Well, the big day has come and gone.  Not only did we survive, we did great.  Pookie was the ring-bearer and Geetle was the flower girl.  They each were dressed to the nines.

I had naively assumed that a 4 year olds junior tuxedo was going to be simpler and fewer pieces than a real grown up tuxedo.  I was imagining some sort of part onesie- part dickey snap on suit.  But that is not the case.  Pookie had it all…vest, tie, shiny shoes, jacket, even cuff-links.   We expected that he might not like the suit, but he was fine.  He even found that the shoes made a  great noise on the church floor.

Geetle had a princess dress, tights and shoes with “diamond” buckles.  She wore her hair in a ponytail with the ends curled and pinned under.   She liked her shoes so much that she kept them on for dancing.    She also enjoyed the hat Aunt Shel got for her which said “Flower Girl.”  She wore it thru the reception.

So, it went great, how did it happen?

Before the ceremony, we unveiled a bag of dollar store toys which kept the kids busy until it was time for pictures and the processional.  We also stashed picture books and baggies of life cereal in our pew.  As soon as the kids walked down the aisle, they sat down and quietly ate their cereal and looked at books.  Not a peep.  No echolalia either.  We were prepared to let things unfold naturally.  We never really try to stop Pookie’s echolalia, but sometimes when its disruptive (like at the movies or church) we take him out of the room and explain that some places are for loud and some places are for quiet.   During the rehearsal, he was talking loudly about robots, so we were very proud of him when he did not say a word during the actual ceremony.

After the ceremony, BAGD let the kids run up and down the lawn in front of the church.  Then the kids decided they were tired and wanted to sit in the car.  Because it was parked literally RIGHT IN FRONT of the church and we were standing right there, we rolled down the windows and let them.  Before long, a parade of old ladies was crowded around our minivan telling them how cute they looked.  And there sat my kids, fully buckled, finishing up their snacks.

At the reception, the kids were served a special kids entree, smiley face french fries and chicken nuggets.   We also let them experiment with the china and crystal, which they knew was a big deal.  They both enjoyed drinking out of the coffee cups.  Nothing broke.   While the kids ate, they played with the special toys Shel and Mark had put at each kids place-setting.  After we ate, there was already a small wedding cake waiting for us, right on our table.  Each table had a different flavor.  We let the kids cut the cake; we were sitting with Mamaw, Papaw, Great Grandma Jones and Great Grandma and Grandpa Bluegrass, so they did not mind lopsided pieces.

After eating large quantities of cake, the kids were ready to dance it off.  Very soon after we finished up, the  musics started and the kids were off to the dance floor.  The both danced for at least an hour.  Their styles are very similar, but Geetle is more of a booty-shaker while Pookie covers more ground when he dances, moving all over the floor.

Shel and Mark also gave the kids casual outfits to wear at the reception.  We waited a while to put them on (because I wanted a family picture with us all in our fancy pants).  The outfits included baseball hats embroidered “flower girl” and “ring bearer”.  I think those were my favorite, but Geetle liked the CARS T-shirt better.

At the end of the night, I pulled 42 bobby pins out of my hairdo and 26 out of Geetle’s.   Pookie’s tuxedo was in a crumpled ball, wrinkly but clean (he wore a pull-up to the wedding, but kept it dry all night!).  BAGD was wishing Shel had gotten him a casual outfit to wear at the reception.  I was reasonably comfortable (for a pregnant woman in a formal dress) but tired of constantly adjusting my enormous pregnancy cleavage to prevent a wardrobe malfunction.   We drove home, arriving in our beds just before 11pm.  It was a 16 hour day, but well-worth it.   I;ll post pictures as soon as Shel gets them back from the photog.

*******Enough about me and my kids…let me tell you that Shel looked great.  She had a diamond tiara, more of a headband really, which looked very pretty in her dark hair.  She has had problems with her feet lately, but still managed to wear her pretty wedding shoes all night.  She cried when we expected her to, and giggled when we knew she would.  Mark did not look nervous.  He had that look that you want in a groom….not cocky, taking the ceremony just serious enough, but still enjoying the awesomeness of the whole thing.    I almost missed their first dance, because I was taking someone to the potty, but I got back in time to see the end.  They looked very happy.  I know they are.

Finally, for those of you who wonder what brides and grooms secretly talk about up at the unity candle when they are supposed to be thinking of how their lives are being turned from two to one….I know.  I can read lips and I had a good seat.  Shel asked Mark how her make up looked.  He said fine.  She said what about over here.  He said fine.  She said what about my eyes.  He said fine.  She dabbed it anyway.