This is going to be one of the longest posts I ever make in my life.
So, today, two of my best friends got married. I'm sure pretty much everybody knew that, given that I've been talking about it for a few days now.
My day started around 9, when I woke up, had a shower, got ready, played some Xbox 360, then headed over to Curtis's for 10:45 to help load up the other Jordan's truck with anything perishable that I couldn't store overnight in my truck. Got there a few minutes early, sat around Curt's living room playing with their cat Pixel, who was very sociable to me, even though I had to have reeked like other cats. Clock kept ticking, and Jordan still wasn't there, so, in a quick panic, Curt and I start phoning Victor and Kevin, managing to get Kevin over to help us with the loading. Who knows what Victor was doing at the time.. we figured sleeping. Jordan showed up at 11, and he and Curt started loading his truck while Kevin and I drove over to the reception hall and started unloading all the soda that we had loaded up last night. Had a nice platoon of people helping out there, so unloading went nice and smoothly.
Curt and Jordan showed up about a half hour later with the perishables, having had lots of trouble getting it over there. I grabbed Curt and we went back to his place to begin loading the huge amount of alcohol we had for the wedding. Seconds after we left, Curt's phone rings; it's Kevin.
"Hey."
"What do you mean you have a problem."
"Okay well just go back and help us then."
Me: "What was that about?"
Curt: "Oh, that was Kevin, he said they had a slight problem; they have nothing left to do. So they're gonna come back and help us load the liquor."
As we're pulling in to the alley behind Curt's house, his phone rings again; this time it's Tommy.
"Hey."
"WHAT! ... WHAT! ... WHAT!"
"Oh my GOD, could anything else go wrong today? Okay, can you make it there before 2?"
Me: "Who was that?"
Curt: "That was Tommy. Apparently, his dad took his car this morning."
Tommy's car had nearly ALL of the glasses, all of the tablecloths, and various other supplies the setup team needed for the reception hall. Yeah. That was bad.
So, swiftly our 4-man loading team of two Jordans, Curtis and Kevin got my truck laden down fully with alcohol, and other crap that had to go up to the reception hall. I drove back solo, as Jordan had to go back to North Vancouver to get his suit, and Curt and Kevin had to go get ready (their limo ride was at 1... it was now 12:30 at this time.)
I got all the alcohol there solo, and the army of helpers got everything unloaded and stored in the reception hall quickly. I decided to take the opportunity to go home, shower again (I'd broken a sweat doing all the loading/unloading,) and get dressed in some of my finest.
I apologize for there being no pictures now, I had a million taken of me during the night, I'm sure hundreds will surface over the course of the next week. I wore the lavender shirt and purple tie from my suit (of which the pants no longer fit,) my regular black pants (hooray for semi-casual pants), and my black leather jacket (I look so hot in that jacket, I need to wear it more.)
After getting myself snazzed up, I headed back to the reception hall, and parked my now out-of-gas truck as close as I could, knowing I'd have to bring stuff back to Curt's later. I hung out at the reception hall for a bit, helping set up as best I could, before heading over to the gazebo for the ceremony.
The ceremony was supposed to start at 2:30.
It started at 3:10.
Here's what went down. We all walked over around 2:20, it turned out to be pretty much standing room only. So, I decided to hang around with the people I know, obviously. Clock kept rolling, Curt showed up maybe 20 minutes late, the bride and bridesmaids not showing up until 3ish, due to many delays, none that probably could've been avoided with how hectic the day was.
And as if on cue, the heavens decided to play a cruel joke on us all, and start pouring rain the second Laura stepped out of the limo. Luckily, the wedding party was prepared, and handed out golf umbrellas which kept us all mostly dry. I say mostly; there were a few people who got notably wet, just due to standing outside of the umbrella radius for a little while.
The ceremony was beautiful, very similar to that of my cousin's last month. Both Curt and Laura had their own vows written up, it was a quick ceremony, but very touching.
And whatever higher power that be decided that it had enough, and stopped the rain as soon as the paperwork was signed.
As soon as we had a free moment, the setup team + myself (as I had conscripted myself to help out, feeling as though it was the right thing to do today) rushed over to the reception hall... only to find it locked when we were told it would be unlocked for us to set up. A quick phone call to the park office got that solved, and we got inside to start doing what we could.
I washed plates. A lot of them. We had to clean them off after getting them out of the packaging, so we had two people washing, and about 6 people drying them. It was very busy; I was up to my elbows in soapy water cleaning plates, and worrying my tie would fall in, or my sleeves would fall down. Finally, we were done with that, and I went to sit down.
Ended up at a table with Kevin's two brothers, the other Jordan, and a couple other people that apparently Jordan knew. I wish Mike were there, but, c'est la vie.
I didn't eat much at dinner, a few pieces of chicken, some corn, some bread, some rice. I was pretty wired, and mostly nervous for other reasons. I had a drink right after I finished, just before the speeches started. Found a new brand of rum I really enjoy, almost better than the Captain.
So, here comes the second best part of my night. Having jokingly suggested to Curtis last week that if Kevin should bomb his speech, I would be there to save the night, I had been preparing at least some rudimentary improvisation should I need to make a speech. As if on cue, Kevin, who had an amazingly well-written speech done up, seized up as soon as he got up to give it, and kinda bombed it. Leah bombed hers as the maid of honor, then the entire wedding party was being called up and giving mostly random speeches, as none of them expected to have to do it. So, eventually, someone (I think Mel) had the great idea to say if anyone out on the floor had a speech, they could go up and do it. I think I literally jumped out of my seat and ran up to the microphone.
I got up there and I killed it. I was completely on my game, and even having only known them for a short time comparatively, I said things that were heartfelt and genuine, threw in a couple of amusing anecdotes (the Tommy story from the morning was the best one, I think,) and closed on a joke about poker. (Laura, I'm serious, stop taking my money.)
Getting back to my seat, all I heard were compliments. In fact, all I heard for the rest of the night were compliments. Best speech of the night, amazing pubilc speaker, it just wouldn't stop. Yeah, it got to my head a little once I had another drink, but when I'm on, I'm on. It felt good to do something on a complete whim and come away knowing something more about myself. Confidence is a hell of a drug.
Eventually we moved the tables aside to clear a dance floor. I proceeded to start buying people drinks in attempts to get the most hilarious drunks at the party completely shitfaced. It almost worked; there are pictures of people two and even three-fisting beers, as a result of my encouragement. No male-male bonding in terms of dancing or making out though, which was my ultimate goal as the mischevious imp of the night.
The sound system was ailing, so I suggested they move the iPod over to the microphone stand to get it on the PA. Eventually they played the iPod's speakers into the microphone. It worked, mostly.
I danced a little, then a lot, did a lot of talking, did a little drinking, generally had an awesome time. I did partake a little of the herbal refreshments that Laura's father was passing out outside, but definitely wasn't out there long enough to get ripped. Vic, however, had an edible, and proceeded to get fucked up. More on this later.
It came down to me having an awesome time for the rest of the night, as I got to do what I wanted to do tonight for sure, and that was dance and feel amazing, and I did, and I came away from tonight feeling the happiest I've felt in a while. I know I've been saying it a lot lately, but it just keeps improving; I'm becoming a positive person finally.
So, as the party wound down, I started buckling down and helping out clean up, shifting stuff into the kitchen to then shift into the vehicles for transport. By now, a lot of people had left, only a handful remained trying to get cleaned up, and several of them were close to being wasted as all hell. Laura was going a little crazy trying to get it all organized, I was doing my best to keep my head on straight and get people helping out.
Jordan's truck was loaded first, and he took off, to lord knows where. He wanted to go to Sin City tonight; no idea if he did.
I went and got gas in my truck with Adrian while this was going on. He was really drunk and on the phone the entire time. I took him just in case I ran out on the way over, but I made it. Adrian, whether he will admit it or not, was fairly wasted. Edible + a lot of beer.
Got back, started loading my truck right away. Got a full load of leftover soda and liquor in it, drove it back to Curt's place with Neal and Curt, Neal got his car while Curt and I unloaded and got back to the hall. Proceeded to finish with loading of leftovers, and drove back to Curt's for the final unloading. Everyone pitched in for that (and I'm still going over tomorrow to help out before I take Curt and Laura to the airport.)
It started pouring as soon as I left. I hijacked some chips and 6 bottles of soda. 4 cokes, 2 root beers. I'm set for 2 weeks.
Now, as for the state of Victor... my dear friend had a lot to drink, plus a full bud cookie, and proceeded, at the end of the night, to vomit for a while, and basically had to be taken home with a bucket under his face. Adrian was loaded, but still mostly coherent. Neal sobered up when the cleaning started, Curtis too. My drinks were gone so fast I barely felt a buzz. I hope Vic's alright, really. He was in bad shape when I saw him last.
I must say though, tonight was awesome, many, many congratulations to Curt and Laura, I hope their honeymoon in Vegas is profitable and fun as all hell.
