Buildup to the Wedding

Already I can tell that marrying Christina is the best decision I will ever make. That coupled with the fun of seeing all of my family and such a large group of my friends having a great time at the wedding fully makes up for the stress of holding a wedding.

Though I should qualify that statement...I assisted in organising our wedding and had very little stress regarding the wedding. Chrissy took on the majority of the organising and took on way too much stress. My only real stress was through osmosis absorbing Chrissy's stress or being the recipient of her stress (hereby dubbed Chrissyosis). It was an early lesson in the old adage "happy wife, happy life".

Going into the last week before the wedding Chrissy was putting in full days doing any number of activities; meeting with vendors, designing programs, cleaning everything in sight, even arts and crafts church decorations.

For some reason or another we decided to take on the extra task of hosting our own wedding rehearsal dinner in our backyard the Thursday before the wedding. Due to wedding planning our backyard wasn't as well kept as it could have been. To help make the yard look more festive and picturesque we borrowed a bunch of flowers from Chrissy's parents. The delivery of the plants even included a special guest - Chrissy's Uncle Ed from Poland.

Ed doesn't speak a word of english but a vodka welcome is universal.

The rehearsal supper turned out well. My steak and chicken kebabs didn't kill anyone (even though the jerk sauce made it touch and go for some) and the weather was great.

Great camera presence by Bryce (above) and Andrea (below)

A visit to the church during the rehearsal and the inclusion of my Saskatchewan buddies and Geoff's family made the wedding a lot more immediate and real for me. It was finally really happening.

The Friday consisted of a list of errands from Chrissy and then making up the hall for the reception. Thankfully we had lots of help from bridesmaids, family and our German visitor Hendrick.

 

After a full day of running around and a bit of visiting I checked in back at the house where Chrissy's bridesmaids were settling in to stay the night.

Even with our living in sin (gluttony) over the years I still felt some traditional thoughts on the overall ritual of a wedding. All through our engagement I had gone out of my way to not learn anything about Chrissy's wedding dress. I wanted my first vision of Chrissy on our wedding day to be her in the dress walking down the aisle toward me. So, with an innocent kiss on the cheek, and maybe a little tush squeeze, I grabbed my overnight bag and headed to a hotel for my last night as a single guy. I was not to see my lady again till the altar.

I woke early on Saturday morning, the day of the wedding, and left the hotel to pick up my brother Richard and do some more errands (pick up flowers from Costco and deliver to the church). Hanging with Richard was maybe the best thing I could have done that morning. As a bit of a tour guide and host I got to enjoy just spending time with my brother rather than stressing over inane wedding details or getting too lost in my own thoughts.

The only down side of our morning drive was a traffic camera speeding ticket that I received in the mail 2 weeks later. What can I say though, after so many years I was eager to get on with marrying Chrissy (Insert sappy aaaaah here). 

Back at the Hotel I started to get ready.  As I have talked about before, my family gifted me a pair of cuff links with my fathers signature on them to wear during the wedding. Monica was there to capture the moment of me putting them on and to take a last picture of Mom with her single 'baby'.

Meanwhile across town Christina was getting ready with her family and friends. 

Finally it was time to head out to St. John Bosco Church. 

As if we could do anything else, my groomsman and I kept it light at the church and got in some last minute pictures including our customary Christmas picture.

I have known all of my groomsmen for the majority of my life and I feel privileged that they would stand up for me on my wedding day. Their easy going demeanor,  good humour and general strength of character is admirable and though I may not see them as much I would like I value them a great deal. 

Thank you Daniel, Rob, and Bryce for being there on my day and for each in your own way providing an example of the man I hope to become as I spend the rest of my life with Chrissy.

Next post - The wedding.

Note: We hired a professional photographer for our formal wedding photos. This post does not include any of her photographs. All of these pictures are photos from friends and family.