the BIG day

Sunday, August 6th

• didn't sleep at all (busy working on the photo slideshow)
• ran over to Betty's early in the morning for hair/makeup
• biggest accomplishment is having to parallel park the Durango (they rented 2 Durangos for the wedding) infront of her place in one try...YAH!! I'm ready for my own big-ass-SUV now!
• went back to Betty's townhouse for the tea ceremony
• played some games when Hanif and the boys came over to get Betty (nothing too big as we were rushed for time - as people were late showing up for the ceremony)
• "lateness" became a theme for the whole day...everything and everyone came late
• Betty made 4 outfit changes throughout the day
• Betty's most horrifying moment was at Queen E. - her white wedding dress busted. We had to do a quick pinning job in the middle of the park. Mental note to self....buy a wedding dress with a corset (string) back and not zipper...
• The wedding ceremony itself was 10 mins long - so strange. Reminded me of signing papers at a judges office.
• Bello Wedding World provided the hair/makeup/photography and videography for the whole day. 2 photographers was nice. Video guy was taking all kinds of shots.
• it was SUPER hot that day - we were melting in the garden of the temple (where the wedding ceremony was held)
• near-death-experiences along Kingsway as the Durangos raced each other (with wedding party members hanging out of windows/sunroofs)...take a look at the pictures...
  
• chaos at the reception - no seating plan...Betty's mom "winged" it and walked people into the room and put them where she thought they would like to sit
• no projector at the reception...so my 4 days work on that slideshow went to complete waste (I'm going to revise it and give it to her as a gift)
• the reception was held at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond - the facility is brand new so the ballroom was really beautiful
• wedding reception went pretty smooth considering all the things that were not taken care of or missing
• Betty had belly dancers entertain the guests at one point in dinner - very cool and sexy to watch
  
• Noella (Betty's friend) coordinated most of the wedding (Betty forgot to thank her in Hanif's speech - OUCH!)
• Hanif's side of the family sure are partiers! They danced the night away to indian music. The DJ was this lady - good spinner.
• hour 36 without sleep and I was still going strong (thank good for Red Bull and all the caffeine I had ingested)...come hour 40 I began to yawn and wanted to sit more often :-)