Bigger Than We Expected

We were honored to attend Brian Witt and Kristin Golwitzer's wedding this weekend in Gurnee, IL.  Liliana had been recruited as the flower girl (thanks Mr. and Mrs. Witt!), so we were all anxious to arrive on time for the rehearsal on Friday night.

The church where they were married is beautiful!  The chapel has been there a while, and has beautiful stained-glass windows and apparently lots of bats in its belfry.  It also has really really high ceilings, and the HVAC system was hard-pressed to keep the temperature down as we rehearsed.  Friday night went well; Liliana and her cousin Brayden (the ringbearer) did a fine job practicing their walk down the aisle.

We attended the rehearsal dinner afterwards, and Katie was recruited as a bridesmaid when it turned out that one of them would be unable to attend.  Kudos to the bride: Kristin didn't let the changing plans ruffle her one bit.  Fortunately, Katie was the same size as the original bridesmaid.  The dresses were an amazing shade of blue that suited Katie so very well - she looked amazing!  Friday night is also when the general yuckiness I'd been feeling since Wednesday turned into a raging head cold...  Ew.

The wedding was as beautiful as the chapel.  Liliana initially resisted (that means she threw a huge fit) when we tried to put on her dress, but we squeezed her into it and then distracted her.  Brayden very nearly opted out of his role as ringbearer, but when his mom produced a Lightning McQueen PEZ dispenser, he was eager to get going. 

I saw them start down the aisle as the guests rose to their feet, and I waited for them to appear at the altar.  There was a loooong pause, and then some laughter from the guests... and then there were still no kids.  The organist ran out of song, and began to crank into the wedding march.  Still no kids.  I had to figure out what was going on!  I ran to the end of the front pew and looked past the photographer who was furiously snapping pictures while everyone laughed.

Lilie had stopped about halfway down the aisle.  She was crouching next to her basket, holding it with one hand while she used the other to scoop out handfuls of flowers onto the floor.  Poor Brayden stood patiently next to her, clearly a bit confused and worried.  Lilie was in her 'flower girl zone', however, and it took a bit of time for me to get their attention.  They eventually abandoned the flowers and headed down the aisle.  The rest of the ceremony went as smooth as silk!

We attended the reception at a dance hall in Viking Park.  The park is really cool - awesome trees and great play equipment.  The hall was neat, too.  We had a wonderful time, although Lilie's fatigue began to show shortly before she crashed at around 11.  I wasn't feeling well, so I thought I'd take her and the diaper bag and crash in the car with her until the party was over.  I got to the car, but couldn't find the keys in the diaper bag.  I went back inside, but couldn't find the keys on the table.  Then I couldn't find the keys in Katie's purse, and couldn't find the keys under our table.  I still didn't find the keys in those places after checking each a second time.

We called the Gurnee police department.  The kind officer couldn't reach the locking mechanism with his slim-jim, so we ended up calling Kia roadside assistance.  They arrived after the hall had closed - and after the bride and groom had forfeited their car to us so we could all get home in case the keys didn't turn up (did I tell you how awesome this couple is?).  The locksmith opened the van, in which there were no keys.

We ended up rolling into bed at around 1:30AM...  We attended a breakfast with the newlyweds, then bought some gloves and trash bags and headed back to the park.  OH YEAH we went dumpster diving!  I was prepared for the stink, and even for *some* of the stuff we saw, but I didn't anticipate the bees (yellow jackets maybe?).  There were lots of them, and they really didn't like us being there. 

Katie and Brian G. and I were about 12-15 bags into it when Katie shouted and did a happy dance while shaking out a tablecloth!  Not only did we find them, but it wasn't my fault they were lost!  Turns out that someone had been in a rush to clear the tables, and in their haste took our keys too.

What a wild weekend.  Here are the pics: