Ok, so I haven't really updated this blog, in like forever. I know. I'm the crappiest blogger ever. It's fine. You'll live. I'll live. We'll all be happy.
I'm happy to say I'm married! Whoa! I'm officially no longer a Flaherty. Which affected me more than I anticipated. I assumed that it would be no big, I'd go change my name, and be done. Then, while Ray and I were on our honeymoon, I was mentioning about what a hassle it is (I have to call everybody and their mama and tell them my last name is different, blah blah blah), Ray said "You don't have to change your name, if you don't want to." Wrong thing to say to me. I put off actually changing my name for an additional week, because I debated if I wanted to keep my last name or change it to Ray's,which is the same last name that Eli has. Which had a bigger impact on me changing my name than anything else. In reality, it's too complicated to explain to people why I wouldn't want the same last name as the hubby, plus, it's really awkward when I have to deal with Eli crap, and I get the third degree because I don't have the same last name. (What, we did things backwards. Sue me.) Anyways, it's legally changed, so that's cool. You can now call me Emmett. Or Flaherty. Whatever, I'll still answer either way. At least for a while.
Our wedding was awesome. And crazy. And fun. Which is pretty much what you would expect from anything I'm involved in. I had a lot of help from my family, Ray's family, my best friends and a multitude of other people, without which none of this would have came together. My best friend had to go into "Maid of Honor-zilla" mode, because by the time we got to the week of the wedding, I was such a nervous wreck, I could barely function. Actually, I was a nervous wreck the whole time. I kept questioning every single decision I made, debating if I really wanted to do things out doors, should I really spend so much money on the dress, maybe we should just do catering (as an aside, do catering. That's not a DIY, I suggest for a wedding. Ever.), how should I do my hair, why can't I find the right foundation color, my teeth are terrible, I'm such a fat ass, I look weird, is a fight going to break out...and on and on and on. Whatever. We finally got to the day of the wedding, Ray took off to deal with food stuff and making sure his family was actually going to show up on time (and not bring 100 extra people with them), I was doing stuff around my house and fretting about everything, then Erica showed up, picked me up, we drove out to the middle of nowhere, met up with Ashton and Lori, and decorated the "gazebo". They call it an amphitheater, but I don't think Aerosmith will be playing it anytime soon. Whatever, it's perfect for a wedding. We hung up flowers, debated tulle, and kept checking out the landscape. I was really excited. It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect, everything was green and blooming and pretty. We finished up decorating, then sat down to an awesome lunch that Erica put together for all of us, and relaxed for a few minutes. Next thing I knew, my photographer was calling me, letting me know he was there, and I realized we had to go, to get the reception building set up. It was a funky shaped room, but we managed to figure out how to set it up, so that everyone would be able to sit. It turned out that my photographer was freaking Magyver, every time one of us was saying we needed something, he would come up with it. Anyways, I fretted some more, started pacing and worrying about everyone arriving on time, realizing I forgot crap, I didn't have enough of other stuff, I'm a hot mess, aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. Anyways, I was so busy worrying about that stuff, I wasn't even paying attention to time, and had Erica coming to me saying "Let's get your hair and make up done". Oh, yeah, that! So, we sat down, got that done as quickly as possible, then I went back to fretting some more, then people started arriving, the rest of the wedding party, Ray's mom and aunt with the food, my parents and brother with the cake and Eli! I grabbed Eli, wrestled him into a suit, discovered his brand new dress shoes I bought were too small. (He's got big feet!) and shoved him back into his tennis shoes. Whatever, if you pay that much attention to his shoes, bite me! Then, suddenly, Erica and Ashton are telling me it's time to get in my dress, and OMG, it's time already, say what?! So, we kicked everyone out, so that we could get me ready, my mom was trying to get me into my bra, Erica's yelling at me about not crying (I'm a cryer!), and Ashton's helping me get into my dress and shoes too, and then all the sudden, oh man, this is it, I'm going to go marry the love of my life. My person. This is really it. I think I'm going to grow up. Everyone, of course, gave me the obligatory "You look amazing" comments, and I really believed them this time. We jumped into my Dad's van, drove over to the parking lot, and then hiked up to the gazebo. (Hiking in wedges = Worst idea I've ever had. Seriously.)
