The Simple Life: Wedding!

Well the wedding has come and gone! What a whirlwind.

Last Thursday we had the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I haven't had my phone on me hardly at all the last 4-5 days, so I don't have many (if any) pictures of my own. I definitely didn't take any at the rehearsal or dinner.
Dominic was set to be the ring bearer and he'd been mentally preparing for months. He was very excited and enthusiastic at the rehearsal and it gave us hope for the wedding day!

The dinner was at my parents' house and was so delicious. There was food and wine aplenty. After dinner Dad, Jeff, Adam and myself snuck off to the clubhouse to do one final rehearsal of our wedding skit (you'll see) before the big day. We put the kids down there, and left them overnight. Nice knowing they'll both sleep through the night no matter what!

I'm glad we left them, as I woke up Friday morning with a hang over. Dang it! I was not paying attention on Thursday apparently and did not drink enough water. I wasn't even hung over after the stagette! Oh well. A quieter day filled with naps, packing, prepping and planning. We were planning to pack up and drive to Ocean Shores to meet David's family on Sunday morning, after the wedding. I had been stressing about it all week. Not the trip, not the wedding, but both put together. It was a lot to coordinate and arrange, and I was worried about making a long drive with two kids when we'd all inevitably be exhausted.

Saturday morning, wedding day, I was up at 430am. I woke up thinking about what I had to do that day, rehearsing our skit in my head, and then checked my phone to see a message from David's mom. She informed us it took them 9 hours to get to Ocean Shores the day before, twice as long as it should have. She was concerned that sitting in a car for that long the day after the wedding, just to stay for two nights wouldn't be worth the stress and fatigue for us. I'm really sad that we had to miss this trip as it has been planned for over a year, but also kind of relieved. It was going to be a long wedding day, followed by a long travel day and I was feeling anxious about it.

Dave and I were both up early, but it was okay because we had a lot to do before leaving in the morning. David dropped me off at Ashleigh's parents' place to get ready with the bridal party at about 830am, and then he took the kids to my parents' to hang out with my family and get ready with the groomsmen. THANK YOU! I am so grateful I didn't have to worry about them at all that morning. They were in good hands. Emilia napped from 1115-1215 or so, and Dominic skipped his nap because the ceremony fell right in the middle of nap time. Unfortunately Dom was a little overwhelmed by all the attention and was apparently meltdown-central in the morning. Oh well. Can't predict a 2.5 year old!

Us girls had a relaxing morning getting ready. A photographer was there was us all morning. We all had our hair done by a stylist, and makeup was split between ourselves, each other and a makeup artist. I did my own makeup which was my own decision. I like doing makeup, and it was a great way to save $100!
We had snacks and champagne before getting dressed and packing up to go to the ceremony!

Ashleigh and her dad drove up there in his Corvette, and we all arrived with about 5 minutes to spare. Just enough time to get upstairs to our "room", take a couple photos and head down to the sanctuary at Fleetwood Church. Ashleigh was absolutely jittery with excitement (and nerves). I don't think I've ever seen a bride so outwardly excited to be married. Makes it that much more fun!

As we're waiting on the stairs for the boys to walk in and the doors to close, I hear Dominic wail, "DAAAADDDYYYYYY!!!!!" I ran down the stairs to collect him so he didn't further disrupt the procession. Oh dear. Meltdown city. I picked him up as us girls all lined up to walk down the aisle. The original plan was for him to walk down after me, and that is what we practiced at rehearsal. He was all set to go and had been talking about it non-stop, but when the time finally came he was toast. I asked if he wanted to walk or for me to carry him. He said through his tears, "Mommy carry me." Okay fine :). As we're waiting for the girls to walk ahead of us he gets his business attitude on, "Mommy. Wait for this person. Mommy, wait for this person to go." Yes dear... I've got it! Then he reminded me that when he gets down there he'll go to Oma & Opa and have some dropjes. One of my more genius ideas!

We made it down the aisle, me carrying him, without incident, and he passed the ring bear (literal ring bear) off to Dave, who was the best man. He then went to sit with Opa and Oma, who had his dropjes and his blanket. He was great the whole ceremony, although apparently he was talking to me at one point, "Mommy, I'm eating my dropjes!" I didn't hear him haha.

As Ashleigh walked down the aisle I think 90% of the place teared up. She was obviously very emotional, and her dad, Scott, my dad... everyone had tears in their eyes. Kind of impossible not to feel it at that point! The ceremony was beautiful. The strings trio behind us, a quick, thoughtful sermon, beautiful vows that were a mix of traditional and self-written, and a kiss that may have lingered just a little too long, haha! We all trucked out of the ceremony and celebrated in the foyer. The hard part was over!!

