Just Roll With It!
Well, it has been two weeks, and I have yet to write about the wedding.
It just feels silly to try and do it without the pro pics, so I think I will wait until we get those in to do a blow by blow account.
I will say that it was wonderful to have our closest friends and family there to celebrate with us. With only 45 guests, there was this wonderful tiny atmosphere to the whole day that just made me very happy. I'm glad I didn't invite several hundred people. It was great to look out over the crowd during the ceremony and have people smiling and winking and all thumbs up. For the most part, the day was relaxed and we took Natalie's advice to "just roll with it" whenever things seemed off.
I will also say that I love my dress. I love that everyone else loved it, and I'm thinking I'm going to try and lose a little weight in time for the first anniversary to get some "trash the dress" pictures done before I box it up for good (or possibly donate it - haven't decided yet.)
Also, I loved the food and how well everything turned out. I now have a signed marriage license and I ate some cake -- my two main goals for the day.
I love that there were a lot of laughs all day. Before the ceremony, Toivo came up to visit us, and when I saw the Finnish flag on his lapel I said "FINLAND REPRESENT!" which was apparently hilarious. It was later decided that he was the ambassador from Finland for our wedding, which gives the whole thing a certain level of class that wouldn't have been achieved without any ambassadors. (I also got to tell about how the first time I met Toivo -- Vince's roommate before I turned up -- he was in Ren Fest garb and I was in a nightshirt and my underwear. Good times.) During The Kiss, an entire sports team of some kind clapped and cheered for us, which gave it a wonderful surreal quality. I waved at them. There were lots of other laughs during the day, and I'm just really grateful that everything was so... so happy.
I loved the people we surrounded ourselves with that day, guests aside. The vendors were all great, and I felt like I was among friends with them. Allison, her entire family, Lauren, Justin, Russ and Amanda are all some of my favorite people on the entire planet, and it is just so great to have people you feel comfortable with hanging out with you before a big event like a wedding.
And now to the land of backstory!
At the H-M wedding in New Orleans in Feb. 2006, I was the “5th Beatle.”
When one of Amanda’s four bridesmaids was late for the rehearsal, I stepped in to fill in the gap for placement. On the day of, I hung out with Amanda, the bridesmaids and the moms while everyone got ready. I found myself helping zip up dresses, putting jewelry on people, putting jewelry on people only to have it break, then fixing it and putting it on again, and - most memorably - wrapping bridesmaids bouquets in miles of brown ribbon (see picture). As the best man’s significant other, I was in a strange territory between “regular guest” and “bridal party,” which meant I was an extra pair of hands behind the scenes to help out. It was awesome, and I loved it. As a result, I think I also still have a pending invitation to visit Justin’s mom in Alabama.
So the point of me telling you all that is to then tell you this:
At the M-H wedding in Tampa in March 2008, Amanda was the “bridal vengeance.” I’m not entirely sure what she was avenging, but since I only had two bridesmaids, she couldn’t really be a “5th Beatle.” When I suddenly realized I didn’t have anyone to take care of a million last minute details, Amanda grabbed her cell phone and the phone list and took off her heels to run around and get stuff done. She helped pin corsages and boutonnieres on assorted bridal party members, and when there was in fact only one groomsman bout, she used her mad skills to split it into two. She set up the candles for us and coordinated the DJ and the officiant and made sure people had appropriate room keys and all sorts of things. She also attempted to lure Miguel in the elevator during the ceremony, which was a highly appreciated effort. So - thank you, Amanda!
It seems like the 5th Beatle/Bridal Vengeance position is a good tradition to pass on, but Amanda and I make a closed circuit as the spouses of the best men at each other’s weddings. I’m not sure who would get it next but… anyway, it was awesome.
Last but not least, I love that I am married. I love Vince, and I love that our rings are now dinged up enough to be a part of our normal, every day life. People keep asking me: "So, how's married life?" And really, it's no different than it was before, except now we've made the formal promise in front of several dozen people to stick it out through thick and thin. The card from Allison's parents read: "May you spend many years working things out because you love each other," and I think that is the phrase that describes marriage best. I love that this is the guy I get to hang out with for the rest of my life.
