August 11 - WEDDING DAY

The best day of my life. I had so much fun!! It was the best wedding I have ever been to (not like I'm biased or anything....)

Aydan and I pose before the big event!

Dade wouldn't get in the picture! I think he was scared of the big white dress!
A little bridesmaid dancing to lighten the mood
First dance

The cakes (Groom's cake shaped like a cheeseburger!)

AXiD girls

The guys sing to the gals

See http://www.flickr.com/photos/agstratt/sets/ for more pictures! I'll be posting our professional pictures there as well, once we get them.

Things I learned:

• It is very hot underneath a wedding dress. I was wilting majorly until Emily stuck a cup of cold water in my face and ordered me to drink as we were taking pictures. I think that cup of water alone saved me from dying.
• No one even noticed when they cut off the hard liquor. This is an excellent idea to do.... we did it when we hit a certain dollar amount, but I've seen it happen at a certain time also. That wedding, the hard liquor ended around 10, and that may have been a better idea than in our case.... because it lasted all the way up until 11. My mom came to me and said "Your money ran out. No more hard liquor." I think she expected me to whine a bit and pony up for a bit more. One look around told me that people had had enough and wouldn't even notice. My reply: "GOOD!"
• Pre-planning and preparedness saves your butt when planning a wedding. I kept all the wedding documents on a flash drive in my purse at all times, and kept my ipod with me in case we needed it to play songs that I really wanted played at the wedding . BOTH came in handy; the flash drive multiple times.

Seen and heard at the wedding:

• Chad, prior to the wedding, to Mike: "If I don't remember to tell you later, I had fun tonight"
• Peter: "Is there a doctor in the house? Because ours is broken!" After John lost his footing and pile-drived Dixon to the ground
• I looked over during the first dance and saw Jenn and Emily holding each other, bawling their eyes out. It was very touching to know that I have such good friends who love me so much. I love them very much too.
• Weile was stockpiling both Jack&Coke empties and sparklers (our favors). One errant spark would have sent him up in flames
• My friend's husband Tom Duff met his almost-name-twin Tom Duffy. Cool huh?
• We went to play craps at the casino after the wedding just to get a pic of me and Mike at the craps table in our wedding gear. Choater almost got thrown in the clink for taking the picture (note to Casino Aztar: security needn't be that tight. You make most of your money on slots) , but we got the picture nonetheless.
• When you (and by you, I mean Rogus) hand a drink to someone, make sure there is not a sheet of plexiglass between you and that person.