldn't be available until 8:30 a.m. so I went to Horizon Court for breakfast. No one was there, but after breakfast I ran into Neil Bason. We spent a good 45 minutes together, walking around the ship, checking out his suite on the Sun Deck (very nice!). was great having some one-on-one time with him. We saw Murry a little later, then Rossana. We hung out at the atrium, sipping coffees, until it was time for me to meet with my wedding coordinator Beryl.
We sat on a bench in front of the Princess Theater and went over all the logistics. I wanted to make sure there would be enough staff to take care of drinks and food. She assured me there would be. We scheduled a rehearsal for 1 p.m., which seemed a bit late but there were no other alternatives. I had CDs of all the music and a thumb drive of the slideshow I'd put together Wednesday and Thursday for the production team.
After meeting with Beryl, I met with the photo/video department: Chito, Erick, Ben, Chelsea. I told them I wanted all their resources and let them decide what shots to best use. I had a list of groups I wanted to get, but didn't have time to print it out, unfortunately.
When I was done with the photo department, I met with Carlos the matre d at Canaletto Dining. We spent 40 minutes going over every table seating, making sure everything is in their proper seat. Once that was taken care of, I returned to the Grand Suite. By then it was lunch.
I ate with the the Youngs but we didn't have a lot of time. Time was flying by. Time was against me today. I ordered a burger and fries, but only had a few minutes to eat. was beginning to feel tired and fatigued, but the adrenaline was still going.
At 1, Alice, the Youngs and I met Chris and Elizabath, Kevin and Elaine and Mathew for our rehearsal. It took about fifteen minutes for everyone to get together. Meanwhile, the entire space was being transformed for the reception. It was like being backstage in a show. There was all sorts of activity. I was calm, but also a little stressed. I could have used my sister Jill to help me think straight. I really could have used Gwen before the reception. She would have helped me get through all the details. Beryl was as helpful as she could be, but she seemed very passive and wasn't able to take charge of the rehearsal and get things going swiftly.
We were running out of time again. We didn't finish making decisions until 1:45, 45 minutes before the the reception started. We took a couple of great pictures during rehearsal, then went to our suite with the videographers and photographers.
Thankfully, Mathew was with me to get dressed. He tied an Oxford knot for me, put my suspenders on, and clipped on my cuff links.
At around 2, we headed to Skywalkers. I could hear the music playing, Chicago's Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, so we had about ten minutes before we'd make our grand entrance using the automatic ramp.
Halfway through George Harrison's What is Life, Kevin and Elaine hit the ramp. followed by me and Alice. Our grand entrance went off well.
Seeing all my family and friends together was a highlight. 93 of my favorite people in the world were in one room at one time. It was a moment I’ll never forget. I’d mentioned to my racquetball friends that this was my wedding and my funeral, my one big party in life to celebrate all that had been given to me. Everything else that came after this moment was bonus gravy. This was the ultimate achievement for me, to have survived 50 years and maintain so many wonderful friendships in celebration of the union of me and Alice. It was such a joyous, happy, thrilling occasion.
By design, the ceremony was short and sweet with few if any lines for me and Alice to say. Uncle Chris penned an elegant, fitting two-minute message that went over well (with a couple quality laughs!) Dorian concluded the ceremony with a wonderful blessing. It was everything I could have asked for, touching, memorable, fun. Alice was happy.
It hadn’t really occurred to me that Jill wouldn’t be around to help out, knowing all that was involved, especially before the reception/ceremony. Luckily, it all went off well enough so that no one noticed the little things that didn’t get done. Only I noticed. We ended up leaving Skywalkers around 4:20 or so, after we collected as many group pictures as possible. We missed getting a group picture of everyone and a few other pictures with specific people. I wish I’d printed out my list of photos. Oh, well.
From 4:25 to 5:15, we returned to our suite and prepared for dinner. Alice changed into her red dress. We then prepared the tables for guests, using confetti and the wife cakes Elaine picked up Friday night.
Dinner was wonderful. The chefs made a special pasta dish especially for us (it was Italian night on the ship). I still had a lot of energy and visited each of our 16 tables. The tables seatings were now correct. Elaine was a big help in decorating all the tables. I also handed out the wine lists for the evening. The wine was flowing tonight.
Kevin made a magnificent best man speech. Unfortunately, without a microphone it was difficult to hear him. I left me seat and stood in front of him near the wedding cake. It was satisfying hearing a speech of such depth from someone who has known me since the age of 11.
The cake was fantastic. Everyone raved about it. It was so fresh, so good, and so beautiful. It was also very large, much larger than we needed. We ate about half the cake! I wish I had room for another slice!
After cake, our photographers asked us to follow them outside for some great sunset pictures and pictures around the ship. Alice didn't want to leave the dining room, but we went anyway. I'm glad we did. The pictures we took outside were amazing, and the sunset was really beautiful. Our photographers were so outstanding. We really lucked out with all of them.
After our photographs were taken, we went back to our suite, where I remained the rest of the night. People came in and out and the party went on until 2:30 or so. I lasted until 1:30, then went to bed. I was so wiped out that I couldn't stay up anymore. Poker players continued playing in the dining room while Alice and I slept. I didn't hear them at all.
What an amazing day! So full, so stressful, so glorious and happy, so satisfying, and so much fun!
Wow, what a day, one of the most satisfying ever , as well as one of the more stressful, especially before the big event.
