Dustin and Belle's Weddng: Part I

[I tried, but I just can't get this all into one post, or with pictures, not that I have too many.  Uploading is fussy right now.  Chris is out of town this week for work and I can only do so many things in the day!  At this rate, you can expect part 2 in a couple of weeks! ;)  ]

It's been exactly one month today that Dustin and Belle were married - Congratulations!  And, since Chris is out of town this week, I have a bit of extra time on my hands once Jonas has gone to bed so I thought I'd finally get around to posting about the wedding.

We drove down on the Thursday night, Chris and I both having booked off Friday and Monday from work so we would be able to enjoy all the festivities.  Friday saw Chris, as brother of the groom and a groomsman, gone for much of the day at Dustin's stag - rock climbing, ultimate, dinner and a visit to the pub.  Friday saw me taking some walks through Tsawwassen looking for black pants for Jonas.   I knew that a barong (a Filipino dress shirt) was being made for Jonas and it didn't even occur to me until days before the wedding that he'd need appropriate pants befitting a cute little Ring Bearer.  So we hit some used stores and ended up with a toddler-sized tuxedo!  It still had the tags on it and all Jonas needed was the pants and he looked quite spiffy.  We had to do trial runs with the barong though.  Jonas is quite picky about his clothes and it is routine for Chris and I to have to force a new shirt or pair of pants, or even socks, onto him first, before he'll accept it.  So, we made a point of trying the barong one more than once so that he was prepared to wear his 'special shirt' on Sunday.  Good thing, too - he really wasn't happy with the large shirt at first!

Saturday saw us have a low-key morning before we headed off to the rehearsal at the church around 2pm.  The bride, Belle, is from the Philippines and so the wedding had more people and ceremony than those already in a standard Western wedding.  For the rehearsal, it meant several more people to organize.  We ran through the ceremony twice.  Both times Jonas refused to walk down the aisle and at first would have nothing to do with the beautiful pillow that would hold the rings the next day.  However, on the second run we did manage to get him to take the pillow from our seats in the pew (we wouldn't expect Jonas to stand quietly up front for the 20 minutes that would precede his ring bearing duties!) with a "take the pillow to daddy."  It was very helpful that Chris was up front with the rest of the groomsmen!  A dinner followed the rehearsal, comprised mostly of salads (Dawn had had a chopping/salad making party the day before) and lechon - a whole roasted pig.

The wedding day itself was, of course, full, but didn't feel particularly rushed.  We got to the church with plenty of time to spare and I spent my time making sure Jonas was happy and occupied.  When it came time to actually be a part of the ceremony, Jonas actually did walk down the aisle on his own, though he refused to give up his blanket or hold the pillow, so I followed behind him, as planned.  (It was odd for me - to not actually be in the wedding, and yet very present anyway!  After all, I did have a responsibility, though really, everyone would be thrilled if Jonas simply managed to do anything and did it without throwing a crying fit!)  In the pews he did well until he started to take his shoes and socks off.  Though I tried to convince him, he didn't want them on anymore, so when it was his time to 'take the pillow to daddy' he ended up going up barefoot!  Not that anyone noticed.  Instead, he became the ring bearer who walked as far as the steps and then just tossed the pillow the rest of the distance to where Chris had come to meet him!  In all fairness to Jonas, though, when he realized it didn't make dad's hands, he did turn around to get it, but by then Chris had already picked it up.  I was then able to relax and try and enjoy the rest of the ceremony and let Jonas play with his cars. 

And now I must head to bed:  after a couple loads of laundry, dishes, watering plants, feeding, entertaining and putting to bed my son, and general tidying, I just don't have time!  I didn't even open up my backpack to see what marking needs to be done.  More to come.