My sister's wedding!

Well she did it! Kara is officially married.
The celebration started Thursday night with the rehearsal dinner which was wonderful.
I got to catch up with two of her high school friends who are married to two of her bridesmaids. All the bridesmaids except one,grew up in our house. They didn't actually live with us but they hung out at our house all the time. I loved them all like little sisters. Both of the husbands,were partying teenage boys the last time I saw them. I hadn't seen them in about 14 years because I really don't see the girls that much. It was so fascinating to catch up.

The meal was delicious . The tables were set up in a square so that everyone could be seen. We all got up, one at a time, and said a few words after dinner. There was a lot of laughter and love.

Friday,Lillianna and I met Mom and Kara at 11am for manicures. Then we went to the florist for a look at the flowers. They were gorgeous. After that,we headed over to Bugaboo Creek for a delicious lunch. By that time,we were all exhausted and ready to check into the hotel for a nap.

By 4:00pm,Kara and I were snuggled up in bed watching t.v. with Lillianna in the middle. We fell asleep for a couple of hours and then got ready for dinner. At 7:00pm,Kara's friend/bridesmaid, Jessica met us at the hotel and joined us for dinner. We had a great dinner at T.G.I.Friday's at 8:30pm,which is late for me but right on time for Kara. By the end of the meal,Lillianna was almost asleep.

The whole week before the wedding,the weather forecast predicted rain,no rain,rain,no rain.....it made us crazy. It was an outside wedding!
Taking the situation into my own hands,I prayed to Daddy,Nana and Papa. "Your baby is getting married. PLEASE do not let it rain." I prayed every day.
The weather was warm,sunny and absolutely lovely.

Kara looked gorgeous. She is always beautiful but yesterday.....wow....I can't even describe how she looked. As she walked down the aisle,Peter's eyes lit up and I think I saw him drooling. He almost ran down the aisle to get her to come to him even faster.

Even though I had seen her all morning long,I started to cry when she walked down the aisle. Our baby was getting married.
The day that Mom brought her home,she said to me,"This is your baby too. She's a share baby." I have always been part mom/part sister to Kara and the mom part really took over yesterday.

During the ceremony,T.C.(the best man) and I signed the marriage certificate,which is a Jewish tradition. I remembered when Kara signed mine 12 years ago as my maid of honor. Time sure does fly.

All things considered,I kept my crying to a minimum,although Peter laughed and said,"You did? Every time I looked at you,you were crying!" Mom backed me up on that. I really did hold it together quite well,thank you very much.

The wedding speech turned out great. I didn't write it until the night before the wedding. Peter and I have been going back and forth on how long it could be. He said 30 seconds or less. Ya,ok!! He knew that was never going to happen.

Whenever I did something that Peter liked during the past 10 months,he'd say,"Go ahead and add an extra minute on to your speech." When he irritated me,I'd say,"That'll cost ya. I'm adding another 3 minutes." I put this part in the speech and added,"So,technically speaking,I am entitled to talk for 6 hours. I should also be able to have a slide show presentation on how much I love my sister and a parade in her honor. Since we all want to dance,I'll try to cut it down." Everyone laughed. I got so many compliments on how I am a natural at public speaking:very funny and relaxed. Ahhhhh,if they only knew how uncomfortable I am when I do things like that. It's a good thing that I fooled them all. Even Peter said he loved my speech.
Of course Kara did too. She knows how much I love her and that everything I say is from my heart.

Before the dinner,Lillianna and I said the blessing over the challah in Hebrew. That was cool doing that with her. She looked so precious in her white flower girl dress with her spiral curls and rhinestones in her hair.

We danced until 10:30pm(the wedding started at 3:30pm)and then Kara and Peter headed off in a limo to a hotel in Boston,while me,Rich and Lillianna,Mom and John,went back to the hotel that just the 4 of us had stayed in the night before. We had a suite the first night when it was me,Lillianna,Mom and Kara. Last night,we had an adjoining room to Mom and John's suite. We stayed up talking til midnight with 3 of Mom and John's friends who got a room near ours. Then we went off to bed.

This morning Mom hosted a wedding breakfast for Kara and Peter. It was all Mom's friends and some family. It was beautiful and a nice ending to a spectacular 4 days!

Well,that's enough excitement for me. I have to take some more ibuprofen because my hips and calves are screaming in pain from a whole night of non stop dancing.

Congratulations to my dearest sister and my fabulous new brother in law!!