The day began early at 5:30 a.m. I'd only slept a few hours but I had so much on my mind that staying in bed wouldn't have been productive. I really needed to meet the wedding coordinator and touch base on how everything would play out. I was told she wouldn't be available until 8:30 a.m. so I went to Horizon Court for breakfast. No one was there, but after breakfast I ran into Neil Bason. We spent a good 45 minutes together, walking around the ship, checking out his suite on the Sun Deck (very nice!). was great having some one-on-one time with him. We saw Murry a little later, then Rossana. We hung out at the atrium, sipping coffees, until it was time for me to meet with my wedding coordinator Beryl.
We sat on a bench in front of the Princess Theater and went over all the logistics. I wanted to make sure there would be enough staff to take care of drinks and food. She assured me there would be. We scheduled a rehearsal for 1 p.m., which seemed a bit late but there were no other alternatives. I had CDs of all the music and a thumb drive of the slideshow I'd put together Wednesday and Thursday for the production team.
After meeting with Beryl, I met with the photo/video department: Chito, Erick, Ben, Chelsea. I told them I wanted all their resources and let them decide what shots to best use. I had a list of groups I wanted to get, but didn't have time to print it out, unfortunately.
When I was done with the photo department, I met with Carlos the matre d at Canaletto Dining. We spent 40 minutes going over every table seating, making sure everything is in their proper seat. Once that was taken care of, I returned to the Grand Suite. By then it was lunch.
I ate with the the Youngs but we didn't have a lot of time. Time was flying by. Time was against me today. I ordered a burger and fries, but only had a few minutes to eat. was beginning to feel tired and fatigued, but the adrenaline was still going.
At 1, Alice, the Youngs and I met Chris and Elizabath, Kevin and Elaine and Mathew for our rehearsal. It took about fifteen minutes for everyone to get together. Meanwhile, the entire space was being transformed for the reception. It was like being backstage in a show. There was all sorts of activity. I was calm, but also a little stressed. I could have used my sister Jill to help me think straight. I really could have used Gwen before the reception. She would have helped me get through all the details. Beryl was as helpful as she could be, but she seemed very passive and wasn't able to take charge of the rehearsal and get things going swiftly.
We were running out of time again. We didn't finish making decisions until 1:45, 45 minutes before the the reception started. We took a couple of great pictures during rehearsal, then went to our suite with the videographers and photographers.
Thankfully, Mathew was with me to get dressed. He tied an Oxford knot for me, put my suspenders on, and clipped on my cuff links.
At around 2, we headed to Skywalkers. I could hear the music playing, Chicago's Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, so we had about ten minutes before we'd make our grand entrance using the automatic ramp.
Halfway through George Harrison's What is Life, Kevin and Elaine hit the ramp. followed by me and Alice. Our grand entrance went off well.
Seeing all my family and friends together was a highlight. 93 of my favorite people in the world were in one room at one time. It was a moment I’ll never forget. I’d mentioned to my racquetball friends that this was my wedding and my funeral, my one big party in life to celebrate all that had been given to me. Everything else that came after this moment was bonus gravy. This was the ultimate achievement for me, to have survived 50 years and maintain so many wonderful friendships in celebration of the union of me and Alice. It was such a joyous, happy, thrilling occasion.
By design, the ceremony was short and sweet with few if any lines for me and Alice to say. Uncle Chris penned an elegant, fitting two-minute message that went over well (with a couple quality laughs!) Dorian concluded the ceremony with a wonderful blessing. It was everything I could have asked for, touching, memorable, fun. Alice was happy.
It hadn’t really occurred to me that Jill wouldn’t be around to help out, knowing all that was involved, especially before the reception/ceremony. Luckily, it all went off well enough so that no one noticed the little things that didn’t get done. Only I noticed. We ended up leaving Skywalkers around 4:20 or so, after we collected as many group pictures as possible. We missed getting a group picture of everyone and a few other pictures with specific people. I wish I’d printed out my list of photos. Oh, well.
From 4:25 to 5:15, we returned to our suite and prepared for dinner. Alice changed into her red dress. We then prepared the tables for guests, using confetti and the wife cakes Elaine picked up Friday night.
Dinner was wonderful. The chefs made a special pasta dish especially for us (it was Italian night on the ship). I still had a lot of energy and visited each of our 16 tables. The tables seatings were now correct. Elaine was a big help in decorating all the tables. I also handed out the wine lists for the evening. The wine was flowing tonight.
Kevin made a magnificent best man speech. Unfortunately, without a microphone it was difficult to hear him. I left me seat and stood in front of him near the wedding cake. It was satisfying hearing a speech of such depth from someone who has known me since the age of 11.
The cake was fantastic. Everyone raved about it. It was so fresh, so good, and so beautiful. It was also very large, much larger than we needed. We ate about half the cake! I wish I had room for another slice!
After cake, our photographers asked us to follow them outside for some great sunset pictures and pictures around the ship. Alice didn't want to leave the dining room, but we went anyway. I'm glad we did. The pictures we took outside were amazing, and the sunset was really beautiful. Our photographers were so outstanding. We really lucked out with all of them.
After our photographs were taken, we went back to our suite, where I remained the rest of the night. People came in and out and the party went on until 2:30 or so. I lasted until 1:30, then went to bed. I was so wiped out that I couldn't stay up anymore. Poker players continued playing in the dining room while Alice and I slept. I didn't hear them at all.
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