Friday, June 20, 2008
The Day After. Do you have a story?
I've never been a mother of the bride or groom, so I only imagined that the day after a big wedding is a huge relief. But when I asked my sister Helen about it, she sent me an email that really opened my eyes.
"We had a "gift opening" party at our house the day after Kelli and Ken's wedding. Everyone was enjoying each other's company. Then the inevitable happened. It was time for Kelli and Ken to leave for their honeymoon. Frank and I were saying our good-byes to Kelli, crying and holding each other, not wanting to let her go. She and Ken finally got into her silver Mustang, in love, and looking forward to their honeymoon. As they drove out of our driveway, she waved goodbye and smiled at us with a look of contentment on her face. She was glowing. It was at that moment that Frank and I looked at each other and knew that she would live happily ever after. I will never forget that moment."
Makes me misty to picture it. I never considered how parents of the bride and groom would watch for a sign that everything would be okay. Marriage isn't just a big step for the happy couple, it's a big step for parents too -- letting go. Hoping all the choices were good ones.
My sister Diana had a totally different experience!
With her daughter already off on her honeymoon, she and her husband had simply intended to return tuxes, but look what happened!
"The funniest or oddiest thing about our trip was we were just going to the city to return tuxes.
We went to Olive Garden afterward. When we were finished eating, Charlie suggested we hit the outlets in Lancaster. We drove over and realized we were only a few hours from the beach. Plus, Carissa and Kate were with us. We'd all taken the week off work to unwind from the wedding, so there was no reason not to go.
Except we didn't have a stitch of clothes. Just before we got to the beach, we stopped at the local Walmart and bought tooth brushes, deordorant, beach towels, suntan lotion, underwear and a couple tops and shorts. Then we drove down the beach and, even without a reservation, got a room at our favorite place and had a wonderful time. We couldn't have had a better time if we would have planned it."
Now that's my idea of stress relief!
Any parents of the bride or groom with a good day after story?
susan
8 Comments:
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Well, I don't know that we have a good story but we knew the kids had to get up at 5AM the morning after the wedding to catch their shuttle to the airport to go to Hawaii.
We asked them to make sure the shuttle would arrive that early...just in case. The bride's family was staying in the same hotel and promised to make sure they made it.
Sure enough, there was no shuttle at 5AM, a cab had to be called, and the rest of the trip was near misses all the way.
But the kids made it to their resort on Oahu and promptly fell asleep while they were waiting for the waiter to bring their dinner. The waiter gets points for waking them gently.
Knowing there was a near miss with catching the flight, we couldn't relax the day after, constantly wondering if they were going to get to their honeymoon or be bogged down. And God bless em, they called us when they got there.
Now the day after the day after, we totally collapsed, took the phone off the hook, and snoozed.
Peace, Julie
- June 20, 2008 at 10:32 AM
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I'm afraid I may be hearing the same story. We're all spending the night at the historical hotel that they are getting married in but they too booked an early flight and the airport is hours away and they expect you there a couple hours early! I don't see how they possibly can make it. They will be too exhausted for anything but hey, they're young, (and are probably going to learn the hard way I'm afraid). They're going to disney world but have to be back for another wedding the next weekend. Oh and we get to babysit their new puppy!!
- June 20, 2008 at 2:21 PM
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Um, how about for 2 days after? We moved our other daughter to her new house the day after our daughter's wedding...and the day after that, moved to Switzerland.
Not exactly conventional!
Melissa J
- June 21, 2008 at 2:13 AM
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Um, how about for 2 days after? We moved our other daughter to her new house the day after our daughter's wedding...and the day after that, moved to Switzerland.
Not exactly conventional!
Melissa J
- June 21, 2008 at 2:13 AM
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It must be a relief for the parents that the frenzy is over!
- June 22, 2008 at 2:49 PM
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I have no experience at all... but I remember my granb-mother stayed in bed for 2 days after my aunt got married... she sayed she suffered from extreme exhaustion!
- June 22, 2008 at 2:54 PM
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the day after for us was just a day of relief that everything had gone okay and we felt we had done our part the best we could as parents of the groom. Gift opening was the day after and it was nice to see so many nice presents for the newlyweds and we got to eat some more of the food and perhaps enjoy it more than the night before.
- June 22, 2008 at 7:46 PM
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I can't imagine that a bride and groom, or the parents of a bride and groom, would be anything but exhausted after a wedding!
I love the gift opening, day of relief story! But I also loved the mother of the bride who stayed in bed for two days.
I saw my sister who had taken the impromptu trip to the beach after her daughter's wedding at a fourth of July picnic.
She and her husband still laugh about that. But I thought it was a cool thing to do!
susan
- July 8, 2008 at 8:06 AM
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