We had been planning the Breaking Dawn at Midnight party for months. Discussed countless times the different ideas we’ve had and were for the longest time getting ready this day. We already had all the ideas in place, but just needed to put it all together. The day began for me with a phone call, way too early for my taste. (Don't worry it wasn't very pleasant for me to be there so early either.) It was Lorena saying she was at the gate to my housing complex. They let her in and I eventually got up.
At around 11:15 am, my mom took us all (Lorena, Brigitte, who came with Lorena, Julie, and me) to Books & Books.
Once there, we looked over all the stuff that Emily had gotten that covered the antiquarian room’s table and set what we brought down. (My poster was also in there but I didn't want anyone to see it so I flipped it but I think Julie and Brigitte kept messing with it)
Soon Emily came, and we ate lunch with her and Debra at Books & Books. During this time we discussed everything that we needed to get done. As well as filled Debra in with spoilers so she could be up to date with the story.
Emily had to go back to the office to print out the signs, so Lorena and Brigitte started on our own Forks road sign, while Julie and I began to hang streamers down in the entryways. Brigitte spent most of the time flipping through New Moon looking for trivia questions while I nearly cut my hand on several occasions trying to cut through foam board.
When Emily came back, we were mostly done with the streamers. Lorena and Brigitte were done with the sign (just needed to put the arrows on the pole), had written some trivia questions down, and made the body glitter (just a mixture of glitter and aloe). As much as I love that old table, I don't think they appreciated what was left when we were done with the glitter. Brigitte tends to go slightly insane with any amount of glitter.
She then left to get the tux, while we moved the tables inside. That was interesting…Basically it was moving those huge rent-able party tables...that had been left out in the courtyard all morning. Not pleasant.
Then, we put the tablecloths on and set them in the center of the room. Emily came back and we began setting up where everything was being put. We taped down the dresses to the table, the numbers that showed which were which, the cake sheet, the numbers for the invitations. We also put the flowers down, but Emily was going to bring vases from her house.
Once it was mostly all there, we decided to decorate the table. I put fake rose petals down and Brigitte got carried away with the glitter. Again.
Then, we pushed the shelves and center book displays in the other room to divide it into three sections. Someone went to go make copies of the quizzes and Emily was going to meet them with the Weddings a la Alice checklist. She also left to go get the futon, vases, and a few other things at her house.
We continued setting up the three different areas sections with what we had. Putting a table in each with a tablecloth covering it. The first was Rosalie’s Vanity, which we put the jar of body glitter on and decorated with random accessory things. Next was Emmett’s Test of Muscle and Might, which basically consisted of the table and chairs. Finally, Jasper’s Mood-o-Meter, which would have a few mood quizzes once we got them copied.
A few friends started arriving to help us out and we put up all the signs. When Emily came back, we cleared the antiquarian room table and brought it out, while also decorating the room with the futon mattress on the ground and chairs scattered around. We finished setting up the Weddings a la Alice and put the stacks of quizzes on Jasper’s table. We also decorated the entire place with multiple red and black balloons. Later on the DJ came and so did the people lending us the beautiful wedding dress to put on display.
Then people started arriving early...like 2 hours before the party early. So we had to start rushing.
Once everything was perfectly in order, we were all going to start getting changed, but we realized we forgot to print the questionnaires out. Luckily I had it saved on my USB and we were able to print enough out.
We then all got dressed and ready. My friend, Sabrina, basically took me under her wing and did my hair and makeup, which I couldn’t see what she actually did to me…
Once we were all ready it was about 8:45, and we were starved. We hadn’t eaten anything since lunch at around 12. But we knew we had to be quick so we split up since there wasn’t a table that could fit us all, asked for what the quickest food would be and ordered it. (Out of the following amazing food names we came up with:
La Bella Italia
The Volturi’s Mozzarella Platter- Mozzarella’s not as innocent as it looks… A fresh mozzarella platter with ripe tomatoes and torn Basil
Emmett’s Leftovers Sandwich- He took the blood, you can have the meat. Roast beef served on a grilled ciabatta roll with blue cheese, red onion and Dijon dressing.
“Tyler’s A Chicken” Caesar Salad
Charlie’s Catch of the Day Sandwich- A tuna fish sandwich, caught by Charlie, cooked by Bella and served on multi grain bread with lettuce and tomato.
Esme’s Motherly Grilled Cheese Sandwich- Or what Esme would cook if her children ate normal food… Served on multi grain bread.
All Beef, No Blood Hot Dog- In no way the ideal food for a vampire, but as a human, it’s perfect. Served on a warm bun with potato chips.
Edward’s Individual Cheese Pizza- Like the bite he took in the cafeteria to prove to Bella he could eat food, only to our taste buds it tastes amazing rather than dirt-like.
