Anna & R.J's Wedding: Waters Edge Bayville, NJ

R.J. & Anna (not pictured: Hermine) photo by BeauRidge Photography

I grew up on the Jersey Shore with my five siblings. Don't judge us, we aren't like what you see on the old show of the same name. Truthfully, I'm not even much of a beach person (though the ocean at night has quite a hypnotic and calming effect on me). When my sister and her (now) husband decided to get married at the Waters Edge in Bayville I knew their visions for an incredible day with the Bay as the backdrop were filed away in their highest hopes. They love the shore, their new bay side home and the beach life we grew up on. They had their hearts set on saying "I DO" in the salty air with seagulls squawking overhead and the bay lapping around the docks.

But it is September and we are in Hurricane season. The forecast wasn't looking good anymore and it appeared that tropical storm Hermine was stirring up trouble just in time to make an issue for my sister's wedding.  The day before we went to the venue for the rehearsal and watched as my sister tried to keep it together as the contingency plan to move the ceremony indoors the next day was commencing. After all, one thing you can't control is the weather...they both knew that when they picked the place but the plans proposed for the indoor ceremony were not what my sister, Anna had in mind and she was beginning to break under the weight of disappointment. The owner spoke of the possibility of flooded out roads, damaging winds and all kinds of doom and gloom predictions that are sure to stress out a couple on the eve of their wedding day.

During this time, the staff at Waters Edge didn't seem accommodating and I (and our combined families) were less than impressed  with their reluctance to give my sister what she wanted...which was quite simple by the way.  She wanted an aisle with chairs for guests on either side, she wanted to be able to enter into the room with her father as her husband-to-be saw her for the first time. She did NOT want to stand in the middle of the dance floor while everyone sat at their assigned tables for the dinner reception. After some negotiations and compromises by the couple's amazing team of family/friend supporters, we came to a solution that worked for Anna & R.J.

All night as I laid next to my sister on her last night as an unmarried woman with my son (and her Godson) laying between us on the enormous bed, I tossed and turned and checked the weather for the second time in 15 minutes. Nothing changed... 3 red warnings blared on, confirming the weather on their wedding day was sure to be dismal. I was worried and heartsick for them. First world problems, I know, but nonetheless they plagued me.

I woke up in the morning to my sister tearing the curtains open revealing an incredibly bright sunny day. No wind. No rain. Zero indication that anything resembling Hermine was any where in the vicinity. We left the hotel suite to go to Waters Edge for hair and makeup and the owner told us as we were walking in that chairs were ordered and their outdoor ceremony would be happening as long as no unforeseen weather issues took place.  The staff was much better and worked their butts off to make things beautiful. They definitely redeemed themselves from our disappointment the day before.

Jonas and the sweet flower girl

Everything turned out perfectly. The ceremony on the water was enchanting. My son was the cutest Ring Bearer and did his duty in sweet earnest taking the flower girl by the hand and speaking kind words to her as he walked her down the aisle. My sister was such a beautiful bride...seeing her for the first time literally had the impact of taking your breath away. Her groom cried and it was contagious.

The reception was the best. There was a photo booth, an incredible DJ and a very large dance floor. Needless to say, things got out of hand in the best way.  Even our 90 year old grandfather had 9 Bloody Marys and told tall tales at the bar. It was great.

Me and the lovely bride

Me, my handsome Jeremiah, and our crazy kid

My silly family and friends

Now that the wedding is over, I can hang up my Matron-of-Honor hat and revel in a job well done. I got through all the planning, prep, and social interactions without being too awkward. I even managed to nail my M.o.H. speech without thinking about the onlooking guests (which had the potential to turn my bowels into water). Definitely a win! Definitely the most amazing wedding EVER! I wish my sister and her new husband a truly "Happily Ever O'Hara".

