Part 3...The celebration

This will be the wrap up of the whirlwind of events that surrounded Marisa and Jon's wedding! You can read about the rehearsal dinner and wedding here if you missed it. :)

After the wedding, we headed on the trolley to take pictures. There were lots(!), but here are a few....

I love that Jon's holding the bouquet lol

Kate made a very pretty flower girl:)

Marisa was a beautiful bride:)

Jon is ALWAYS teasing Marisa's sister Bridget! Turnaround if fair play...and made for a fun pic!

After pictures, it was time to celebrate. I owe an incredible about of thanks and appreciation to my friends, Carol and Mary, who helped me to design, decorate and pull off an amazing party! I wanted to create something really special to help make up for the disappointment of not being able to have a "real reception" with dancing and everyone we had hoped to celebrate with. Carol and Mary far exceeded anything I could have come up with on my own! 

A little side story before I get to the pics.....

During the pictures after the wedding, the skies looked pretty dark and ominous. I was nervous....we had done so much to create a beautiful backyard and our house couldn't really hold all the people waiting to celebrate. While Marisa's dad gave a toast before dinner, I heard a distant clap of thunder. Yet, the weather stayed clear despite the dark clouds. Later, we saw on the weather channel that all around us were bands of thunderstorms all evening, yet the clouds seem to part right over our town until they continued to the east of us.

There were so many struggles with planning a wedding during a pandemic. The several months leading up to the wedding were filled with discouragement, unwanted changes and tears. After lots of rescheduling and replanning, I gave everything over to Mary. I spent several weeks praying to Mary and thinking about the wedding feast at Cana. Mary interceded when there was a need, and her Son provided something better than the couple could have ever planned!

I didn't realize it, but Jon and Marisa had chosen the Wedding Feast at Cana as their Gospel reading for the wedding. When it was being read, I got a little teary eyed and felt very grateful for all the ways Mary helped us to pull everything together despite all the obstacles we had to face. She even provided for us to the very end of the celebration by giving us a summer night we could all enjoy!

And now onto the pictures.....:)

Here's what our guests experienced as they arrived at our home....

Even the septic cover got a pretty makeover!

The hearts were from the bridal shower and had advice from the guests for a happy marriage:)

After one of the tents was destroyed in the rain storm after the rehearsal dinner, I sent out an SOS text
to the company we rented our chairs and tables from. Thankfully they had a tent available last minute
and were willing to come by early Sunday morning to set it up! 

Our cool "lounge area" by the bar:)

The triumphant entrance!!!

I didn't get pictures of the food, but we had the event catered by On the Go. We enjoyed the food very much! Jon does not love cake, so we settled on ice cream sandwiches....bc Jon is an ice cream fanatic! Jon's close friend Amber, who he has known since tball when they were four!, recently purchased a local ice cream shop named Captain Bonney's. She gave us a very generous discount and we ordered three different ice cream sandwiches: vanilla, coffee oreo(Jon and Marisa's favorite), and cookie dough. They were enthusiastically enjoyed by everyone! Check out the cute labels Amber made!

Yum!

We strung lots of lights...which looked amazing after dark! The pictures don't really do it justice.

I should have shut off the spotlight before I took the picture...but it was the end of the night and I was tired! lol

Even the tomato stakes got lights:)

Since we couldn't have dancing, Andrew ran a marriage themed trivia game after dinner that was so much fun! Everyone got really into it and the friendly bantering between teams made the night extra special!

Jon and Marisa were supposed to go to Hawaii for their honeymoon, but, again, plans had to be changed. They ended up in California for 10 days, starting in San Diego and driving up some of the coast to visit many of the mission towns as far as San Jose. After everything they went through with the wedding, one more change didn't phase them. I sense a theme for their married life.....but God's plans tend to work out better than our's anyway.

Just ask the married couple from Cana;)

 

Part 2...The Rehearsal Dinner and the Wedding

This post is long overdue but continues Jon and Marisa's journey to their wedding!

Thankfully we had always planned to have the rehearsal dinner catered in our backyard since a restaurant would not have been possible because of Covid!

I had my design team dream team of my friends, Mary and Carol, helping me with design and decorations. The rehearsal dinner was actually a rehearsal luncheon. We planned it that way so that Jon and Marisa would have some time to relax and socialize in the later afternoon with their out of town friends. (And I'm SO glad we planned it that way because the weather in the late afternoon was horrible! More on that later!)

The rehearsal at the church went great and then we headed back to our house to celebrate. The rehearsal luncheon was laid back and fun. We enjoyed good food and each other's company. Jon's friends from New Hampshire played bartenders and helped to make some fun specialty drinks and made sure we had ice and drinks all set up for the party. (Which was super helpful and I appreciated so much!) Jay made a custom bar for the party that will double in the future as a generator cover. Jay had also made a special corn hole game and Marisa's parents bought a big Jenga game which was a lot of fun. The plan was for Jon, Marisa and the bridal party and NH friends to hang out for the afternoon; swim in the pool, enjoy the yard, and have smores later in the day. Unfortunately, by mid afternoon it started to rain a little so they decided to hang out at the apartment that Jon and Marisa would live in once they were married.

I got the special sticker off of Etsy and the beanbags from Amazon:)

The custom bar..Sarah painted the "H" for us.

That light rain turned into torrential downpours for hours and ended up collapsing and breaking one of the tents we had borrowed! I consulted my design crew and we came up with a couple of back up plans! Ironically, we had been in a drought and hadn't had rain in weeks!

WEDDING DAY!

Thankfully, the wedding day was filled with sunshine! The time passed quickly with the usual busyness of makeup, hair styling, and food to keep everyone going. Having the "after wedding party" at our house meant that there was lots(!) to do in the backyard. Because of Covid restrictions, Jon and Marisa moved the real reception to next year, and we hosted a legal outdoor gathering of less than 100 people.

Thankfully, my design team was in full swing with the help of Jon's NH friends and Jon's groomsmen. The to do list was long, but it all got done!(stay tuned for pictures in Part 3!)

the bridal party enjoying breakfast

Marisa and her sister, Bridget, facetiming their sister Ali and adorable niece, Zoe, 
who were unable to travel bc her husband is serving in the Air Force in Italy. :(

Kate being silly 

Sarah and my dil, Liz, sporting similar hairstyles:)

The bride revealing her dress for the first time!

The Bride's bouquet

The bridesmaid's bouquet

Marisa's parents rented a trolley to drive everyone to the church and then pictures afterwards. It was a lot of fun!

And then it was "go" time! Since I'm the mother of the groom, I snapped some pics of Jon watching Marisa come up the aisle.

Jon started smiling because Marisa started crying:)

The ceremony was beautiful. There was lots of emotion for a moment that had been in the planning stage for over two years and postponed briefly because of Coronavirus. The day might not have happened on the date they originally planned or in the way it originally planned, but it happened! And that was the most important thing. 

The newest Mr. and Mrs. Hamel

The Countdown to a Wedding...Finally!

There is a new Mr. and Mrs. in our family! The long awaited for, rescheduled, and worried over event finally arrived..and it was a beautiful day. The last week and a half has been a whirlwind with a to do list that seemed to stretch on forever. I had an entire notebook chock full of notes, reminders to myself, and covered in sticky notes for those last minute things I remembered but was afraid would get lost on a page that was already too filled up with words and directions. With lots of help from some amazing friends,(huge shout out to Carol and Mary!), our family, and lots of prayers, everything came together and made for some wonderful memories.

I'm going to break this post up into a mini series since there's just way too much to share at one time. There are way too many pictures, too!

First up is Marisa's shower....which was actually two showers. Marisa's shower was rescheduled twice from its original April date and landed on June 20th, which was only 8 days before the wedding. Two weeks before the shower, we still didn't have a whole lot of guidance about crowd sizes or restaurant reopening. Marisa's mom, Cathy, and I decided to split the shower list into her side/his side to keep the numbers down. Since it wasn't going to be able to be held at the hall like she originally planned, I decided to host our side at our house. A couple of Marisa's aunts offered to host the shower for her side of the family, and it ended up being at her Aunt Patti's house since she has a beautiful back yard. Keeping it outside would keep everyone safer in a crowd.

(Some of Marisa's bridesmaids, including her maid of honor and sister, Bridget(in blue).

I did not do a good job with photography and failed to get a group

shot with the whole crew which also included Sarah, Ellen, Liz, and Kate as the flower girl.

 Marisa's sister, Ali, is also a bridesmaid but was stuck in Italy where her husband is stationed.)

(Their wedding # was "Holding out for a Hamel"...

after all the delays we joked that they should change it to

#stillholdingoutforahamel!)