Carlisle’s Curecakes- Cupcakes that can cure almost anything…
Angela’s Decadent Brownies- Made with her sweet touch
So, Julie and I both ordered the pizza. Actually we all ordered pizza. I was still a nervous wreck and you could probably ask anyone there and they would back me up on that. So, I ended up running over to Pictures by Esme since I had heard Edward wasn’t there yet and he was supposed to be there at 8. And he wasn’t there, but right when I opened the door to go back around to the café, I bumped into Emily and “Edward”. I told Emily that everything else seemed to be fine and that we should be done eating soon.
Oh, and before I forget, I have to mention that during this entire evening I (along with the others) were in high heels, so when I mention we were running around, it was in these heels.
Went back, and apparently the pizza just came, swallowed the pizza without tasting it, and asked for the check. After we paid, Lorena was almost done, but since it was already past nine everything was already happening, so I decided to run around. I realized I had left my wallet with my mom (whom by the way arrived at some point with my cousins) so I ran to were she was while Brigitte was still eating, to realize that she didn't have it, best guess, it was in the back room. Zoom back and forth ( in heels mind you) and wait for the slowest waiter in the world to bring me my change.
By running around, I literally mean going around the entire store multiple times making sure everything is somewhat going well and taking pictures while I was at it.
Sometime here I believe an employee had arrived with a bunch of decorations to add, including this amazing top hat with HUGE veil attached. Naturally I claimed it for myself and wore it the entire evening.
In brief, here are the different rooms we had:
Rosalie’s Vanity: Complete with a mirror, and jar of body glitter to become a vampire.
Edward’s Den: For parents, boyfriends, anyone who was bored to hang out, with board games, futon mattress, and Marlins’ game playing.
Jasper-o-Meter: With a magic 8 ball and two different mood quizzes we made up.
Emmett’s Test of Muscle and Might: Where a arm wrestling competition took place.
Photos by Esme: You could pose with a look-alike Edward, Jacob, or both.
Wedding’s a la Alice: Where you could vote on the dress design, flower, cake, and invitation you think Bella would have at her wedding.
La Bella Italia: The café (same name as the restaurant in Port Angeles)
Some time after having my picture taken with Edward & Jacob, Emily, Brigitte and I decided to go to the courtyard and try to get a crowd to dance. It didn't really work all too much.... At first... We tried again a few minutes later and ended with a decent crowd. During our dance this pre-teenish girl who had been following me the entire night told me I was needed at the arm wrestling table. So I dragged my dance tired self inside, and then the challenger wasn't even there, so i got a few minutes of relaxation. Won the first match, lost the second. Shame.
So, I went from room to room, and then we had the look-alike contest outside. We didn't have too many contestants, and we had 5 shirts to give out so it was more or less a " You're all winners" moment. I continued going around. The questionnaire winners were tallied (we made these questions pretty hard), and we then had the actual trivia contest from these winners to find Edward’s “true Bella”. More running…
I tallied some of the wedding things for a few minutes… Then, ran around some more.
My friends and I all ended up sitting in the children’s room for a few minutes just to relax. Then, back to the running…
When it was 20 of 12, I found Emily and we went around helping people line up and then Emily got the microphone and made an announcement. I happen to be in the back room during these announcements raiding the ARC cart and they were pretty loud, but when I walked outside I noticed you couldn't hear ANYTHING. So I ran over to Emily to see what was going on, eventually we got that fixed. Every five minutes afterwards, we announced the winner of something that was voted on for Bella’s wedding. Julie, Emily, and I just sat at the former arm-wrestling competition. Five minutes till we announced the winner of the red ipod nano for pre-ordering. Then, we got a box for ourselves, so our friends and I could officially open a box at midnight.
Midnight arrived and I was so exhausted I was honestly not as excited as you’d think. We had some extras so some people snuck out of the line to get from the box. We got opened our box and I collected the ten vouchers. Then, I ran taking pictures of Emily and the other Books & Books employees throwing wedding rice and blowing bubbles as the guests left, as well as of all the guests with their books leaving. I collected my poster from it's stand and waved bye to Emily who was standing on the counter throwing rice. Halfway to the parking lot I realized I had left my phone with Sabrina so I ran back, luckily her mom hadn't left yet so I got it and ran back. Eventually Brigitte and I just caved so we kicked off our shoes and walked the rest of the way barefoot. And knocked out asleep in the car.
Once everyone was basically gone, Julie and I plus the employees were basically the only ones left. We gathered what belonged to us and put it all in one the Breaking Dawn boxes (which I actually still have…) This is when I finally took off my heels and not caring how dirty my feet got walked around barefoot. (The wedding rice seriously hurts barefeet.)
My dad arrived, we left with all our stuff, I began reading in the car, read a few hours when I got home, slept, woke up, and continued reading…same here.
-Erika (With comments by Lorena in red)
Books that came out this past week:
