Friday, November 2 – Fairly calm morning. Slept late, went for my first outdoors job in a loooong time, helped Todd pick up tuxedo (very handsome). In short, this day was very different from the craziness of the day before the last Wedding of the Century.
Around 3:30 PM or so, we headed over to the church for the rehearsal. Both Todd (Best Man) and Rebecka (Jr. Bridesmaid) were in the wedding, so obviously they needed to be there. The members of the wedding party started dropping in one by one. I just sat back, relaxed, and took it all in.
Around 4:45 PM, I drove our rental car (yay for Hertz rewards!) over to the venue for the rehearsal dinner to help with the “technical” setup (i.e. hook up DVD player to projector). The venue was an ice skating complex adjacent to a mall. I wandered around for a while searching for Party Room #2 (“The Den”). I got a little lost. Then I found it and met aunt of Caroline, retired educator and owner of Bed and Breakfast in Vermont. We had some good conversation around whether school systems around the country focus too much on children with special needs (below average and over average) to the point that the “average” kid gets lost or if more funds should be spent on our extra talented kids (as is the point of view of a recent TIME magazine cover story). We were rudely interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the rehearsal dinner guests (I guess that was after all the main point of the evening).
Dinner went well with a good mix of salad, wine, and Swedish fish. When dinner was over, Rebecka talked me into going skating with her on one of the skating rinks. I was concerned about getting cold, but I submitted to her will (as is fairly common). It was fantastic! It had been a really, really long time since I went ice skating and I forgot how much fun it is. Rebecka progressed from clinging onto me and the side of the rink to independent skating in a matter of 30 minutes. We had an enthusiastic audience as the rehearsal dinner was directly above the rink. Then Rebecka got tired and left. I kept skating. I eventually made it back upstairs and joined the relatives until it was time to go home.
Saturday, November 3 – Again, a freakishly calm morning, considering we were at the house of the groom, the day of the wedding. Apparently, Apple D had taken care of everything the previous evening. So organized! I went for another 45 minute jog on the “Four mile” trail. It was crisp and refreshing. Then we began the beautification process (at least for me and Rebecka) with blow dryers and flattening irons galore. Brush, brush, brush that hair and those teeth. Arrive at church way ahead of time for further beautification, bonding, and behind the scenes pictures. Rebecka was on look-out duty to make sure the groom did not catch a glimpse of his bride before it was time. She also had the opportunity to sneak in some Nintendo DS time…
Caroline was like a dream:
All of a sudden, it was time and I found myself sitting in church next to brother-in-law #1. David, Todd and the rest of the groomspeople (yes – there was a groomswoman) stood at the front of the church eagerly awaiting the bride’s party to enter. When Caroline finally made her entrance walking between her parents, the look on David’s face made half of the congregation have to pull out their Kleenex (crap – I forgot to stuff some into my miniature wedding purse!). It was overwhelming love, extreme happiness and excitement all rolled into one. It’s making me tear up now, just thinking about it.
I have to say, Rebecka did a fantastic job as Jr. Bridesmaid. For large portions of the ceremony, she had to hold both her and Caroline’s bouquet. It was heavy! She didn’t fidget and stood there the whole time like a little lady. Good job! Todd was obviously kick-ass too. He didn’t drop the ring or anything crazy like that. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smoother ring-from-pocket-to-groom delivery.
Once all the wedding guests had cleared out, it was picture time (boring! - for innocent bystanders like me, at least). The photographer was very bossy. I told her as much. She ignored me.
Once all that nonsense was done, we headed over to the reception at the Hilton. We caught the end of the cocktail hour (thank God!). The cocktails for the evening were Green-tinis (so clever…). I opted for wine. I spent some time chatting with Todd’s Uncle Mike. He has a ponytail. He’s not cutting his hair until the war ends. I have increased respect for the man. We asked him to take a picture of us:
The evening proceeded according to schedule (which Todd kept close to his heart in the interior pocket of his tuxedo). Todd was the Master of Ceremonies for the event. He did a fabulous job. He introduced the first dance at the right time…
…and the “Best Man Toast” was perfect. There was much dancing and rejoicing. This wedding was indeed a worthy candidate for the Wedding of the Century title. I think we have a tie!
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