Weddings….

6/26/04

….create so much more than just a new entity that we call a ‘couple’, ‘new family unit’, etc., they also create an enormous amount of stress for the families involved, not to mention the couple themselves.

In about one hour and a half Ashley and Patrick will be married (Jennifer’s niece). It is quite the panoply of confusion amidst a specific design of sorts. You begin with a basic plan and then work out the details, usually with some degree of unanimity, hopefully.
Then comes the confusion of actually figuring out what those details are, and God there are so many details!

Most weddings I have been involved with always have at least a few minor, and sometimes major crisis. The ones deemed humorous usually end up on ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’.

6/27/04 OK, wedding’s over. The only controversy that I am aware of was that Nancy did not get to sit with her husband Bob. (‘Granny and Grandpa’, Jennifer’s parents).
One of the ushers even sat some of the grooms family on the brides side of the aisle.
Other than those little details the ceremony was beautiful. Nobody fainted and even the little ones did really well. Grace, Emma and Reed didn’t fidget or fuss to much or otherwise distract the guests from the bride and groom or the ceremony itself. All in all, a lovely afternoon. Even the weather cooperated after some rain in the early part of the day.

Then on to the reception at the Swim Club. Wow, what a shindig. They had a great DJ, some good wine and a keg of beer, and good food. What more could you ask for? We had a great time, as did everyone else, I believe. I even managed to finally get Angela out on the dance floor! Nobody got too terribly drunk or otherwise misbehaved in any way that I could discern….oh, well, actually there was one person who shall remain unnamed who didn’t make it to breakfast the next morning. Not feeling too well, I understand. Hmmm.

Speaking of breakfast, we decided to celebrate Bob’s 81st birthday at Denny’s before they went back to South Carolina. We had a total of 23 of the family to come share that time together. And it was a wonderful time. I remember it was the same day one year ago we also had a parting breakfast at Denny’s on Bob’s 80th birthday when we got his brothers from California and Arizona to come to the East Coast for that special time. We all thought at the time that there might not be another celebration like this. Oh we of little faith. ‘Brother Bob’ fooled us all and is still going, albeit not to strong of late. And won’t it be wonderful when we can get together next year and be fooled again! We pray so.

Next, it’s off to the beach with Tim and Jenni and their family. Will have a report on that trip when I get back on Wednesday.