The walk too forever, or felt like it anyways, and we got there, and we finally organized everyone, (rehearsals are good ideas), and then it was time to head down the aisle. Eli abandoned Eli, and I waved her on, because I knew it was a lost cause. Ashton went up with our flower girl, and then it was my turn, with my daddy, and yay, my daddy walked me down the aisle. That was all I cared about. Then I looked at Ray, and I forgot everything and everyone else, I could only feel my dad's arm holding on to mine. Ray looked so amazing, and the way he was looking at me, was a moment I will never forget. I managed to get up the stairs without having a "Jennifer Lawrence at the oscars" moment, my brother completely flubbed up on the music (If you give bad directions, you will not get satisfactory results), I started laughing, and then our wedding officiant started the ceremony, something or another, blah blah blah, ooh, I'm marrying Ray, ok, it's time to exchange rings, do not fall off the stage Flaherty, ok, you're good, ok, get the ring on his finger, ok, now let's get the ring on my finger, ok, time for vows, what are those rustling leaves, that can only be Eli, I think Ray just repeated himself, oh well, no one will notice anyhow, ok, my turn, blah blah blah, repeat, blah blah blah, repeat, blah blah blah, re....wait, what did you say, OMG, I just forgot what this guy said to me 5 seconds ago, I am an idiot!, let's hurry this up I'm done, can I kiss him, can I kiss him, just say it!, YAY!!! All done. I can't tell you what he specifically said, except the usual stuff, I have no clue of much else, besides the fact that our family and friends were there, Eli tried to go swimming, but did not succeed, and Ray and I got married! Finally! Yay!
We took some pictures, they are really hilarious to me, then we went to the reception, with the top priority to change my shoes. Then, I was busy trying to talk to everyone, and thank everyone for coming and find out how everyone was doing, I ate, but I didn't even taste the food, I was mostly eating, because everyone was telling me to. Then, the next thing I knew it was time to cut the cake, so much fun cutting the cake, and having cake shoved in my face, then shoving cake in Ray's face. We didn't get as messy as everyone wanted us to, but Eli more than made up for that. He's a cake kid. Then, it was over. It was simple and uncomplicated, and that was ok by me. I said good bye to everyone, we packed up the cars, thanked everyone who helped, and then headed home to get ready for the after party.
The after party was at Dave and Ashton's house, my parents and brother even came along, everybody toasted us, we got fancy engraved champagne flutes, which were super awesome, then we hung out, playing beer pong, talking, laughing and generally having a good time. We went home late, and went to sleep. Ya know. ::wink wink nudge nudge::
Ray and I woke up the next day, we drove up to Williamsburg, went shopping, listened to a stupid time share presentation, which we got 75 bucks for, then went to the hotel. It was amazing. It had a fireplace! The kitchen was amazing! The bed was huge, we had a freaking hot tub bathtub in our room. Ray and I spent some time to ourselves, and then went out and drove around for a while, then we went out to eat. We were eating and Ray was looking kind of sad, I asked him what was wrong, and he said "I miss Eli." I said it was ok, we would make it. We woke up the next day, and it was raining its butt off. Colonial Williamsburg was out. Ray and I hung out for a little while and slept and stuff. It was nice though. We enjoyed the time we had to ourselves. We then went home, saw the Eli and had family time.
Overall, it was wonderful. We couldn't have asked for anything better. It was everything I expected and more. It made me appreciate everything about my life. Don't get me wrong, our life is still not perfect, by a long shot. But, the life Ray and I are putting together is pretty awesome.
Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter
5 months ago
