Yay! All the weddings for this year are over...
... And I have to admit that the last one, between Bill & Christine, was the most fun. I was standing in this one, which meant it took up a couple of days, and that I had to get a tux and be in that all day Saturday. Thankfully, it was not warm yesterday: if it had been, it would've been bloody unbearable.
Anyhow, Friday was rehearsal. I expected it to be a bit more organized than it was. I don't think anybody really knew what was going on. First run through was pretty ugly, but the second one went better. With one minor mishap: We were short a bridesmaid. One of the friends of the Bride decided that this would be a good weekend to go AWOL. She never showed. Not for rehearsal. Not at her hotel. Not to the wedding the next day. The end of it all was that elchuck didn't have anybody to walk up with during the ceremony on Saturday, and we had to find a fill-in for the wedding party dance at the reception.
Ok where was I.. oh yes.. After the rehearsal we all went downtown to Porto Bello for dinner. Which was quite good. And we were all given gifts by the couple-to-be. For everybody else, this gift was a flask and all the other fun things that go with a covert drinking element :-). Since I don't drink, I got a nice pocket watch instead. I'm happy with what I got :-) Thanks guys!
On to Saturday. More semi-organized chaos. Got in at 2. Dressed. Then we did pics. Lots of pics. Including one funny one that has the groomsmen "presenting arms" a.k.a. pulling out the flasks and taking a drink (yes, they were full!) Of course I just faked it. Around 4 the actual ceremony started. It was very pretty, compared to the short and sweet ceremony of my brother, or the somewhat stuffy ones had by my cousin, but otherwise just the standard stuff. Nothing fancy. No videos. No cousin playing the guitar before or after the vows. (these were things that I've seen at 2 of my cousin's weddings in the past). And for out transportation to the hall (Terra Verde in Nunica), we had the Harbor Trolley. At this point is when I got my camera from my dad. By this time most of the guys less me in the wedding party had already had a drink (or two or three...) and were doing funny things on the trolley. At one point, Sarah (the sister of the groom) and Erin (maid of honor - sister of the bride) leaned over to me and commented on how they were already going crazy. I responded back, "it's only just begun."
We got to the hall, and took still more pics, while the girls were freezing taking the pics. Got introduced, and went and took our seats. Almost immediately the plate-banging began. Let's just say that the bride & groom didn't really like this - to the point that by the time dinner started, they had the DJ ask the masses to stop doing it. :-( Then again, I already know that my own parents and swagmann11 's parents were the primary instigators in it. Did i mention that most of the guys in the wedding party were well on their way to being drunk by this point? Oh, I did? Oh well, I just mentioned it again :-P
The food was VERY good. Chicken and Pork and something else that I didn't try - no room on the plate at that point. Once the food (and cake) was gone, the dancing started. Of course first up are the special dances - bride & groom, parents, and then the one I was forced into: the entire wedding party. The track played was the Beatles - In My Life, so it was at least something I knew. I survived that dance, that's really about all I can say about it. I spent most of the next 20 minutes just kinda watching and taking a few pics of the little kids (flower girl & ring bearer) dancing on the floor. The guy, Hans, was showing EVERYBODY on the floor up. There were honestly very few people actually dancing: Nink, Miller, Sarah, the kids, and the master & mistress of ceremony, Char & Wayne....
Enter the Chicken Dance...