I was blessed to be able to borrow a tent from some parish friends. (They also let us borrow some cloth table cloths and champagne glasses for the reception which we appreciated so much!) I came up with a menu with covid in mind: I served individualized portions of potato salad(thanks mom), vegetables with dip, and taco salad in disposable cups, individual skewers with watermelon, more skewers with caprese chicken, and individual wrap sandwiches.(The sandwiches were from a local restaurant, On The Go, that make the best wraps!) There were also lots of yummy desserts! Jay's mom made her famous cupcakes as well as some delicious scones and some squares. Sarah made her amazing macaroons in chocolate and raspberry. I made chocolate chip cookie dough brownies and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. My dil, Liz, made these super cute peanut butter smores blossoms and one of the bridesmaid's moms made miniature cheesecakes. (There was more than enough dessert:)

We didn't tell Marisa that she was getting two showers in the same day so that we could have a small element of surprise! I think she got a little worried when she arrived and didn't see any of her aunts...and no extra chairs to accommodate them. So we made sure to start the party with a little explanation. :)

The theme of the shower was "Favorite Things" after Marisa's favorite movie of all time, The Sound of Music. We tried to tie in elements of the song into the shower...we had roses, brown paper packages tied up with string(which held our hand sanitizer party favors(great idea by Cathy!), and snowflakes on a banner filled with Marisa's favorite things..(Jon, babies, our dog, Josie, and her aunt's dog, Holly). Cathy even got Marisa a copper kettle which we filled with wedding advice from all the guests. We had yellow tablecloths and flowers since yellow is Marisa's favorite color. 

(Note the copper kettle:)

Some of the bridesmaids put together a few fun games that everyone enjoyed. Marisa got lots of wonderful gifts to start their life together. And even though it happened to fall on the hottest day of the year(at least in June:), it was just so nice to actually be around people! There were a couple of months when we weren't even sure that a shower would be possible, so being able to celebrate Marisa just made us all appreciate the day so much more!

This was "guess Marisa's age in the photos" game

Photo spot

The moms wore the same color scheme...all unplanned:)

As the first shower wound down, we packed up many of the decorations and desserts and headed over to shower number two. Cathy had the party catered by a very good chef that she knows. They also had a choice of wraps which were very good! The mac and cheese she made was excellent as well! Marisa got to open more lovely gifts and spend time with her side of the family. After the gifts were open, the kids and young adults all got to swim in Aunt Patti's beautiful inground pool. (Kate loved it!)

I failed again in regards to picture at shower #2. I did get these cute shots of Kate with Aunt Patti's dog, Holly....

It was a very full day...but all very worth it to see Marisa so happy!

And then the real countdown began...it was only six days until "I do's"!

To be continued.....

Welcome to Party Month!

I can't believe it's actually June!

June is always a busy month around here, but this year....well....it's a whole new level of crazy! Linking up with Kelly for some quick takes...and I actually did a halfway decent job keeping them pretty quick this week!

First up...

1. Fifty Years of I Do

My parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary tomorrow! My sister and I had wanted to throw them a party but...#coronavirus...so instead we are making them a special meal and desserts. Thankfully, our family size makes everything a small party! Hopefully, they will enjoy a little celebration of a very important milestone! 

(Jay's parents were also married in June and they will be celebrating 48 years towards the end of the month!) #blessed

My parents with all their grandkids(and spouses)

2. Birthdays Galore

We have a few June birthdays to celebrate, too. None of our children were born in June...which I was happy about because the month was too busy already! Marisa, Jay and my mom all have birthdays this week. My birthday is next week and my sister's is the last day of the month. (We are always a little sick of cake by the end of the month!)

3. Bridal Shower

We are FINALLY getting to have a bridal shower for Marisa! We had to reschedule two times because of Covid 19 but the wait is almost over. I am SO happy that Marisa will get to experience some of the "normal" bridal events. These last few months have been filled with so much uncertainty, disappointment and rescheduling! It's exciting to finally be able to plan details for a day that will actually happen! Thank you, God!

4. Father's Day

The day after the shower is Father's Day. Usually we make brunch for my dad and Jay's dad. Then I made a special dinner for Jay. Beyond that, I hope we will just have some nice family time and get in a nap! I'm sure we will be tired from the day before. 

Sounds like a chock full month already, right?! 

But wait...there's more!

5. Rehearsal Dinner

The last weekend in June FINALLY brings to fruition something we've been waiting for since May of 2018! After much angst, and having to reschedule the original May 24th date, Jon and Marisa are getting married! All of the unknowns, planning and unplanning then planning again, is going to be over. It's been such a roller coaster ride!

The plan was always to have a backyard rehearsal dinner...which is a good thing since restaurants aren't even open yet and will have limited capacity and lots of social distancing rules once they do open. We've been doing a lot of yard work and house projects in the last couple of months and the list is still pretty long! Thankfully, I have a couple of friends who are amazing party planners and they are helping me come up with ideas to make everything extra special. After all Jon and Marisa went through, I want to this day to have lots of beauty and joy. #itsamomthing  Thankfully, Jay just sighs and goes along with it. He's also surprised me a couple of times and elevated the ideas I had to another level. I can't wait to see it all come together. (I will definitely share pics;)

6. One More Change

Our governor finally made the reopening stages more detailed and clear earlier this week, which made it apparent that a reception with dancing...(very important to Marisa)...was not going to happen on the 28th. So, Jon and Marisa decided to move the reception to the end of August. 

which means....

