Wedding Weekend I
Synopsis: My brother Neil and his fiancee Suener were to be married on Saturday, March 29, 2003 at 5:00 p.m. Arizona time.
Principal Cast:
- Neil and Suener, the happy couple
- myself, the reception DJ
- Our parents, along with Jared and Darlene (Sue's parents)
- Noelle and Anna, two of Suener's nieces, ages 7 and 3, respectively
- Suener's sibs Shawn, Kelsey, Chancey, Jorene, and Darci
Supporting Cast:
- our sisters Robbin and Chressa and their respective SOs Matt and Jonathan
- Suener's niece Aubrey (age 7), nephew Bradley (age 2), niece Madison (age 3), and niece Kylie (age 2)
- The babies, Alex and Molly
The weekend begins with a slew of introductions that left me wondering how in the world I'd ever remember all the names and which little ones belonged to which parents. It wasn't all that hard, as it turned out. Suener got the ball rolling by introducing me to all the nieces and nephews as Pig, which seriously stuck, even to the ones too small to realize the implications.
The kids took about a day to warm up to me, but by the end of the second day, itty bitty Anna would look up and squeak, "Hi pig!" What broke them of their shyness was when I would pick them waaaaaaaaay up in the air, and back down. Waaaaaaay up in the air, and back down. Once they figured out I was there to play with them, they swarmed me.
My primary function was to DJ the dance during the reception, so I didn't have a lot of personal preparation the first couple of days. I did everything I could by doing a little of everything; we had to string a ton of lights, set up portable fences and partitions, hook up the sound equip, set up the dance floor, and so forth. Other stuff I couldn't help with: doing hair, dresses, bows, ribbons, food, all the girl stuff.
It's a very traditional atmosphere in their family. They're a Mormon family (is that even the right term anymore?), and many of the women don't work, they're married by the time they're 22, and all but one already have at least one child, most of them two or three. As a single guy (and the only Carnahan kid in attendance who didn't bring a Someone), it tends to suck, but as a guy who likes kids, it was great. Also, it was nice to see and experience a weekend with a family that sticks together like glue instead of being made up of meandering individuals, like my family tends to be.
The first day of setup went well, but much of it couldn't be done until closer to wedding time, so there was only so much to do. So I played with wee ones.
I took Anna by her little hands and spun her round and round like a centrifuge while she cackled with delight, wobbling around and not knowing the word for 'dizzy.' At this point she's still very hard to understand, and at times the only word out of her mouth I understood was "pig." But when she wanted spun around, she made it clear because she'd walk in a circle once and say, "Spin me roooooooound!"
Anna, incidentally, is the one Neil and Suener had to rinse with the water hose a couple of years ago because she'd crapped her diaper and they'd let it get out of control.
Noelle was a little more standoffish, but a few spin-rounds in the yard, and she was putty.
Part II a bit later.
Principal Cast:
- Neil and Suener, the happy couple
- myself, the reception DJ
- Our parents, along with Jared and Darlene (Sue's parents)
- Noelle and Anna, two of Suener's nieces, ages 7 and 3, respectively
- Suener's sibs Shawn, Kelsey, Chancey, Jorene, and Darci
Supporting Cast:
- our sisters Robbin and Chressa and their respective SOs Matt and Jonathan
- Suener's niece Aubrey (age 7), nephew Bradley (age 2), niece Madison (age 3), and niece Kylie (age 2)
- The babies, Alex and Molly
The weekend begins with a slew of introductions that left me wondering how in the world I'd ever remember all the names and which little ones belonged to which parents. It wasn't all that hard, as it turned out. Suener got the ball rolling by introducing me to all the nieces and nephews as Pig, which seriously stuck, even to the ones too small to realize the implications.
The kids took about a day to warm up to me, but by the end of the second day, itty bitty Anna would look up and squeak, "Hi pig!" What broke them of their shyness was when I would pick them waaaaaaaaay up in the air, and back down. Waaaaaaay up in the air, and back down. Once they figured out I was there to play with them, they swarmed me.
My primary function was to DJ the dance during the reception, so I didn't have a lot of personal preparation the first couple of days. I did everything I could by doing a little of everything; we had to string a ton of lights, set up portable fences and partitions, hook up the sound equip, set up the dance floor, and so forth. Other stuff I couldn't help with: doing hair, dresses, bows, ribbons, food, all the girl stuff.
It's a very traditional atmosphere in their family. They're a Mormon family (is that even the right term anymore?), and many of the women don't work, they're married by the time they're 22, and all but one already have at least one child, most of them two or three. As a single guy (and the only Carnahan kid in attendance who didn't bring a Someone), it tends to suck, but as a guy who likes kids, it was great. Also, it was nice to see and experience a weekend with a family that sticks together like glue instead of being made up of meandering individuals, like my family tends to be.
The first day of setup went well, but much of it couldn't be done until closer to wedding time, so there was only so much to do. So I played with wee ones.
I took Anna by her little hands and spun her round and round like a centrifuge while she cackled with delight, wobbling around and not knowing the word for 'dizzy.' At this point she's still very hard to understand, and at times the only word out of her mouth I understood was "pig." But when she wanted spun around, she made it clear because she'd walk in a circle once and say, "Spin me roooooooound!"
Anna, incidentally, is the one Neil and Suener had to rinse with the water hose a couple of years ago because she'd crapped her diaper and they'd let it get out of control.
Noelle was a little more standoffish, but a few spin-rounds in the yard, and she was putty.
Part II a bit later.