Mom will tell you that up until the moment that I marched down the aisle with my new friend (and love of my tiny life) Madelyn, they weren’t at all convinced that the march would even happen. Two year olds are unpredictable! Luckily, Madelyn and I got a lot of practice in, and we knew exactly what to do.
As you know, there is usually a rehearsal the night before a wedding, so Madelyn and I showed up to do our thing. The first time down the aisle, Madelyn was ready to go, but I wasn’t sure about it, so Mommy came along. Then they continued with the rest of the rehearsal, and when it was done Madelyn and I could try again. This time, Mom told me that I was in charge of getting both Madelyn AND Me down the aisle safely. Having been given the really important job of taking care of my new bestie, I charged down the aisle with a mission. Then we came back up the aisle. Then we went back down again. And again. And again. We had it down.
That night, I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa so that Mom and Dad could enjoy the rehearsal dinner, but before we said goodnight, Siobhan and Chris wanted to give me my special ring bearer gift. First was a special Ring Bearer stuffed football, then a book about being a ring bearer, which I was super excited to read. But then they gave me the gift that proves that they know me better than most people: a complete bridal party set of RUBBER DUCKIES!! It included a ring bearer duck (me), and flower girl duck (Madelyn), and bride duck (Siobhan), a groom duck (Chris), 4 bridesmaid ducks, and 4 groomsmen ducks. And every night at bathtime I line them all up on the edge of the tub, and we call them all by name. I even carry around the Preston duck and Madelyn duck with me, and wanted to show all my friends at school. BEST GIFT EVER!
So the next morning, Mommy headed off to get glammed up with the rest of the girls, and I headed off on a choo-choo adventure with Grandpa, Grandma, and Daddy. Their SOLE mission was to get me to take a nap before the wedding, so they did their very best to wear me out early in the day. Their efforts paid off, and I snoozed for about an hour, although it took a long and aimless car trip to get me to finally nod off.
Then it was on to the next mission: donning me in the SEVEN different pieces that made up my ring bearer costume (shirt, pants, vest, bowtie, belt, socks, AND shoes). Grandma thought that this was going to be a challenge, considering all previous attempts at getting me into this particular ensemble ended in temper tantrums that rivaled the one documented on video involving my snow boots. One evening after mom tried to put the ring bearer shirt on me, I had the conversation with her that “I don’t like Siobhan’s wedding” because “I not happy.” And just so Siobhan doesn’t get a complex, when I said that I didn’t like the wedding, what I was referring to was the *&%^ shirt they were making me wear (yes, I’m two… that’s why we sensor the curse words in this blog). ANYWAY, I happily put on every article of my outfit without a single complaint, until we got to the socks, at which time Grandma passed me off to Grandpa, who tried to put the socks on my ears. Why does he always DO that? He must know by now that they go on my feet. Then I put them on my feet.
So this is the part where we reveal the secret plan that mommy devised with the rest of the glamor girls (ie the bridesmaids): when we all get to the church, Mommy was to be kept completely out of my sight until Madelyn and I had safely made it down the aisle. For whatever reason, they thought I might get clingy when I saw my mom. Whatever would have given them that idea? For what it’s worth, it worked perfectly. I often suspected Mommy was nearby. One time I heard her name, and another time I thought I caught a glimpse of her. But, come on, I had a mission to get Madelyn down the aisle to her mom, and I won’t go back on my word. I even carried a small book (by the string that was wrapped around it) down with me… and we even WALKED (instead of running). Mommy cried a lot, and looked happy/sad when she came down the aisle right after me. She said she was proud and couldn’t believe how grown up I was!
So that was bearing the rings. My job was done. Although my next job had only just begun: looking cute and behaving for pictures. I’ll admit that this was more of a challenge, but in the end I did really well, and I loved having Madelyn around to play with while we waited for it to be our turn to take pictures.
Then it was party time! And I was exhausted before my dinner even arrived. But 2 year olds don’t like to go to bed, or even admit that they are tired, so I powered through dinner and stayed for the first few dances. Grandpa wanted to make sure he got some of the wedding PIE, but shortly after it was served I headed back to the hotel room with Gma and Gpa, and crashed for the night.
Then in the morning we went for breakfast, where we ran into Madelyn again, and I got to say goodbye, before heading home!
Credits:
Grandma was a super star. Not only did she make my vest, and turn my shirt into a onesie, but she ALSO made Madelyn's dress 100% from scratch (out of the left over fabric from mommy's bridesmaid dress). She also found the belt that I could wear, AND bought daddy's tie!!
The rest of this week has been rather uneventful, as I’ve been at school, and Mom and Dad back at work. I do have some silly new things that I say though like:
- Dishun (Air Conditioning)
- Land off (what airplanes do when they come back down from the flight: the opposite of take off)
- Castle (where we stayed when we were at the wedding – grown ups call it a hotel)
Enjoy the photos – and see the whole album HERE
Rehearsal: