Wedding Weekend

***Disclaimer. This post is very very wordy and more detailed than most anyone would care to read, but since I'm no good at keeping a journal, I decided I wanted this for me.***

Thankfully when we got up on Thursday morning, Cooper was not running a fever. I am so very thankful that we did not have to decide what to do if he was as sick as he was on Wednesday. For the most part he was my happy baby. We got everything packed up and got started on the errands we had to run before hitting the road.

After a stop a the hospital to pick up Mom's bday gift from a coworker, Walgreens for a small bottle of dishwashing soap (for the bottles) & pictures, gas station, All Occasions for the linens (by the way... I had no idea how many linens there actually would be, nor how heavy those things are), the mall for some make-up, Men's Warehouse to get Zach's tux, and Chick-fil-A for some lunch we were finally able to actually start the road trip. Cooper slept through most of this and even slept most of the way to the 'Boro.

When we got to Murfreesboro we stopped at Jess's hotel to get her house key and so she could show off the real life Cooper to her new coworkers. We then headed to her house to drop off Jere and then to the church to drop off our car load of linens. We were then finally able to head to the hotel.

We got unpacked and I actually put my stuff in a drawer. I never do this, but for some reason I really needed to not be out of a suitcase this weekend. We relaxed a little and fed Cooper and waited for the rest of our family to get there. Mom and I headed to the store to pick up some things for dinner that night, while Zach and Dad went to get the BBQ and trimmings.

We all met up at Ben & Laura's and had dinner with the family that was already in town. Cooper was so tired. He'd had a long day of traveling and visiting and he was worn out. His little eyes got so puffy, but he was determined to keep on trucking. He really didn't get that fussy, he was so entertained by all the people paying him so much attention.

We headed back to the hotel to get him to sleep, but he had other plans. I guess it was a mixture of being way out of routine, way past his bedtime, and daddy was there that he thought it was playtime. Despite my best efforts and using all my tricks, I could not get him to sleep. That has never happened before. He was also so tired, he was fussy and wiggly and just uncomfortable. Zach finally just put him in the carseat and took him back out for a ride. That did the trick and he came back, completely asleep and I was able to put him in the pack-n-play with not waking him up.

You'd think that with him getting to bed so late, that he'd sleep in some in the morning. At least that's what I thought. I was wrong. He woke up at like 6:45 or 7:00 ready to go. I tried snuggling in bed with him, but he was having none of that. It was play time. Crawl time. Let me down on the floor time. Zach had to be up early (for him) to meet up with the guys for breakfast and then golf. I stayed in the room for a while and Mom came down and we put some last minute things together for the rehersal dinner and bridesmaids luncheon. It was actually a pretty calm morning! I even got her to iron our clothes for the rehearsal! As Zach says, she really is the best ironer person.

Danny and Janice were so wonderful and came to the 'Boro early in the day so they could be on Cooper duty. They picked him up from the hotel around 11:30 and kept him all afternoon for us. I cannot begin to thank them for doing that! It was such a relief to know that he was being well taken care of and I was free to do wedding stuff.

Mom and I headed for the Bridesmaid's Luncheon downtown. It went so well! We had our own little room and plenty of room to get the tables together so we could all sit together. The food was delicious and we just had a fun time getting to visit and relax a little bit before the rest of the festivities.

Aunt Lisa and I were going to try and meet up with Laura and some of the girls to get manicures and pedicures, but it was not meant to be. After trying to find several nail salons that had apparently gone out of business, we just headed back to the hotel to meet up with Mom. The three of us headed to the church to get set up for the rehearsal dinner. It really didn't take us to long and it wasn't long before my boys met me up at the church.

While we were at the luncheon, the guys were out playing golf. Apparently, Ben got a hole in one!! Zach wasn't with him, but Dad was and I'm so glad he got to see it. They were all super excited about it! We wondered what would be more memorable for Ben this weekend... hitting a hole in one or getting married?? :)

The rehearsal went very smoothly. We got started a little late, but I really don't think I've ever been to a rehearsal that started on time. Including my own! I about lost it, just watching the whole thing. I couldn't help but look up at my brother and picture the skinny little kid who went around showing us his bat wings. To see him now. Makes me a proud big sister.

Oh and thanks to Jessica and Sean for watching our little guy during the rehearsal!

We had a yummy Italian dinner with a room full of family and friends to celebrate Ben and Laura. Ms. Rhea Anne catered the dinner and of course it was delicious! She even made it after having to have unexpected outpatient surgery that morning to remove a tick that had made it's way in her back. Zach and I got Cooper back to the hotel and got him a bath and then bedtime. I really think that the bath helped him relax a little after all the craziness of the day and he went to sleep with no trouble.

Wedding day arrived! Zach kept Cooper and took him to the reception site where he was meeting the other guys to help set out tables and such. Jessica and Sean met him there and took over Cooper duties for the day. Again, I cannot thank them enough for watching him. It was so wonderful to know that he was well taken care of and I was free to do what I needed to do.

Mom and I had the early hair appointments. I mean early. Her's was at 7:30 and mine at 8:00. It wasn't bad though. We were both pretty wound up anyway! The lady who does Laura's hair did Mom's and the rest of the bridesmaids/bride's hair for the day. I'm always a little concerned when someone new does my hair since it is so thick and fine, but I was very pleased with how it turned out and she did an amazing job getting it to stay put for the day (even in all the wind!).

We met up with the guys at the reception site, where set-up and decorating were in full swing. I made a Micky D's run to get some biscuits for us. Aunt Lisa and I then made a quick run to the store for some cocktail sauce, to pick up the guest book, and then stopped by Ben's to get the shrimp. We dropped all that stuff back off at the reception site, where things were still in full decorating, set-up mode. I then went back to the hotel and met up with Zach before we headed to the church to get ready.

The rest of the day was spent getting ready, balancing in high heel shoes, driving the lovebirds to our off-site photo shoot, pictures, pictures, and more pictures, walking down the aisle, watching my brother's face as he watched his bride come down the aisle (because while everyone else was focusing on the bride, I was watching him), passing out bubbles, blowing bubbles, receptioning - being introduced, eating, visiting, cutting the cake, watching dances, more pictures, and more visiting.

Everything turned out beautiful. The colors. The love birds. The candy bar and coffee bar. The flowers. The linens. The wishing tree. The cookies. It was all so perfectly Ben and Laura.

After they left, we helped get everything torn down. We figured out quickly why people make a living out of decorating/undecorating, because it is a job. But with the help of some amazing family and friends, the job got done.

The family headed out to get something to eat and decided on Zaxby's. Oh my goodness the memories of that place. I used to go there all the time when I was in school there. I still love it! And they brought back the birthday cake milkshake. Delicious.

We all had cars full of stuff to leave at Ben's, so we headed back to drop off everything. Zach and I then had to go pick up Cooper who was with Danny and Janice. They had taken him back to their hotel so we could finish up at the reception. So wonderful of them!

We crashed that night and thankfully Cooper was able to calm down after his bath and slept pretty well too. Sunday we got packed and loaded up and then picked up a birthday cake for the birthday girls (my mom and Aunt Cathie) before heading to meet up with the fam for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The pancakes and eggs were delicious and we all got so full that no one was even able to eat any cake! We sent it home with Aunt Cathie!

After all the goodbyes, we hit the road for home.

It was a crazy, busy, wonderful weekend celebrating my favorite brother and his new bride.