I’m pretty sure the Soechting/Stover Wedding has been the most requested post in Rampy Chronicle history. Unfortunately I started a new job this week and have not had time to do anything on the computer. Trust me, I wish I could blog for a living.
So without further ado, may I introduce you to the new Mr. and Mrs. Stover?
But let’s start at the very beginning…
I arrived in Houston early to help Robin and Carol (her mama) with a few pre-wedding details. Wednesday morning we all got our nails done (for the wedding) and then went to see Twilight (not for the wedding). Then we put together these cutey patooty little wedding favors while watching Father of the Bride (a must see before all weddings).
In college we had a rat terrier named Kanton who not only kept the rats out of our also but also kept us highly entertained. He was our "man of the house". He has since ran away but the Soechtings decided to get another rat terrier named Austin and he and I bonded quickly. I let him play with the tulle spool (no rhyme intended) and he destroyed it...
On Thursday we loaded up and headed to Conroe. On our way we had to stop to get sparklers for the send off. We stopped at a fireworks store and waited for the store to open. When the owner finally did arrive (half an hour after the store was actually supposed to open) he said we’d have to wait for his son Blaze to arrive in order to purchase wedding sparklers. The kid’s (real) name is Blaze and he works at a fireworks store. I think it’s spelled Blaise but still…come on.
We then headed to the LaQuinta in Magnolia to set up shop and start on the flowers. May I just say how wonderful and accommodating the hotel staff was the entire weekend? They let us use their conference room as our flower prep room and baked us fresh cookies every afternoon! Granted, apparently all LaQuinta’s are supposed to do this but our hotel’s front desk worker made an effort to ask each of us which kind of cookie we wanted and made sure we knew when the batch was ready for us to devour. I might have had four the first day. Four.
We pretty much worked on flowers non-stop all day Thursday and most of the day Friday. On Friday night we went to the Mexican restaurant right next to the hotel and were lucky to end up there on Karaoke night. Unlucky for us the DJ really liked to hear himself sing every two songs. And it’s not like there was a lull in available American Idol wannabes…he had a pretty thick stack of requests. We (the bridesmaids) did a rendition of “Dancing Queen” and then the moms showed us up with “Goin’ to the Chapel”. I forgot my camera but someone got pictures.
Saturday was the bridal luncheon at the Whistle Stop Tea Room in Tomball, Texas. The food was awesome but the dessert…good grief it was so good. As the waitress started bringing everyone’s orders out it was like some sort of fashion show. We were ooing and ahhing and tasting everyone else’s desserts. Katy ordered the best dessert. I don’t remember what it was called but it was my favorite by far. I thought I had pictures of me “tasting” her dessert (I ate half of it) but I think they're on Katy's camera. As soon as we sat down the torrential downpours began. We were supposed to go shopping afterward and we made an attempt but for some reason I made a habit of forgetting my umbrella only when it rained so I didn’t get very far.
T
he wholesale flower company from which we ordered sent us creme/yellow roses instead of white roses. We had them replaced but Katy ended up making arrangements for the bridal luncheon with the roses we weren't going to use for the wedding. The necklace and jewelry on the vases was Robin's grandmother's who passed away a few years ago. Carol (Robin's mom) held the luncheon in honor of her mom so it was really special.The moms: my mom, Carol (Robin's mom), Diane (Annie's mom) and Kim (Katy's mom)
The daughters: Katy, Annie, Robin and me!
Our table: Abby, Annie, Robin and me!
My awesome food. To die for quiche, bread, chicken salad and I don't even like pasta salad but I sure did love this one!
The torrential downpour
Saturday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It rained slightly during the rehearsal and since the ceremony was meant to be outside we practiced outside anyway. The pavilion where the bride and groom stand had steps where I was strategically placing the bridesmaids and groomsmen. When I told the Best Man to stand on one of the steps the owner of the venue made one of those “I don’t think you should do that” sounds and told me she didn’t want a lawsuit if someone locked their knees and fell off a step. It’s a STEP lady, not the edge of the Empire State Building. So I moved Best Man over 2 inches, she obliged and then I moved him back. We then went and ate at Eden’s Café for the rehearsal. Cue more pictures:
B'maids: Wendy, Sandy, Christie, Sarah, Robin, me, Annie and Abby
Troublemakers: Robin's bro Chad (or Chaddy Waddy as I know him), me and my brother Cameron (aka Cammy Paul)
Me, Aubrey, Kendra and that ugly chain I can't get rid of without Photoshop.
Hot stuff hubbie and me
Typical...
Maids of honor with the bride!
And NOW the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the wedding DAY!
On the morning of the wedding we headed to the venue pretty early to set up the flowers. Mom led the pack and the place looked like gold by noon. No joke. The day ended up being bright, sunny and especially warm but it beats the rain! I was more nervous about Robin’s wedding than I was for my own. I was seriously shaking right before we went down the aisle. I thought perhaps I had pre-wedding jitters due to the fact that I was coordinating and participating in the wedding as well as the impending doom of a potentially mortifying maid of honor speech but I later realized that what I must have known deep down inside was that something was about to go comically wrong. I’ve always known I was psychic...
I walked up the aisle last. Everything was beautiful and perfect until Robin started walking down the aisle. At that moment, the most massive, furry bumblebee I have ever seen decided to perch right on top of my bouquet. Here’s the deal. I can handle a stupid bee on my flowers. I can not handle a stupid bee touching my arm…or making a nest in my hair and since that is what Monster Bee decided to do next I was forced to take desperate measures. Annie was standing next to me and she is severely afraid of bees or anything that flies and has a stinger. When we were taking pictures before the ceremony she saw a wasp 10 feet away and was on the other side of the room in .5 seconds. I give her credit for her behavior during the ceremony though. She didn’t move, even when Monster Bee decided to detour to her flowers for a second. And so I made a split second decision to ditch the flowers. On the ground they flew. Annie’s followed immediately after. And so here we were, maid and matron of honor, with no bouquets in hand. This seemed to work until Carol turned around, noticed our flowers on the ground and with an extremely confused look on her face, tried to hand us back our bouquets. As we were refusing them (Monster Bee was still on my bouquet) Robin made it to the pavilion and Monster Bee decided to inhabit her bouquet (because hers was twice the size of mine). Luckily Robin was completely unaware of the situation but by this time the audience sure was getting a laugh out of the whole ordeal. The original plan was for me to take Robin’s bouquet and hand it off to Annie. I knew I couldn’t do that because then Robin’s bouquet would also end up on the ground so I ended up setting it on a small table located right behind me hoping at least Monster Bee would stay preoccupied in her flowers during the remainder of the ceremony. But alas I underestimated the intent of Monster Bee and again he tried to make a nest in my hair as I straightened out Robin’s train. And so I reassumed my position and attempted to think happy thoughts while Monster Bee swarmed around my hair. At some point Monster Bee lost interest and Annie and I were able to pick up our bouquets. After that incident the ceremony went off with only one hitch: that of the bride and groom.
Here comes the bride!
Monster Bee is swarming around my head in this picture. You can't see him because he's made a home in my hair.
Notice no bouquets in mine or Annie's arms. They are on the ground.
You may kiss the bride! (Bouquets back in arms)
Robin's gorgeous bouquet...you can see now why Monster Bee was so attracted to it.
At the reception the Best Man gave a heartfelt speech that nearly brought me to tears and then Annie and I followed with our own rendition of “All the Single Ladies” by Beyonce. We had choreography and our own lyrics. Unfortunately during practice I was having a difficult time remembering the words so we had to recruit a couple back-up singers (our moms) to help us out. On Friday we practiced the routine for a few hours and on Saturday I woke up with some serious neck pain. I kept complaining about it and thought I must have slept wrong when Annie finally said, “You know what it’s from don’t you?” I had whiplash from our routine. Ridiculous. I wish I had video. Preston videoed on Carol’s camera but I doubt we’ll ever see it. I do, however, have pictures…and lyrics (though you'll notice a few "something somethings" in the lyrics because to this day I still can't remember the words even though I had that darn song stuck in my head for 3 days after the wedding):
To the tune of "Single Ladies" by Beyonce
All the newlyweds, all the newlyweds
All the newlyweds, all the newlyweds
All the newlyweds, newlyweds
All the newlyweds
Now put your hands up
Out in the sun, your vows are done
You're doing your own little thing
You decided to wed now you get to go to bed
So God and the world can see
You love him, he loves you
Now everybody pay attention!
Let's all say cheers, to 50 good years
Cuz you can't beat a guy like Casey!
Cause he you liked you so much he put a ring on it
Yeah he you liked you so much he put a ring on it
Something something something spend your life together.
Yeah he you liked you so much he put a ring on it
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, OH!
Cause he you liked you so much he put a ring on it
Yeah he you liked you so much he put a ring on it
Something something something spend your life together.
Yeah he you liked you so much he put a ring on it
Oh, oh, OH!
Let's all say cheers...
Oh, oh, oh...
Father/Daughter dance
Me and Robs
My camera was dying a slow death the whole day and my memory card was pretty full too so I actually don't have a whole lot of pictures from the reception. My sister, Katy and Aubrey took about a million so I'll try to post links as they get their pictures up. Here is a slideshow of the entire album of my pictures from the wedding:
Congratulations Casey and Robin!
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