True Confessions of a Mother of the Bride, cont'd.
I spent the week before Brianna's wedding in Seattle doing last minute running around, baking cookies for candy/cookie buffet, arranging the flowers, and reviewing all the details with the church and reception site.
On the day of the rehearsal, I spoke with one of the catering manager's from Salty's. Now, before I go any further, let me say, Salty's was awesome! The setting is spectacular, the food incredible, and the staff couldn't have been any more helpful. So, anyways, as I was dropping off some decorations for the reception the day before the wedding, they reminded me that we had to be out of the room (including cleaning up all the centerpieces and decorations) at the latest at 5:00 pm since they had another wedding coming in at 6:00 pm. I've coordinated many a function over the years, and I know that if I only had one hour to set-up for a wedding reception...I'd be feeling a bit stressed. But...I guess that would be their problem.
At the rehearsal, the wedding coordinator for the parish (who by the way I adored...he kept the stress low by making everyone laugh...but he kept us on task as well), pulled me aside and just reminded me that we needed to be out of the church by 11:00 am since they had a baptisim at 11:30 am. The wedding was to start at precisely 10:00 am, the coordinator told us, since the ceremony would take about an hour.
Helping button up Brianna's dress.
The morning of the wedding was rushed and hectic. Eric and I were up at 4:30 am delivering flowers and the cookies/candy to Salty's. We fought our way through minor traffic and made it back to the hotel in time for us to have only about 20 minutes to finish getting ready before pictures would start. Of course, my hair picked today to freak out on me...but I left it as was. Being there for helping Brianna put on her dress and sharing those few moments before the wedding were more important than my hair.
Brianna and Ken wait for the ceremony to start.
The church was nothing short of breathtaking.
We made it to the church on time, the wedding started on time, and it finished on time. But then, afterwards we needed to grab a few more group family shots since some of the family wasn't present for the photos we took earlier that morning. The "Ellis" side of the family was waiting to the left of the alter to be up next to take pictures when my neice tugged at my sleeve and pointed to an alcove off to the side. Behind a screen was...a casket. Oh, goodness...apparently the "baptisim" was really a funeral. We needed to hurry up and get out before people for the funeral started arriving! As we were leaving the church I noticed all the funeral flowers waiting in the vestibule and the people for the funeral just starting to arrive. How weird I thought....here Brianna and Ken were young, just starting their lives together with family gathered around sharing in their joy....and just minutes later, a woman's family was bidding their final farewell in the same church....a beginning and and ending.
Thankfully, I don't think Brianna and Ken noticed the funeral about to begin as they climbed into their vintage rolls royce to head to the reception.
Newly married and off to the reception.
The reception site, as I've mentioned was beautiful! Salty's sits across the sound from Seattle, so diners get an amazing view of the Seattle skyline. The tables were decorated with vintage silver vessels of all sorts filled with white flowers. Accents of turqoise blue brightened the room....it was, as Brianna described it, "A modern take on Tiffany".
The view from the reception site....Salty's on Alkai Beach in Seattle.
Brianna's tiffany blue and white color scheme.
The reception went nicely. The food was served, the cake was cut, toasts were given, dancing occurred...and about 3:45 pm (we had the room till 4:00 pm) some guests began to say their goodbyes and leave. The Salty's crew, knowing they had to turn the room around quickly for the next receptiong starting at 6:00 pm, began clearing tables as people left, and putting down fresh linens....which were black...umm, not looking so good with the Tiffany blue and vintage silver. I was a bit confused when I saw this happening. Then I remembered the other wedding that was coming in a soon as we left to decorate. I felt for them, knowing they were going to have to bust hump to get the room set-up before 6:00 pm...but at the same time I didn't want to be rushed out ourselves. But as more tables began to get cleared, we took the hint and started taking down decorations and packing them up. Thankfully, but this time, only about 15 or so people remained at the reception.
Brianna and Ken's first dance.
We started hauling out boxes of vintage silver, crystal, and Tiffany's gift boxes. As we walked through the service entrance to take things to the car, there standing in the pouring rain were the next group with their boxes of bamboo shoots, modern Asian teapots, and zen gardens waiting to come in to decorate. And believe me they wasted no time. As soon as they saw we were packing up, they were in the door setting up their tables.
So, alas, the day was over. Although I felt rushed for most of the day, I did manage to get to really savor some moments from getting ready, to the meaningful ceremony, to watching Ken and Brianna have their first dance. It was a happy, happy day.
By the way, all these beautiful photographs are from the amazing Jaquilyn Shumate Photography. To see more photos from the wedding, visit Jaqui's blog.
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