I'm still wired, so I might play some Xbox before I take a nap.
My day started around 9, when I woke up, had a shower, got ready, played some Xbox 360, then headed over to Curtis's for 10:45 to help load up the other Jordan's truck with anything perishable that I couldn't store overnight in my truck. Got there a few minutes early, sat around Curt's living room playing with their cat Pixel, who was very sociable to me, even though I had to have reeked like other cats. Clock kept ticking, and Jordan still wasn't there, so, in a quick panic, Curt and I start phoning Victor and Kevin, managing to get Kevin over to help us with the loading. Who knows what Victor was doing at the time.. we figured sleeping. Jordan showed up at 11, and he and Curt started loading his truck while Kevin and I drove over to the reception hall and started unloading all the soda that we had loaded up last night. Had a nice platoon of people helping out there, so unloading went nice and smoothly.
Curt and Jordan showed up about a half hour later with the perishables, having had lots of trouble getting it over there. I grabbed Curt and we went back to his place to begin loading the huge amount of alcohol we had for the wedding. Seconds after we left, Curt's phone rings; it's Kevin.
"Hey."
"What do you mean you have a problem."
"Okay well just go back and help us then."
Me: "What was that about?"
Curt: "Oh, that was Kevin, he said they had a slight problem; they have nothing left to do. So they're gonna come back and help us load the liquor."
As we're pulling in to the alley behind Curt's house, his phone rings again; this time it's Tommy.
"Hey."
"WHAT! ... WHAT! ... WHAT!"
"Oh my GOD, could anything else go wrong today? Okay, can you make it there before 2?"
Me: "Who was that?"
Curt: "That was Tommy. Apparently, his dad took his car this morning."
Tommy's car had nearly ALL of the glasses, all of the tablecloths, and various other supplies the setup team needed for the reception hall. Yeah. That was bad.
So, swiftly our 4-man loading team of two Jordans, Curtis and Kevin got my truck laden down fully with alcohol, and other crap that had to go up to the reception hall. I drove back solo, as Jordan had to go back to North Vancouver to get his suit, and Curt and Kevin had to go get ready (their limo ride was at 1... it was now 12:30 at this time.)
I got all the alcohol there solo, and the army of helpers got everything unloaded and stored in the reception hall quickly. I decided to take the opportunity to go home, shower again (I'd broken a sweat doing all the loading/unloading,) and get dressed in some of my finest.
I apologize for there being no pictures now, I had a million taken of me during the night, I'm sure hundreds will surface over the course of the next week. I wore the lavender shirt and purple tie from my suit (of which the pants no longer fit,) my regular black pants (hooray for semi-casual pants), and my black leather jacket (I look so hot in that jacket, I need to wear it more.)
After getting myself snazzed up, I headed back to the reception hall, and parked my now out-of-gas truck as close as I could, knowing I'd have to bring stuff back to Curt's later. I hung out at the reception hall for a bit, helping set up as best I could, before heading over to the gazebo for the ceremony.
The ceremony was supposed to start at 2:30.
It started at 3:10.
Here's what went down. We all walked over around 2:20, it turned out to be pretty much standing room only. So, I decided to hang around with the people I know, obviously. Clock kept rolling, Curt showed up maybe 20 minutes late, the bride and bridesmaids not showing up until 3ish, due to many delays, none that probably could've been avoided with how hectic the day was.
And as if on cue, the heavens decided to play a cruel joke on us all, and start pouring rain the second Laura stepped out of the limo. Luckily, the wedding party was prepared, and handed out golf umbrellas which kept us all mostly dry. I say mostly; there were a few people who got notably wet, just due to standing outside of the umbrella radius for a little while.
The ceremony was beautiful, very similar to that of my cousin's last month. Both Curt and Laura had their own vows written up, it was a quick ceremony, but very touching.
And whatever higher power that be decided that it had enough, and stopped the rain as soon as the paperwork was signed.
As soon as we had a free moment, the setup team + myself (as I had conscripted myself to help out, feeling as though it was the right thing to do today) rushed over to the reception hall... only to find it locked when we were told it would be unlocked for us to set up. A quick phone call to the park office got that solved, and we got inside to start doing what we could.
I washed plates. A lot of them. We had to clean them off after getting them out of the packaging, so we had two people washing, and about 6 people drying them. It was very busy; I was up to my elbows in soapy water cleaning plates, and worrying my tie would fall in, or my sleeves would fall down. Finally, we were done with that, and I went to sit down.
