Sunday, October 17, 2010

Mr. and Mrs. G. Polevoy. WTF?!

Cathy and Gordon kiss
To Mr. and Mrs. G. Polevoy.

It was right there in my hand, freshly pulled from the mailbox when we returned from our honeymoon. (Oh my goddess, was that two weeks ago already?) Incidentally, it was the invoice from our wedding venue. Gordon kept that envelope. I felt a little weird flutter in my stomach.

No, I did not change my name. (I'm still Webgoddesscathy.) But yeah, I did get married.

Oh goodness, did I.

After months of planning, worrying, researching, working, obsessing, list-making and -checking, sleeplessness and nausea (only towards the end)... I am a Mrs.

It's never been my goal to get married. In fact, there were times I thought I wouldn't. And then I met Gordon and things just sort of clicked. Even though I didn't really want them to. Really. I actually didn't WANT to date seriously. But it was too good to not.



Why? He fit. I don't know how else to explain it. He's silly and grumpy, alternately. He's nerdy (read about our nerd wedding here, by FickleFeline). He loves my family. He's there and I don't even think about it. He thinks it's funny to touch my bum and pick my nose in public.

We're learning. Still. To be together. To be a partnership. Who picks each others' noses and touches each others' bums. And fights about stupid stuff as well as important stuff. But there's never a moment when I doubt him. Us.

And so, we made it official. In the most just-right day I could conceive of. I can't think of how my wedding could have been better. Sure, we could have had more people there. But honestly, I didn't get to talk to all the people who WERE there. It was small and intimate. I had a ball - the best day ever in my life. It was beautiful and stress-free. Thanks to a number of people who did a lot of stuff for us and I tried to remember them all in my speech, but of course forgot some stuff.

My mom - Made my "fur" wrap, garter, hot-sauce favours (yum!), decorated, got free flowers for the table, dress shopping/support, ran the snack room
My dad - Brought wood for the bonfire, grew much of the decorative items and jalapenos for the hot-sauce, kept my mom at the reception
My sister, Jen - Maid of honor, kept me sane and fed, organized my fun bachelorette party, decorating, dress shopping
Heather - Wedding planner, unofficially. Seriously, I don't even know half the stuff she did
Marlene (my childhood second-mother) - Transported much-needed stuff, baby-sat
My sister-in-law, Kendra - Hosted the planning weekend, made boutonnieres, decorated, dress shopping
My new in-laws, Terry and Joanne - Help with chairs, the snack room, hair clip, out-of-town guest hospitality
Anita - Photos (they're gorgeous, you should hire her)
My uncle Jim - Ceremony photos (coming soon!)
Phil - Our Master of Ceremonies, who also introduced us
Anya - Our talented violinist
Jay - Our DJ
My new sister-in-law, Aimee - My hair (LOVED it!) and the gorgeous soap favours on the table (earl grey goat's milk soaps!)

More dress shopping - Jane, Tanya and Sarah
More decorating - Matt, Jane (who wasn't even able to stay for the wedding!), Sarah, Jo and Will, and probably more people?

Then the people who did little speeches at the wedding and who CAME and helped make our day so amazing...

My heart is full to popping point of gratitude and love. I'm not even exaggerating. I feel like it almost hurts, just thinking about all the wonderful things that people did to make this weekend so awesome.

And I just want them to know how much it meant to me. To us, although I don't think Gordon knew half the stuff that people did so that he could just concentrate on having a drink with his friends.

There was a moment on Friday, when we were walking towards the bonfire: I stopped him and we stood there, just looking. I said, "Gordon: this is our wedding. All these people are here for us." It was amazing. I didn't have a camera, so I'll just have to tell you because it's a still-frame in my mind. It was dark, lake-side, stars above us, forest around us, the lights of the inn glowing beyond. The bonfire that my dad and brothers built was roaring. It was reflecting off the faces of smiling people either sitting or milling about. There was a hum of chatting and laughing, people reconnecting, meeting for the first time, discussing times-past, updates on lives, the next camping trip. It was our family, whether actually related by blood or not, come together to celebrate us. I squeezed Gordon's hand and took that picture imprint.

I think there will be more posts to come. Because I really don't want to let go of the moment; the memory. It was that wonderful.

No comments: