Wedding Blog

First things first: Happy National Punctuation Day everyone! On this special day, let us all give thanks for the syncopation of the serial comma, the breathy pause of the semi-colon, and… wait for it… the anticipatory sigh of the ellipsis.

Gosh I’m a nerd.

Alrighty. Back to the recap. After Mr. HC and I finished our couples portraits, we met up with the rest of the wedding party (who were off rehearsing for the ceremony with Angel). By then, we were running behind schedule, and we had only about a half hour to get our group shots done before our bedecken was supposed to start. Oy vey, indeed.

Nobody warned me, but getting two large families together for group shots is like herding cats. Chatty cats. With short attention spans.

We somehow managed to corral the masses into formation for a few portraits, including this wonderful one of all of our living grandparents. We then hustled outside to take advantage of the good light and get a few shots with…

our adorable flower girl,

the handsome (and beautiful) groomspeople,

and my oh-so-fabulous sisters- and friends-of-honor.

Sometime in the middle of all of this picture-taking, I started to have a meltdown.

All day long, I was the picture of giddy zen (imagine a bonsai tree with streamers). But as our schedule ran later and later… and guests began to arrive and wander into our shots… and family members wandered out of our shots as they got distracted by arriving friends and acquaintances… I came closer and closer to losing it.

It was embarrassing.

In retrospect, my impending meltdown had nothing to do with the hotel misdirecting guests or members of the wedding party wandering off. I think I was so adamant about not being stressed and, more importantly, not stressing anyone else out that day that I not only failed to ask for help when I needed it, but also suppressed any and all anxiety I was feeling.

Mr. HC, seeing the pathetic little tears roll down my face, folded me into his arms in a corner. Our rabbi, who is 50% teacher, 40% psychiatrist, and 10% zen master, sequestered us into a room for some deep breathing. My wonderful and intuitive bridal party, with not a word from me, took charge of the wandering guests situation and directed the new arrivals away from our bedecken room and to the ceremony site.

I think so many of us (particularly the Weddingbee crowd?) are so determined not to be “bridezilla” that we don’t ask for help or tell other people when we are feeling overwhelmed. What I realized, though, is that those who were nearest and dearest not only wanted to help but were amazing at it.

I wish I had been smart enough to recognize this before I ruined my makeup!

How are you at asking for help and handling stress? And married bees, did you have a melt-into-an-ugly-puddle moment on your wedding day?

Photos by Leigh Miller Photography, Luna Photography, and Della Chen Photography.

In previous episodes of the Hot Cocoa Chewish Wedding Recap Extravaganza:

- We had a welcome dinner.
- Hilarity ensued.
- I got prettified.
- We played games.
- Mr. HC got accessorized.
- We had a tea party… I mean, ceremony.
- I got haute.
- I giggled and Mr. HC looked.
- He smelled my cheek.