Weekend In Review
One of my best friends, David Dragun, a man I've crossed swords with, rocked out to Crystal Method shows with, lived with for several years, and shared some fantastic moments with got married. I was in the wedding party, so I needed to take Friday off of work. The drive up there was without incident, which was good, because we arrived in Rogers City with only an hour to spare before we needed to meet up for the rehearsal. The hotel we stayed at was right on Lake Huron, which was invigorating. In fact, the air in general was fresh and clean, which was refreshing. At any rate, we found the place we needed to meet up at, and then headed out en masse to the ceremony site.
The site itself was out by a small falls in the woods, the Ocqueoc Falls. The site itself was pretty, a large field with the falls in the backdrop. We ran through the ceremony, and it was here that I learned I had a speaking role! This I didn't know. The ceremony itself was a Wiccan blessing, and I spoke a greeting for the Guardian of the West, Water. Neat. There was a bit where the bride and groom jumped over a broom and a sword, to symbolise the sweeping away of the past and the strength to overcome any difficulties in the future. For reference, jumping is not, and cannot be, a dignified action. But the pure joy on Dave's face as he jumped overcame any sense of ridiculousness. The man likes to jump.
We headed out to the rehearsal dinner afterward, where I was introduced to the bridesmaid I'd be reading with, as well as several other folks from the bridal party. Some beer was drunk, some pizza eaten, and we decided to party, so off to the liquor store we went. My room became the designated party room, which seems in retrospect a phenomenally bad idea, since I was DIRECTLY ABOVE THE OFFICE. Luckily nothing came of it. I guess we weren't loud enough. I bought a bottle of 16yr Lagavulin, which I fully intended to be taking back with me to Ann Arbor with only a few servings gone, but most of the bottle somehow disappeared down people's gullets. Too bad it cost seventy bucks, I would've liked to have enjoyed more of it. We headed out to a karaoke bar afterward, where we basically rocked the house. All of the greats were performed to an enthusiastic crowd, who probably hadn't seen this many outsiders at their little dive bar in a long time. Even I was roped into singing La Vida Loca.
Then back to the hotel for more drinking :)
The next day, we up and broke fast, then off to the ceremony site where we helped to set up the chairs, the table, the archway for the backdrop, etc. We took some photos, then started to seat guests, and then the ceremony happened. I won't bore you with the details, but people cried tears, organ music played, vows were heard, candles were set on fire, swords, etc. The usual things. The car procession to the reception hall went without incident, except that I had to put the top down, which ticked my bridesmaid off. She was from Florida and California, and apparently had the thinnest skin ever. During the ride, she was wearing my jacket and I had the heater on for her, which did the trick, and the rest of us, Louie and Krista, enjoyed the open air ride.
The reception rocked. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I got plenty drunk again. I danced, and danced, and oh, how I danced. With someone's grandma, someone's ma, all my friends, strangers, and everyone else. Dave of course was out there for every freakin' song, and a grandparent was totally rocking it out to everything from AC/DC to the Humpty Dance. After the reception, some of us went to another hotel where there was a jacuzzi, but that was boring, so back to ours, drank some more, then went to sleep.
The morning saw me up bright and early, which was surprising considering how much I had to drink and how little sleep I had. But up I was, and we checked out and headed out to finish clearing the reception hall and then off to a brunch. Then the ride home. Which was long and annoying. Too much construction, too much distance, and too much freakin' THUNDERSTORM reducing my visibility to about 10 feet.
It was an awesome weekend.
The site itself was out by a small falls in the woods, the Ocqueoc Falls. The site itself was pretty, a large field with the falls in the backdrop. We ran through the ceremony, and it was here that I learned I had a speaking role! This I didn't know. The ceremony itself was a Wiccan blessing, and I spoke a greeting for the Guardian of the West, Water. Neat. There was a bit where the bride and groom jumped over a broom and a sword, to symbolise the sweeping away of the past and the strength to overcome any difficulties in the future. For reference, jumping is not, and cannot be, a dignified action. But the pure joy on Dave's face as he jumped overcame any sense of ridiculousness. The man likes to jump.
We headed out to the rehearsal dinner afterward, where I was introduced to the bridesmaid I'd be reading with, as well as several other folks from the bridal party. Some beer was drunk, some pizza eaten, and we decided to party, so off to the liquor store we went. My room became the designated party room, which seems in retrospect a phenomenally bad idea, since I was DIRECTLY ABOVE THE OFFICE. Luckily nothing came of it. I guess we weren't loud enough. I bought a bottle of 16yr Lagavulin, which I fully intended to be taking back with me to Ann Arbor with only a few servings gone, but most of the bottle somehow disappeared down people's gullets. Too bad it cost seventy bucks, I would've liked to have enjoyed more of it. We headed out to a karaoke bar afterward, where we basically rocked the house. All of the greats were performed to an enthusiastic crowd, who probably hadn't seen this many outsiders at their little dive bar in a long time. Even I was roped into singing La Vida Loca.
Then back to the hotel for more drinking :)
The next day, we up and broke fast, then off to the ceremony site where we helped to set up the chairs, the table, the archway for the backdrop, etc. We took some photos, then started to seat guests, and then the ceremony happened. I won't bore you with the details, but people cried tears, organ music played, vows were heard, candles were set on fire, swords, etc. The usual things. The car procession to the reception hall went without incident, except that I had to put the top down, which ticked my bridesmaid off. She was from Florida and California, and apparently had the thinnest skin ever. During the ride, she was wearing my jacket and I had the heater on for her, which did the trick, and the rest of us, Louie and Krista, enjoyed the open air ride.
The reception rocked. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I got plenty drunk again. I danced, and danced, and oh, how I danced. With someone's grandma, someone's ma, all my friends, strangers, and everyone else. Dave of course was out there for every freakin' song, and a grandparent was totally rocking it out to everything from AC/DC to the Humpty Dance. After the reception, some of us went to another hotel where there was a jacuzzi, but that was boring, so back to ours, drank some more, then went to sleep.
The morning saw me up bright and early, which was surprising considering how much I had to drink and how little sleep I had. But up I was, and we checked out and headed out to finish clearing the reception hall and then off to a brunch. Then the ride home. Which was long and annoying. Too much construction, too much distance, and too much freakin' THUNDERSTORM reducing my visibility to about 10 feet.
It was an awesome weekend.