Here comes the bride

Part 2: The wedding!
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Here's the list again, for those of you keeping track at home:

BRIDAL PARTY
Jessica – the bride, whom I’ve known since 6th grade
Stephi – friend of the bride, my best friend
Annie – friend of the bride
Thuy – friend of the bride
Marianna – bridesmaid
Me (Hanna) – friend of the bride

The above girls and I have all known each other for at least 8 years; some of us have known each other for over 13.

Caroline – bridesmaid
Marisa – maid of honor; bride’s younger sister
Alexia – friend of the maid of honor
Erica – friend of the bride
Amy – friend of the bride

GROOM’S PARTY
Chris – the groom
Levi (aka D-Bag) – best man
Chase (aka Keebler) – groomsman
Greg (aka Gregasaurus) – friend of the groom
Creepy Nick – friend of the groom

The above guys are all frat brothers. That is a key fact – these guys are all frat boys.
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The ceremony took place at a small church in Palos Verdes, so Steph and I made plans to leave at about 8:45am from Downey, just to make sure we got there in time (it began at 10am). I woke up at 7:30am, and got ready much too fast as usual, so I set out from my house at about 8:20am. I called Steph - no answer. I called her home phone number, and her dad picked up the phone. I asked to speak to Steph - and he said she was still in bed.

Of course, I asked him to wake her up. Steph got on the phone and I assured her that she would still have some time to get ready, since I planned on swinging through Starbucks. I did ask her if we had room to take Annie, since the three of us plus Marianna had rented a room at the Doubletree so we could stay the night (Annie later ended up saying she couldn't stay the night, however, so she drove herself to the wedding). After I'd bought my coffee and croissant, I drove to Steph's place, where she was running around spastically dressing herself, packing for the night, and signing Jessica and Chris' card. I mostly tried to stay out of her way.

Steph got ready in record-time, and we piled everything into my car. After dropping off some equipment at my house, we got on the freeway at about 9:20am, with a projected arrival time of 9:55am. It was cutting a bit close for my comfort, but it couldn't be helped.

With the help of Steph's GPS and my old-school written directions, we found the church with very little problems, arriving just in time. After being walked to our seats by the ushers/groomsmen, Steph and I settled ourselves next to Annie and Alexia, and behind Amy and Erica. Thuy still hadn't arrived - no surprise there, since she's chronically late (she actually ended up arriving after Jessica had already walked down the aisle!). Steph and I were actually a bit early, so we had a chance to sit and check out the crowd. The wedding party was relatively small, with mostly family and old family friends of the bride and groom present.

The ceremony began with the lighting of the candles by the siblings of the bride and groom, and seating of the grandparents and the parents. Chris walked his mother to her seat and I was so taken aback by how much he'd changed in appearance since I'd last seen him that I actually didn't realize it was him until he and his groomsmen trooped to the front of the church. Marianna, Caroline, and Marisa walked in, followed by an adorable flower girl. Then we were all asked to rise in expectation of the bride.

Jessica was absolutely stunning. Her dress was a confectionery of lace and tulle, with intricate embroidery and crowned by a veil. I could tell that Jessica had been crying earlier, but she looked purely happy as she came down the aisle. I had to look back at Chris every now and then, and he looked like he was going to burst, he was so thrilled.

The ceremony went off with no major glitches; Chris flubbed one of his lines because he was so eager to say it, which was simply adorable. The minister instructed Chris a few times that he was to protect Jessica, since she was his most precious gift, and that made me nearly burst out laughing because I had this image in my head of Chris waving a monopod in his hand to fend off attackers (apparently that and a towel rack are his preferred weapons; he used the first when a suspicious man knocked on the door and the second when several coyotes intercepted Jessica on her way home). The minister was great, cracking a coupe of jokes here and there; when the ceremony (which was relatively short) came to a close, he said, "And now, for the best part" as an intro to the husband and wife kiss.

After the Mr. and Mrs. walked down the aisle together, the party congregated outside the church on a patio overlooking the Pacific Ocean - and what a spectacular view! The photographers took lots of photos of the entire group, of the families, and so forth; my friends and I all snapped some photos, and then we made our way to the reception and the Chart House in Torrance. Again - the view was amazing. We were literally hanging over the sand, looking out onto the coast, which was absolutely perfect that day - small waves and clear skies.

The reception was very sweet; speeches were made (I think Marisa's was best), drinks were drunk (and some people got very, very drunk), dances were danced. The young people were all grouped at one table, far away from the wedding party's table; the Kansans sat at one end, the Downey-ites (Downeians? Downey-ers?) sat at the other, and Erica and Amy were stuck in-between. We mostly chatted to the people we knew, and danced with the people we knew. We all ended up chatting a bit after the reception, though, mostly because the guys needed a ride back to the hotel and the girls had multiple cars. Annie, Alexia, Steph, and I loitered for a while on the sand, watching the wedding party take photos, so we could schlepp the guys back with us, but as it turns out, only two ended up needing rides. Levi and Chase wanted to swim a little while, so I agreed to pick them up later, and the rest of us returned to the hotel. After checking in to the hotel, the four of us went to the mall right across the street so Steph could buy a shirt (we had planned on going clubbing). While at the mall, I got a call from Levi, and headed back to the beach to pick them up.

The car ride back to the hotel was amusing; we were using Steph's GPS, but Levi failed at navigating. I ended up making several left and right turns before I got back onto the PCH, at which point I could navigate for myself. The guys were highly entertaining, though, which was great - I hadn't really talked to any of them during the reception, so I didn't know what to expect. We all ended up talking easily, with lots of joking, so I expected great things for that night - more on that to come!