Ensign and Mrs.

Hello to all!

Yes, I know I've been a particularly bad Lizzie this time. I went off and got married and didn't post for two months. But I have a reason (yes, I know, I always do, but this time it's really legit!) See, Greg and I don't have internet access in our room, and I don't have a computer at work, so there you go.

Anyway, let's see what I can do about wedding stuff! I'm still waiting to get the files from the photographer, so I'm going to post a whole bunch of photos and just comment on them myself. (I hope you'll comment, too!) I know I should credit our friends the amatur photographers, but I don't think I can do that accurately, so please accept my thanks for letting me use pictures that people have posted on the internet.


Oh... by the way: these are in no particular order. :-)

In the Bride's Room at Larchmont Yacht Club after taking formal pictures with the bridal party. John, our fantastic banquet manager, had flowers and my favorite champagne waiting for us when we arrived. The room had just been redone and was finished only a day or two before I was the first bride to occupy it in its new configuration.

The Arch of Swords. Greg's Academy buddies formed the traditional bridal path. Roommates-turned-groomsmen Andrew (front left) and Andy (front right) lowered their swords as we came through, saying "According to Navy tradition, the price of passage is a kiss." We did, as you can see, then the swords were raised again. As we cleared the Arch, Andrew whapped me on the backside with the flat side of his sword, declaring "Welcome to the Navy, Ma'am!" I love traditions!

The test of a true friend! Before leaving my house for the church, bridesmaid Courtney helped me take a sissor to the petticoat of my dress, which was hanging too low.

Our first dance, to "I Have Dreamed" from Rogers and Hammerstein's "The King And I." We took two half-hour lessons the week before the wedding, despite some protests from the Groom. Our dance instructor was a particularly, well, affemminate gentleman with a name I couldn't understand but sounded like Citrus. Greg gets some serious points for going back for a second lesson, but the training paid off!

Throwing the bouquet is a little difficult when the ceiling that the girls are standing under is lower than the bride. It took two shots, but Greg's high school friend Marissa claimed the prize... much to my sister's dismay!

Greg and Paul at the alter. I'll try to post more ceremony pics at some point. The ceremony was beautiful, if a little long on music. Noteworthy occurance, also known as "things that didn't/won't happen at your wedding": the alter boy, having stood through one song too many, had a diabetic seizure on the alter toward the end of the ceremony. He was okay after a few minutes, but the priest went ballistic! Have you ever heard a priest threaten to beat up an alter boy? On the alter? Well, ours did... after commenting on the length of the bridesmaids' dresses... and the quality of their legs! :-D

The bridal party. From the left: Juliette, Courtney, J.J., Kate, Allie, Lizzie, Greg, Paul, Andy, Andrew, Eric, Bill and Steve. My advice to single women out there: get married, if for no other reason than to have an excuse to dress your friends alike! (Courtney and Juliette were almost too cute in their curly-haired, blue-dressed antics!)

The Navy boys: John, Colin, Greg, Andy, Greg, Andrew and Juan. I love these guys!

Had to include this one. Those are the bridesmaids' bouquets around the cake: white with chocolate mousse and lemon curd. The cake topper was made for us by a delightful woman named Helyn, who made it to resemble Greg and me... right down to the sash on my dress and the insignia on Greg's uniform!

The requisite "dress shot." Mom and I helped in the design of this dress, which a woman named Kathryn made for me. (She did the bridesmaids' dresses, too.) The dress is vanilla bridal satin with a composite lace sash. The train was spectacular, and the veil was almost too much fun. (See pictures below.)

This shot is one of my favorites. It shows off the scenery, the dress, and the veil, and is just all-around sweet.

Hee hee... this was fun! You can't really see it in this picture, but the veil is trimmed in a skinny pale blue satin ribbon. And for those that are counting, the pearl necklace (see previous post for more on that) was my "something old," the dress was "something new," the lace handkercheif that I'm holding with the flowers was my "something borrowed," (I borrowed it from my Mom, who borrowed it from her very close friend Jo Clark when she got married. Jo died a few weeks later, and her husband Griff framed it for my Mom), and the blue detail on my sash was my "something blue."

While we are on sentimental topics, I was lucky enough to have my Mom's parents, who I call Mimi and Fa, at the wedding, but Grandma and Grandpa Padin both passed away several years ago. In their memory, I wore Grandma's pinky ring on my left hand (I always do), and clipped one of Grandpa's clothes pins (he loved the things and used them for everything... they've become the family's symbol for him) to my petticoat. Greg and I also baked five batches of Grandma's chocolate chip oatmeal cookies as favors for our guests. It took us SEVERAL hours to bake them- I think in the end we wound up with about 45o cookies!

With our parents :-) (You guys are the best!)

The Hamilton crowd. This picture was quickly followed by a rousing rendition of "Carissima," HamTech's alma mater. Yes, we sang all three verses, and yes, we did it in four part harmony. Would you expect anything less from my choir nerd friends? (This isn't the best shot... I'll replace it at some point.)

Walking down the aisle with a misty-eyed Dad. Courtney arranged the processional for us (I helped a little, too). Dad and I walked down the aisle to "He'll Make Me Happy" from "Muppets Take Manhattan." MTM was my favorite movie for a REALLY long time, and songs from it have been involved in lots of important moments in my life. As this was one of the MOST important moments, I chose a song that my Dad and I could share a happy memory with... and one that would keep either one of us from breaking down! After all, Miss Piggy did process to the same song, though we included the lyrics in the program only.

Okay, that should be enough to tide people over for a while. I will post more when I have internet access again. I've been sitting in a hotel lobby for over two hours to get this done. My posting will be infrequent until mid-July, but I hope to resume regular correspondance then. Until that point, please do post comments, especially wedding memories and stories if you have them. I'll put more up when I have a few hours again.

Love and hugs to all!