Other People's Weddings: Entrance Dance

The church we got married in was very strict about music selections and making sure the whole thing was as darn sacred as possible. Not that we would have wanted to go this far, though...

Something New

I knew ahead of time that Joe and I would be exchanging gifts the morning of the wedding and I was informed that his gift to me could be my "something new" so thankfully, I didn't have to worry about that. Of course, I could have said my something new was my dress or my earrings or my shoes or any number of items I was adorned with that day but I took special delight in not knowing what exactly it would be.

That morning when Jackie, Joe's sister, arrived at the hotel for hair and makeup, she handed me a bag. A Helzberg Diamonds bag. There was a card inside that explained why his gift was so perfect for me. He said "You always give me X's and O's so now I'm giving you some."

He knows me so well. I sign most correspondence with XOXO.

I know you're dying to know what's in the bag.

So here... a diamond bracelet of X's and O's. My something new.

You can see it here on my left wrist. That's where I wear it EVERY day.

The Church: Remembered

I grew up attending St. Isidore's in Bloomingdale, IL. We got married in the chapel. It used to have a glittery ceiling. When we went to check it out it had been painted blue, which I hated when I first saw it. It sure made for some pretty pictures though.

Something Old

Grandma's Ring

When my Grandma Blanche died in the Summer of 1995, my family and I joined my Grandpa in packing up her things and cleaning out his house. He told us that he had no idea where her wedding rings were. He couldn't remember what she had done with them and didn't think she even knew what she had done with them. Maybe she had hidden them away somewhere?
At one point I found a pair of rings that looked like a wedding band and an engagement ring. They had been slipped onto the top of a bottle of nail polish. I was so excited I ran downstairs to the basement where Grandpa was cleaning out a pantry closet. I showed him the rings and he examined them under the light. Nope. Not them. "Probably decoys," he said. Grandma was always paranoid that someone was going to burglarize their home and take her valuables. I get it.
Back to cleaning and packing things up.
Since I inherited Grandma's little feet I got to take home a bunch of pairs of vintage shoes. I also brought home some dresses and a pile of flannel pajamas. I was happy to have some things of hers to help me remember her.
One night I was getting ready for bed and I pulled out one of those pairs of flannel pajamas. As I pulled the top around my shoulders I realized there was something stuffed into the breast pocket. It was a tissue. Honestly, the first thought that crossed my mind was gross. Then I realized it wasn't a used tissue. It had something in it. Something small but substantial.
Tears streaming down my face, I ran downstairs to my Dad who was sitting in his chair, watching TV.

I found them Dad! I found the rings!

We called Grandpa immediately. He cried too when I told him.
We gave him the rings. There were three. One was an engagement ring, one was a wedding band and one was a cocktail ring. The cocktail ring was made from a pair of earrings that belonged to Grandpa's mother. She had taken the diamond earrings and made them into two rings. She gave one to each of her two sons, my Grandpa and his brother Fred. Grandpa gave the ring to Grandma.
Grandpa used the diamonds from the engagement ring and the wedding band to make a new wedding band for himself. When he died, Dad took that ring and had it remade into his own wedding band.
The cocktail ring? Grandpa gave it to me for finding the three rings. He called me bright eyes after that. He gave me a card when he gave me the ring. I still have it. The card and the ring. I'm proud to have worn it as my something old.

Gettin' Pretty: Remembered

The morning of the wedding, I woke up at The Residence Inn in Bloomingdale, Illinois. The church was just a hop, skip and a jump away but we had hours to go until I got there. I jumped in the shower at 7:30 a.m. Allison and Christine were in the other bedroom in the suite and Nydia, Beth, Stacy and Amber were across the hall. Jackie was at her parents' house, but would be joining us later. At 8:00 there was a knock on our hotel suite door. Right on time. It was Angelica and Antje from Tigerlilie Salon. We had arranged that they would come out to the suburbs with their hair dryers, rollers, bobby-pins, curling irons and make-up kits to get us all prettied up. A consultation and a trial with Antje confirmed that I would be wearing my hair like Rita Hayworth's.


The bridesmaids would be sporting vintage style up-do's... like these:

Before long, we were taking turns getting our hair done, reading magazines, sipping mimosas and munching on the treats Beth and Nydia had gone to pick up for us, including Pirate's Booty.

After our hair was done, Antje and Angelica did our makeup. Antje had recommended that I get some MAC foundation and lipstick for the day so I got that out for her. We waited on the lipstick, though. She wanted to put that on after I put my dress on. So... on it went. Nydia and Stacy came in with me and my mom. It sounds like a lot of people, but there were a lot of buttons... and high heels.

On went the lipstick... the high heels... the veil.
Time to be a bride.