Vignette 9: I could have daaaaaanced all night, or, BiE's insane shoe quest is vindicated

After I finally scored my pair of David Tates, I started to feel a little silly about the whole shoe thing. I had a perfectly nice pair of wedges -- why on earth had I gotten so obsessed with finding "dancing shoes?"

But my craziness was vindicated on the day of the wedding. Because while the wedges were perfect for walking on grass, at the end of the ceremony? Those thin plastic soles on the Coloriffics were making my feet weep with discomfort. Econo Boy felt my pain -- his rented patent leather shoes weren't exactly cushy either. He and I both ran upstairs after the family photos to swap out our uncomfortable ceremony shoes for better dancing shoes.

And those David Tates were magic on my feet that night. I danced as much as I've ever danced in my life. I waltzed to our first dance, "Blue Eyes" by the Cary Brothers. I two-stepped to "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty, our parent dance. I twisted and shouted to the oldies, walked like an Egyptian to one of my favorite songs from my tweenhood, and while no dance-offs ensued when the DJ played "Billie Jean," Econo Boy was delighted to learn that his new wife could moonwalk.

Our guests danced up a storm -- I knew I could count on my college pals to get down on the dance floor, but I had no idea my uncle or my cousins could cut a rug that way! The dancing pictures are some of my favorites from the whole wedding -- everyone looks happy, silly, and like they're having a great time.

One of my favorite moments was when the DJ played a song I'd requested for the playlist, "Melt With You" by Modern English. This was the first dance song for two dear friends (I'd been a bridesmaid at their wedding) and I'd hoped they would be on the dance floor when it was played. Sure enough, I was standing right next to them when the first notes played, and they both jumped with delight, grabbed hands, and tangoed out onto the dance floor! It was adorable.

Vignette 2: In which BiE inadvertently makes life very difficult for her bridesmaids

The rehearsal, on Friday afternoon, was brutally hot. It was 90 degrees outside, and at 3pm, we were standing more or less in direct sun. But the bridal party pulled through like champions, and when it was all over, Econo Boy and I were looking forward to hanging out with our buds for a while before the rehearsal dinner.

Not to be. The groomsmen departed to fix a tux situation, and the bridesmaids departed for a vague "errand," leaving me and Econo Boy alone to watch an episode of "Bones" on his parents' TV. (Did I mention we were fried?)

In my zoned-out state, I did not realize that the "errand" had anything to do with us. Nor did I catch on the next day, when my "Supermaid" (really my "matron of honor," but "matron" sounds so wrong!) continually offered to take my luggage to the wedding night hotel for me. "Oh, no thanks!" I chirped as the nice makeup lady glued false eyelashes to my lids.* "I need some of the stuff in there at the wedding."

As you have probably figured out, the "errand" involved buying treats for our wedding night hotel suite, and poor Supermaid was trying to subtly sneak away to put the champagne and strawberries out for us. It was not to be. Instead, Econo Boy's sister snuck away while I was getting dressed. Thank goodness the hotel was only 4 blocks from the wedding site!

And since I'm an aspiring wine geek, I'll tell you that our wedding night champagne (which was, in fact, consumed 2 days later on our mini-moon to the mountains) was Veuve Clicquot, which we'd never tried before, but enjoyed tremendously.

Image from LeBonVin.co.uk

* I have skimpy lashes, and the little clusters of faux lashes the makeup artist used looked brilliant. I'm not about to use 'em myself in the mornings, but for this most photographed of days, I was a big fan.