Balticon50 Part 3: Meeting George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin limits the amount of autographs he does at conventions and securing a spot during one of Balticon's scheduled sessions was my top priority. It wasn't so much the autograph for me. I had pre-ordered the autographed Balticon50 special edition of GRRM's 'In the House of the Worm' so I was covered there. What I really wanted was simply to meet my favorite author and after years of being a superfan, Jer, Jonas and I were finally set to meet George.

I always thought I would meet George eventually and now it was happening. Naturally, the anticipation of this meeting made me feel a bit anxious. I tried not to have too many expectations but I would be lying if I said I didn't have any. I knew our time with him would be brief but I was excited for it and hoped the short moments would leave a positive impression. It would have been disappointing if he turned out to be disconnected, signing autographs like an automaton on autopilot.

I spent some time prior to the convention thinking of a way to make the experience unique and found the answer in dragon eggs. Jonas had a 'Knights of the Roundtable' themed birthday party and we made Game of Thrones inspired dragon eggs out of thumbtacks to use as decoration. I used them again as decor for our annual Feast of Ice and Fire that we have on the night of the Season Premiere of GOT. Not to brag, but Jonas and I did an amazing job on the dragon eggs.. 

Our awesome dragon eggs made out of 1500 individually lacquered thumbtacks.

So after some deliberation, Jonas and I agreed that when we met George we would give him one of our prized dragon eggs. For those of you who don't know Jonas, he is a pack rat. He doesn't like to get rid of anything, including socks that no longer even function as socks anymore. He loathes the idea of parting with anything so when he semi-happily agreed to the idea, I was pleasantly surprised. The black 'Drogon' inspired egg was out of the question for Jonas but we compromised and agreed on giving GRRM the white-gold 'Viserion' inspired egg.

The morning we were to meet George R.R. Martin began with me forgetting my Balticon badge at the hotel. It was not a long walk to the hotel but we were halfway to the convention and I wanted to be as early as possible to ensure a good spot in line (which turned out to be a non-issue). I prayed that Balticon had a contingency plan for scatterbrains like me and gratefully they did. I got my replacement badge and Jer, Jonas, and I started to mingle in the gathering crowd outside the autograph room. We didn't really have to do that since our tickets (which were first come, first serve) had numbers on them and were being called in groups of 20. Based on your number, you may have had time to walk around the convention before coming back and being called. This was awesome because when you were called in to the room, it felt incredibly intimate and relaxed.

When it was our turn to meet George, Jonas handed him his copy of 'The Ice Dragon' and George signed it jovially, shaking Jonas' hand. Jonas then handed George the dragon egg and George exclaimed, "It's a dragon egg! If I sit on it, will it hatch?" Jonas said he didn't think it would but we both agreed we couldn't be absolutely certain. George laughed warmly and thanked us for the egg. He paused and turned to Jonas and said, "I feel I need to pay you for the egg..." He then went to his pocket and plucked a Faceless Man coin down on the table. Jonas smiled impishly and took the coin. I whispered to Jonas to say 'Valar Morghulis' which George answered, "Valar Dohaeris". We had a few more moments of easy small talk before Jeremiah brought up a copy of GRRM's novel, 'Armageddon Rag', to be signed. It was actually a book that was lent to me by our neighbor Robert, and I thought it would be fun to give it back to him signed by the author.  It was a great book but for some reason didn't sell very well. George joked with Jer saying, "So, you're the one who bought this book!"  Our meeting with George R.R. Martin is an experience my family and I will always treasure.

Meeting George

I didn't get to have any philosophical discussions with George, but truthfully, I liked it better that way. I had already spent so much time connecting to George through his books that I was looking for a personal, human connection. A brief exchange that would give me a real glimpse of the man with a 1000 worlds in his brain. One may think this isn't possible to know in the few minutes we had, but it is. George has given us so much. He gave Jonas 'The Ice Dragon'. He gave Jer 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. And he gave me all that and so much more. I was glad I could finally thank him for it.

Coming Soon: Balticon50 Part 4: Panels and Convention Highlights