And of course this got a bunch of us (including ME!!) out on the dance floor. Ok, truthfully, Char had to drag me out there... but it was worth it. By the end of the chicken dance, I found myself next to one of what I suspect was a grand total of three girls in my age bracket (i.e. not a little kid and not having a head full of gray hair) who didn't have their boyfriend/fiancée/husband there with them. As the next track started, she just kinda wandered over closer and yelled into my ear that this was one of her favorite tracks, & started dancing. I evaluated my options: 1) head back to the head table and be bored, or 2) stay with her and pretend to know what I am doing. I took about 0.68 seconds ("for an android, that is nearly an eternity"), and opted to stay there with her. I stayed there with her, chatting and dancing, mostly to 90s/00s music that I didn't know, for most of the next two hours. Ok, maybe it wasn't quite that long, but it seemed like it. Finally got up the courage to ask what here name was on one of the breaks we took. It was Kendra. Shortly after she asked me to guess her age. Let's just say I missed badly. Based on the way she was acting, the way she looked, and her height (around 5'10" on very short heels), I guessed early 20s. So, yeah, I was surprised when she told me she was only 17. But I didn't let it bother me - I was just there to have fun, and I was having fun with her. About 1/2 way that time I actually asked her formally to dance, when one of the slow dance songs came on, and she accepted. :-) It was to the Eagles - Love will Keep us Alive. Those of you who know me best know I LOVE the Eagles, and I'd already missed the first one played by our DJ (The Best of My Love), and I wasn't about to miss the second. All in all it was a total blast, probably one of the best times I've ever had.
Once the dancing was over, we went ahead and cleaned up the hall. I got out of my suit and into normal clothes (big thanks to Bill's parents for taking the tux back for me :-) ) I also stayed around and chatted with Sarah & Erin, and promised to send Erin some of the pics I took that night. Which I still need to do. Or more accurately, post the pics (took TONS of them) and send her the link - sending high-res photos to somebody in an email is never a good idea, IMHO. Oh, and I also found out I'm being summoned by both Bill's parents and his aunt & uncle to fix their computers / setup a video-capturing card for them. Actually, it surprised me just how many of the older people I knew there. Obviously my parents, as well as Bill's parents. But I also knew Christine's parents, having been there 2 years ago and having spent the night when we went to see a Tigers game. (her dad wanted me wants me to come out again next year... maybe that'll happen... now that they may be good/somewhat good). Also knew the master/mistress of ceremonies, having helped them setup a program on their computer for burning DVD videos. And I knew the parents of the best man, who have had me over a few times to fix stuff, and also invited me to their Chili cook-off earlier this summer :-)
All in all the night was fun. Congratulations to Bill & Christine. I wish both of you the best :-)
Once I have the pics up, I'll come and edit this to link to some of the better ones. Maybe tomorrow.
Anyhow, Friday was rehearsal. I expected it to be a bit more organized than it was. I don't think anybody really knew what was going on. First run through was pretty ugly, but the second one went better. With one minor mishap: We were short a bridesmaid. One of the friends of the Bride decided that this would be a good weekend to go AWOL. She never showed. Not for rehearsal. Not at her hotel. Not to the wedding the next day. The end of it all was that elchuck didn't have anybody to walk up with during the ceremony on Saturday, and we had to find a fill-in for the wedding party dance at the reception.
Ok where was I.. oh yes.. After the rehearsal we all went downtown to Porto Bello for dinner. Which was quite good. And we were all given gifts by the couple-to-be. For everybody else, this gift was a flask and all the other fun things that go with a covert drinking element :-). Since I don't drink, I got a nice pocket watch instead. I'm happy with what I got :-) Thanks guys!
On to Saturday. More semi-organized chaos. Got in at 2. Dressed. Then we did pics. Lots of pics. Including one funny one that has the groomsmen "presenting arms" a.k.a. pulling out the flasks and taking a drink (yes, they were full!) Of course I just faked it. Around 4 the actual ceremony started. It was very pretty, compared to the short and sweet ceremony of my brother, or the somewhat stuffy ones had by my cousin, but otherwise just the standard stuff. Nothing fancy. No videos. No cousin playing the guitar before or after the vows. (these were things that I've seen at 2 of my cousin's weddings in the past). And for out transportation to the hall (Terra Verde in Nunica), we had the Harbor Trolley. At this point is when I got my camera from my dad. By this time most of the guys less me in the wedding party had already had a drink (or two or three...) and were doing funny things on the trolley. At one point, Sarah (the sister of the groom) and Erin (maid of honor - sister of the bride) leaned over to me and commented on how they were already going crazy. I responded back, "it's only just begun."
We got to the hall, and took still more pics, while the girls were freezing taking the pics. Got introduced, and went and took our seats. Almost immediately the plate-banging began. Let's just say that the bride & groom didn't really like this - to the point that by the time dinner started, they had the DJ ask the masses to stop doing it. :-( Then again, I already know that my own parents and swagmann11 's parents were the primary instigators in it. Did i mention that most of the guys in the wedding party were well on their way to being drunk by this point? Oh, I did? Oh well, I just mentioned it again :-P
The food was VERY good. Chicken and Pork and something else that I didn't try - no room on the plate at that point. Once the food (and cake) was gone, the dancing started. Of course first up are the special dances - bride & groom, parents, and then the one I was forced into: the entire wedding party. The track played was the Beatles - In My Life, so it was at least something I knew. I survived that dance, that's really about all I can say about it. I spent most of the next 20 minutes just kinda watching and taking a few pics of the little kids (flower girl & ring bearer) dancing on the floor. The guy, Hans, was showing EVERYBODY on the floor up. There were honestly very few people actually dancing: Nink, Miller, Sarah, the kids, and the master & mistress of ceremony, Char & Wayne....
Enter the Chicken Dance...
And of course this got a bunch of us (including ME!!) out on the dance floor. Ok, truthfully, Char had to drag me out there... but it was worth it. By the end of the chicken dance, I found myself next to one of what I suspect was a grand total of three girls in my age bracket (i.e. not a little kid and not having a head full of gray hair) who didn't have their boyfriend/fiancée/husband there with them. As the next track started, she just kinda wandered over closer and yelled into my ear that this was one of her favorite tracks, & started dancing. I evaluated my options: 1) head back to the head table and be bored, or 2) stay with her and pretend to know what I am doing. I took about 0.68 seconds ("for an android, that is nearly an eternity"), and opted to stay there with her. I stayed there with her, chatting and dancing, mostly to 90s/00s music that I didn't know, for most of the next two hours. Ok, maybe it wasn't quite that long, but it seemed like it. Finally got up the courage to ask what here name was on one of the breaks we took. It was Kendra. Shortly after she asked me to guess her age. Let's just say I missed badly. Based on the way she was acting, the way she looked, and her height (around 5'10" on very short heels), I guessed early 20s. So, yeah, I was surprised when she told me she was only 17. But I didn't let it bother me - I was just there to have fun, and I was having fun with her. About 1/2 way that time I actually asked her formally to dance, when one of the slow dance songs came on, and she accepted. :-) It was to the Eagles - Love will Keep us Alive. Those of you who know me best know I LOVE the Eagles, and I'd already missed the first one played by our DJ (The Best of My Love), and I wasn't about to miss the second. All in all it was a total blast, probably one of the best times I've ever had.
Once the dancing was over, we went ahead and cleaned up the hall. I got out of my suit and into normal clothes (big thanks to Bill's parents for taking the tux back for me :-) ) I also stayed around and chatted with Sarah & Erin, and promised to send Erin some of the pics I took that night. Which I still need to do. Or more accurately, post the pics (took TONS of them) and send her the link - sending high-res photos to somebody in an email is never a good idea, IMHO. Oh, and I also found out I'm being summoned by both Bill's parents and his aunt & uncle to fix their computers / setup a video-capturing card for them. Actually, it surprised me just how many of the older people I knew there. Obviously my parents, as well as Bill's parents. But I also knew Christine's parents, having been there 2 years ago and having spent the night when we went to see a Tigers game. (her dad wanted me wants me to come out again next year... maybe that'll happen... now that they may be good/somewhat good). Also knew the master/mistress of ceremonies, having helped them setup a program on their computer for burning DVD videos. And I knew the parents of the best man, who have had me over a few times to fix stuff, and also invited me to their Chili cook-off earlier this summer :-)
All in all the night was fun. Congratulations to Bill & Christine. I wish both of you the best :-)
Once I have the pics up, I'll come and edit this to link to some of the better ones. Maybe tomorrow.