We were worried about Emilia seeing me in the church, and having a freak-out because she couldn't be with me. My Aunty Sonya graciously took her and hung out with her for the duration of the ceremony. I am so so so grateful for that. We honestly had so much help with the kids that day; it would not have been possible with out it.

Scott and Ash left the ceremony in Pete's Corvette. Scott may have stalled it once and lurched out of the spot, but it was still cute haha! It was also raining :(. The weather was a bit unstable all day, but that was the first time it was really raining. Lucky for us, the rest of the day the weather was absolutely perfect. The lighting for the photos could not have been better and the temperature was ideal. The men were not hot, and the women were not cold. Everyone was perfect.

Back to Ash's parents' house down the road for a few family photos and a quick shot of Sambuka before the limo party bus picked us up to take us to the reception! My mom and dad brought the kids back to our house to meet Jordyn, who we hired to watch the kids for the evening. Again, THANK YOU!!!

The bridal party plus significant others and one photographer hopped in the super fancy bus and off we went, headed for Pitt Meadows golf course. A quick pole dance display by Ash's little brother was just what we needed to get the party going! We took a little detour and stopped under a bridge for some photos. It was a rain back-up plan, but I think it turned out to be a plan A. I can't WAIT to see these photos. They are going to be incredible.

When we got to the reception site we did some more bridal party photos and then the couple did their portraits. We had some drinks and waited for our entrance to the reception. The room at the golf course was set up beautifully. It was bright, open, and decorated with great attention to detail in mind. We walked in to "Welcome to the Party", which is much more gangster than I am haha!

Dave Groen was the emcee at the wedding and he did a wonderful job. He got dinner going quickly and smoothly, and then it was time for speeches. Danielle, the maid of honor went first and she did an awesome job. She says she was nervous, but if she was she clearly practiced a lot because it was great!
David was up next, as the best man. He also was very nervous. So nervous he hardly ate dinner, which is a big deal if you know Dave! Listening to his delivery of his speech you'd never know he was nervous. Before writing his speech, he had this idea to bring up the three siblings to share as well. It went great! Dave talked for a few minutes and then surprise! Up come the siblings! I went next, then Jeff, then Adam. Everyone was laughing, which is encouraging. It helps that most of us are pretty used to and comfortable with public speaking. It felt good :)

There were a few performances throughout the night as well as a slideshow. One was an original song written and performed by my cousins Amanda and Kyla. Wow are they ever talented. It made us want to back out of our scheduled performance even more! Another was a song/skit/dance by all of the "younger" (20 and under) Gerber cousins. Hilarious!! It ended with Scott & Ashleigh having to join the group and reenact all the dances they had done throughout. I love the Dutch skit tradition; it makes weddings feel that much more personal and entertaining. Ashleigh's mom and sister, Rebecca, also set up the "shoe game". Scott and Ashleigh agreed on so many things, haha! Apparently they're just that compatible!
Before the parent speeches, Dave G. announced there was one more Gerber performance, to be done by Scott's dad, brothers and sister. Ah. I guess that's us! Adam suggested one day that we use our "musical talent" to write and perform a song for Scott & Ashleigh. A couple beer fueled writing and practice sessions led us to a medley parody where Jeff played the guitar, and the 4 of us sang. I still have no idea how it sounded, but we got some awesome feedback! We had a powerpoint of the lyrics so people could sing along, and I definitely witnessed some pretty great audience participation.
We parodied Lose Yourself by Eminem, Bohemian Rhapsody, Breakfast in America, Roxanne, and We Will Rock You. It was rather hilarious! I look forward to seeing a video of it!

After parent speeches, cake cutting, candy bar, etc. it was time for the first dance. They did a lovely job and had clearly practiced. Super cute. Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances followed, and then the big dance party got going! Joe Milankovics (Janitor Joe) was the DJ, and oddly enough he also DJ'd my parents' wedding almost 33 years ago! He did great! The dance floor was packed all night and everyone had a blast!

At around midnight the bride and groom left, so we packed up and headed home with mom and dad.

Woke up Sunday morning with a people hangover, but that's about it! We felt great and fondly reminisced about the day before.

I'm sure there is a lot I missed, and I don't have a lot of photos to document the day, but when the official photos are shared by the photographers I'll post some of those! They're going to be amazing!