A Perfect Wedding in California.

My big brother, John, who I’ve always looked up to and admired, married the girl of his dreams, Maria, this past Saturday. Words cannot express how happy I am for the two of them. They are both such wonderful and beautiful people, both inside and out. It almost seems surreal that the event that we have all been looking forward to since we heard the wonderful news of their engagement in February 2013 is over.

It's currently 7:30am in the morning, and I have been up for the past 4 hours. Hurray for jetlag! What better thing to do in the wee hours of the morning than share some of the experiences I have had this past week in a blog post? Though I will not be providing as much detail as I normally do in my posts (too much gone on this week), here's a glimpse of my week in California. 

The happy couple, Maria Alejandra and John Jørgen

To say that it was a hectic week would be an understatement; I hit the ground running after arriving Los Angeles from Sydney on May 16th. There was lots to get done and to arrange, which resulted in late nights, early mornings, and lots of to-do-lists. Everything was absolutely worth it though, and thinking back on this past week puts a big smile on my face.  

Being John's little sister, making sure our parents were adequately prepared was one of my main concerns and responsibilities. I had to make sure they were primped and primed for the fun-filled wedding weekend. I obviously took my job very seriously (no disappointing big brother!). Luckily, both parents were very happy and cooperative, and not completely helpless. We had a lot of fun in the process.

Papa getting his first ever manicure. His words when I took this picture were, "This is not going on the blog, is it?" Sorry, Papa, I just had to. Thank you for letting me persuade you to do this. Your nails looked great! 

Between running errands, shopping for wedding attire, and manicures, I made sure Papa was properly fed. 

One thing I really enjoyed about this week was that family and friends gathered on several occasions, and not merely on the actual day of the wedding. It was heartwarming to see how many people came to celebrate John and Maria. It was a very international event; family and friends flew in from all over the world to partake in this joyous event.  It was great spending time with and getting to know everyone that mean a lot to John and Maria. 

The festivities started out on Thursday (May 22nd) with a BBQ for the bridal party and some family and friends that had arrived town early. Maria's mother and aunt had prepared a beautiful feast of Nicaraguan food. The food was absolutely divine (I'm secretly hoping that Maria will teach me how to make all these yummy things next time we see each other. Hint hint!). Unfortunately, there are no pictures from this evening. I was too busy eating the scrumptious food and mingling to document anything. 

The next gathering was the rehearsal dinner on Friday (May 23rd) at Margarita's, a restaurant in Palm Springs. Margaritas, tasty food, live music from a mariachi band, along with even more family and friends set the mood for a great evening. My dad and I had both prepared a few words to say at the rehearsal dinner, and luckily neither of us fainted due to our fears of public speaking. Did you know that next to dying, public speaking is Americans biggest fears? Totally understandable, if you ask me. 

Papa, John, myself, and Maria

Three of the groomsmen, Tze-Heen, Idean, and René, and significant others, Glenna and Andrea 

The best man, Grant (our cousin), Gina, and their two adorable kids, Harper and Kennedy 

Aren't they just adorable? The wombat and koala hand puppets I bought them were a hit. 

Johnny and Uncle Will 

Naomi and Papa  

Mumsy and Aunt Susan 

Russ (with the hat), Aunt Nancee, Lauren, Grandma, and Harvey

I also showed a video of our 91 year old Bestefar (Norwegian grandpa). Distance has always been a common theme in our family, and technology has made it so much easier to stay in touch. Every time I visit our Bestefar, him and I take a little video for John and Maria. It started off as a silly thing we did to test out my new iPhone, but now it's turned into a little tradition. At first he wasn't quite sure what to say, but now he's a pro. He always knows that I'm going to say "Oh, Bestefar! Time to make a video for John Jørgen and Maria" at some point during my visit. He'll comb his hair, sit up straight, and get ready to say a little something into the camera. As he couldn't attend the wedding in California, we made a little video for John and Maria instead. 

A BIG thanks to my friend, Julie Grønneberg Bech, for editing all the raw footage and adding subtitles so that all the non-Norwegians could understand what was being said. I'm in no way tech-savvy, so without you this wouldn't have been possible. You're fabulous! 

On Saturday (May 24th) the big day had finally arrived. Hurray! The wedding ceremony and reception were at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. The weather and scenery couldn't have been more breathtaking. 

I got ready at the villas with the lovely bride and bridesmaids. We had our hair and make-up done, and it was heaps of fun. Can't leave anything up to chance on a day like this. Maria looked absolutely stunning; I had to hold back the tears when I saw her in her dress. 

The maid of honor, Pegah, helping Maria with her dress

Andrea, Raman, me, Pegah, Chloe, and Jackie

Maria, being the sweetheart she is, gave all us girls beautiful robes and sterling silver earrings as gifts. How sweet is that?

Ready for the wedding 

Beautiful corsage 

Me, Lauren, Gina, and Jessica being all matchy matchy. 

Their wedding was simply perfect. Just like the two of them. I can only imagine how much effort and planning it took to make everything as perfect as it was. Both John and Maria show great attention to detail, and you could tell that they had thought of everything. 

Best man and the groom 

John and Maria share a love of wine, so they incorporated this into their wedding in many different ways. For example, instead of the regular numbers on the tables, they had names of red wines. So clever!

Selfie with the happy couple 

After ten hectic, but fun days in California, it was time for me to return back to Australia. I'm so glad I could be a part of their beautiful celebration. It was great, and will definitely be something I will remember and cherish for many, many years to come. 

The flight back to Sydney felt much longer than the flight to LA. What made the 15 hour flight seem horrendously long was likely the fact that my touch screen wasn't calibrated correctly (is that what it's called?). This resulted in me not being able to hit the "next" button, so I could only watch a few of the movies in the great United Airline movie selection. After a few hours, I wasn't able to hit the play button either. Sooo... No more movies for me. 

The day before departure, I jokingly told my cousin, Grant, that not having a screen that works was one of my biggest fears. This was obviously an exaggeration, but it's kind of true! It may not sound like a big deal, but when you're stuck in a seat for over half a day, you kind of want your screen to work properly. My usual tactic to make the time pass on long flights is to go through all the movies, creating lists in my mind of which movies I want to watch and in which order. Depending on how meticulously I go through the movies, this process usually takes at least 30 minutes to an hour. Highly recommended for long flights. 

Because I couldn't kill much time watching movies, I resorted to my other long-flight-tactic: stand in the aisle by the bathroom for 30 minutes every now and then. I think I spent a total of 2 hours randomly standing by the bathrooms throughout the flight. Warning: Standing in the aisle for more than 5 minutes will likely make you feel super awkward (especially if you have to make eye contact with the people sitting in the exit row). Hey, whatever kills time, right? You do what you gotta do. 

I can hardly believe that I am back in Sydney. The time in California went by so quickly! It's good to be back though. I'm going to spend the next few days doing nothing productive. Like  going out to lunch with Isabelle and other friends. I'll start studying for final exams next week. I promise. 

Love, 

Suzy