Ended up at a table with Kevin's two brothers, the other Jordan, and a couple other people that apparently Jordan knew. I wish Mike were there, but, c'est la vie.
I didn't eat much at dinner, a few pieces of chicken, some corn, some bread, some rice. I was pretty wired, and mostly nervous for other reasons. I had a drink right after I finished, just before the speeches started. Found a new brand of rum I really enjoy, almost better than the Captain.
So, here comes the second best part of my night. Having jokingly suggested to Curtis last week that if Kevin should bomb his speech, I would be there to save the night, I had been preparing at least some rudimentary improvisation should I need to make a speech. As if on cue, Kevin, who had an amazingly well-written speech done up, seized up as soon as he got up to give it, and kinda bombed it. Leah bombed hers as the maid of honor, then the entire wedding party was being called up and giving mostly random speeches, as none of them expected to have to do it. So, eventually, someone (I think Mel) had the great idea to say if anyone out on the floor had a speech, they could go up and do it. I think I literally jumped out of my seat and ran up to the microphone.
I got up there and I killed it. I was completely on my game, and even having only known them for a short time comparatively, I said things that were heartfelt and genuine, threw in a couple of amusing anecdotes (the Tommy story from the morning was the best one, I think,) and closed on a joke about poker. (Laura, I'm serious, stop taking my money.)
Getting back to my seat, all I heard were compliments. In fact, all I heard for the rest of the night were compliments. Best speech of the night, amazing pubilc speaker, it just wouldn't stop. Yeah, it got to my head a little once I had another drink, but when I'm on, I'm on. It felt good to do something on a complete whim and come away knowing something more about myself. Confidence is a hell of a drug.
Eventually we moved the tables aside to clear a dance floor. I proceeded to start buying people drinks in attempts to get the most hilarious drunks at the party completely shitfaced. It almost worked; there are pictures of people two and even three-fisting beers, as a result of my encouragement. No male-male bonding in terms of dancing or making out though, which was my ultimate goal as the mischevious imp of the night.
The sound system was ailing, so I suggested they move the iPod over to the microphone stand to get it on the PA. Eventually they played the iPod's speakers into the microphone. It worked, mostly.
I danced a little, then a lot, did a lot of talking, did a little drinking, generally had an awesome time. I did partake a little of the herbal refreshments that Laura's father was passing out outside, but definitely wasn't out there long enough to get ripped. Vic, however, had an edible, and proceeded to get fucked up. More on this later.
It came down to me having an awesome time for the rest of the night, as I got to do what I wanted to do tonight for sure, and that was dance and feel amazing, and I did, and I came away from tonight feeling the happiest I've felt in a while. I know I've been saying it a lot lately, but it just keeps improving; I'm becoming a positive person finally.
So, as the party wound down, I started buckling down and helping out clean up, shifting stuff into the kitchen to then shift into the vehicles for transport. By now, a lot of people had left, only a handful remained trying to get cleaned up, and several of them were close to being wasted as all hell. Laura was going a little crazy trying to get it all organized, I was doing my best to keep my head on straight and get people helping out.
Jordan's truck was loaded first, and he took off, to lord knows where. He wanted to go to Sin City tonight; no idea if he did.
I went and got gas in my truck with Adrian while this was going on. He was really drunk and on the phone the entire time. I took him just in case I ran out on the way over, but I made it. Adrian, whether he will admit it or not, was fairly wasted. Edible + a lot of beer.
Got back, started loading my truck right away. Got a full load of leftover soda and liquor in it, drove it back to Curt's place with Neal and Curt, Neal got his car while Curt and I unloaded and got back to the hall. Proceeded to finish with loading of leftovers, and drove back to Curt's for the final unloading. Everyone pitched in for that (and I'm still going over tomorrow to help out before I take Curt and Laura to the airport.)
It started pouring as soon as I left. I hijacked some chips and 6 bottles of soda. 4 cokes, 2 root beers. I'm set for 2 weeks.
Now, as for the state of Victor... my dear friend had a lot to drink, plus a full bud cookie, and proceeded, at the end of the night, to vomit for a while, and basically had to be taken home with a bucket under his face. Adrian was loaded, but still mostly coherent. Neal sobered up when the cleaning started, Curtis too. My drinks were gone so fast I barely felt a buzz. I hope Vic's alright, really. He was in bad shape when I saw him last.
I must say though, tonight was awesome, many, many congratulations to Curt and Laura, I hope their honeymoon in Vegas is profitable and fun as all hell.
I'm still wired, so I might play some Xbox before I take a nap.