Wedding #1

Wow. What a wedding it was. And what an amazing summer we’ve begun!

The bride was the picture of Martha Stewart’s most well-pressed dreams and not a napkin was out of place at the reception. The groom was dashingly handsome and eloquent and just bursting with genuine genuine pride. The ceremony (a 1.5hr Catholic mass) was lovely and tasteful and heart-warmingly inclusive. The reception was professionally detailed, deliciously served, and an absolute blast.

It all started in the car on the way out there. We drove all 14 hours listening to most of “The Rabbit Factory” with rapt attention. I only fell asleep once for about 10 minutes on disc 9. Great book by the way. Kinda’ long, kinda syrupy… but very satisfying just the same.

Arrived at my mother-in-law’s house at about 11pm. The rest gets kinda fuzzy, but I remember we slept right the hell in the next day and had the most delicious breakfast with monkeybread and bratwurst patties.

The next day there was a pre-wedding brunch, attended by the groom and all of his adoring throng – essentially the same adoring throng that attended my own wedding. This throng has all grown up together, gone to chase their dreams in all corners of the world and returned home reliably for every holiday season and every possible wedding. The reunion of the throng was as joyous as every other reunion with these people ever is, which is to say: extremely. Stories, pictures, food food food, and we were back to the races. The rehearsal was efficient and my beloved husband played his part as best man very well. The rehearsal dinner was VERY interesting. It was at the same place where we’ll be celebrating another wedding next month. The food was great, the company at our table was very entertaining – we sat with the groom’s parents and his uncle. We also happened to sit at the only table NOT brimming with chest-thumping conservatives.

Immediately after the rehearsal it was off to another pre-wedding bash at the house of one of the adoring throng. Food everywhere, wine. I finally met who I assume will be the last two members of the adoring throng. They all like me and approve of my husband’s choice in brides. I like all of them and I approve of their contributions to my husband’s personality. We spent the evening liking eachother, laughing hard, and swarming around the groom with beaming pride and anticipation.

Next day, it was wedding time. I stole away with my mother in law and the mother-hen of the throng while Jason jumped with both feet into his full day of best man duties.

Mother-hen (which doesn't sound as flattering as I mean it to be... sorry) drove me to the wedding, we re-thronged together in our finery and then the ceremony began.
I felt itchy through the whole ceremony but managed to distract myself with analysis of the stained glass windows and the locations of the various holy artifacts around the sacturary. It wasn't, after all, the kind of "itch" that one gets from wool socks... it was the kind of itch one gets when one realises one is a pilgrim in a strange land - full of people who have their whole minds set on very very different dogmatic outlines from your own. Kneeling and singing, peace be with you, praying and lots more God stuff - and then after a very long time, it was all over.

While pictures of the newlyweds and the wedding party were being taken, we-the-throng mobbed a nearby pub and ate appetizers until it was cocktail time at the country club. What a country club! Great facility. Very Lah-Tee-Dah.

Speeches, food (wow - the food!), tinkling glasses (holy crap, there were so many glasses!), cake (OMG THAT CAKE!), and then the music started. And then the dancing started. We danced for hours, the throng and I, inexhaustibly and deliriously. And then suddenly I was back in bed trying to squeeze 8 hours of sleep into 5 so that I could be fully awake for breakfast with my father in law the next morning. Breakfast was awesome, and immediately thereafter we were back in the car driving another 14 hours home.

All told, it was a very sophisticated and polished affair. As is the case with any wedding, there were so many things I’d have never dreamed of doing for my own wedding (which is borne out by the fact that I didn’t) but every single one of those things suited this happy couple right down to the ground and reflected them perfectly. She’s a CPA, he’s a Pilot. They hit every high note and planned/executed every detail perfectly.

It's actually hard now to explain what it was like at this affair. It was like walking around in a wedding magazine. And it was like walking around in a magazine dedicated to them. And they are wonderful people. And they are beautiful people. And they will live VERY happily ever after.

Welcome to happily ever after, wedding #1. You’ve earned it.