7. One.More.Party 

After the wedding and pictures, we will be having an "after wedding party" here at the house. When Jon, Marisa and I first started throwing ideas around about what they would like the party to look like, Jon labeled it "fake reception". Marisa didn't like that at all! So we dubbed it the "after wedding party".  It's not an actual reception and we can't invite everyone over...which we feel bad about...but everyone has been so kind and understanding. 

This party will have a few more details than the rehearsal dinner to honor this special day. (a.k.a. more things added to Jay's list...and a few more orders placed on Amazon and Etsy) It's a lot of planning but it will definitely be worth it! I'm excited for the day to get here...but I don't want it to come too quickly because we still have lots to do! 

If you think of it, please pray for good weather for all these outdoor events! Decent weather is definitely crucial!

After June is over, I plan to sleep my way through most of July!

Have a great weekend!

For The First Time In Forever

There are a couple of songs wafting through my mind today. One of the songs is The First Time In Forever from Frozen. That's because for the first time since February, Kate and Luke went to play with their cousins! They were both so incredibly excited when we told them this morning. They've had many a Zoom play date with their cousins, Brayden and Mya, over the last six weeks. Brayden and Luke didn't usually last more than an hour at a time. Kate and Mya on the other hand, are Zoom play date champions...they could play for hours and hours. Even though they were glad to "see" their cousins and talk to them over a screen, it still wasn't the same.

Jay and I have been talking to my sil, Jackie, over the past week or so trying to figure out what everyone felt comfortable with as we all start the slow descent into starting to ease social distancing guidelines. I know there's lots of different opinions and thoughts on the subject.  What's comfortable for some people won't be comfortable for other people. And that's definitely ok. None of us has lived through a pandemic before and we are all navigating uncharted waters! For us, we felt comfortable taking this one small step back into the "world of normal".

The kids were thrilled!

Their play date also coincided with a rare return for Sarah back to her apartment last night because her roommates wanted to celebrate her birthday. Ellie also ended up having an unplanned for social distancing get together with a friend today.  Jon is out of the house spending time with Marisa's family. Which left me home with just Jay and Peter!

That means that (hope you can hear the tune in your head)....For the first time in forever, there is silence in the house.....

I mean actual silence! I can hear the whirl of the washing machine and the dryer as Peter orchestrates the laundry room as his own very OCD symphony. (There are pluses and minuses to that but, with the rest of his "normal routine" MIA for several months now, there are only so many battles that are worth fighting as a mom.)

I also hear the swish of a paint brush as Jay refreshes the paint in our bathroom in preparation for Jon and Marisa's rehearsal dinner that we will host in just over a month. But, other than those two sounds, it is SO incredibly quiet and peaceful!

I have missed this!

As a mom of many, there are not a lot of quiet moments in the day. Once the quarantine began and everyone, including the two kids living away at school, came home, there was literally no quiet in the house. ever.

Honestly, it was starting to get to me. Just this morning, almost everyone was occupied with some kind of playing or getting ready for the day and I snuck into my room trying to get a few minutes of peace to read the daily Mass readings and pray the Holy Spirit Novena prayer for today. One of the older girls happened to be showering in my bathroom, singing happily(and loudly)...and I just thought to myself that I would never.find.a.quiet.moment.again. Dramatic...well, yes...but that's the way I was feeling.

I guess God heard that plea for quiet in my heart and arranged for all of these things to fall into place, for which I am very grateful.

Having this blessing of quiet reminds me of all the years when we had very young children.(which were a lot of years!) Getting a reprieve from a nursing baby or a clingy toddler(or both) was a rare occurrence. As much as I love my kids and was grateful to be home with them full time, there were many times when the burn out was overwhelming.

Now, after almost 3 years of having everyone in school full time and working part time with some very small snippets of time during most school weekdays that I could call my own, this quarantine has propelled me back into full time parenting. (with an added bonus of having to coordinate, sometimes teach, and follow through will school work!) The reminders of the burn out and lack of quiet returned very quickly...especially the added burn out of having a special needs child home with you 24/7. Before Peter became a teenager, there were many years when it would take me weeks to recover from the emotional stress of having Peter home with me for the few weeks between when his summer program would end and the regular school year would start again.

Thankfully, he isn't as challenging now, but 9 weeks at home has definitely taken its toll on him and on me.

So, having a little time to recharge today is such a blessing...

Wondering what the other song is that's been going through my head? Reunited And It Feels So Good...that's an old one and I actually had to look up who sang it. It's by Peaches and Herb and came out in 1978. For these pics, though, that song is the perfect sentiment!