So after making a last minute decision in the morning to not get into my tux at home and do it at the Best Man's house, we were running late. Jennifer also made a last minute decision, and that decision was to go to the wedding. See Jennifer has some 2nd degree burns on her back from a trip to the beach and was concerned she might not be able to go. Well she got up yesterday morning put on a brave face and decided to go to the wedding after all. So we ran out the door swearing up and down we were going to be late, but it only took us 50 minutes to get out there.
I ran into the bathroom and got in my tux in what I believe is a very respectable amount of time, and then it was time for the groomsman and groom to head out to the chapel. We were then sequestered to the basement so the groom wouldn't see the bride before the appropriate time. The basement was very warm and Phil(the aforementioned groomsman #2 who will become integral to a very humorous story shortly) and I decided we should go up to the AC controlled chapel and maybe see if our dates were arriving. We greeted our girls and friends, but it was time for them to take their seats and it was time for us to get ready for the hard part.....walking.
We lined up in order and the ceremony started. It was my turn to walk to the front of the church, and apparently I did pretty good. Walked at a good pace, I didn't trip, didn't drag the bridesmaid behind me. It was a good time. Now you might not know this but I have some problems with my feet, and I was very concerned I would be limping yesterday, but thankfully in this past week I had been taking good care of them and I was limp free. Standing up there was getting kind of hard. I was in stiff dress shoes standing on a wooden step and when I would move my toes sometimes I would encounter some pain, but even when the beautiful ceremony was over(the only thing really of note was that during the two candles become one bit, they couldn't get the center candle to light, it was a stand out moment in a pretty ordinary ceremony, I don't meant that in a bad way by the way)I was able to walk back down the aisle quite normally and all was good.
The next obstacle was a very out there photographer who liked doing lots of staged shots. He kept us in the church for almost an hour while people were waiting outside for us to come out and do the whole bubble thing. After that was all settled we took even more photos outside of the church. I should also point out here that the best man Joe who has a very nice camera took some really great photos. He is responsible for taking the best photo anyone has ever taken of me just outside of the church.
The big new thing for weddings is a party bus instead of a limo, and I can see why. Lots of room for everyone, coolers full of water, beer, and Champaign, and it's insanely comfortable. There are plush seats all around the bus and tons of room to stretch out. After drinking a couple of beers on the way to the forest preserve to take the photos with the wacky photographer we were told that the bridal party really wasn't needed for about an hour. The photos were being taken on a hill overlooking a lake, and Phil and I saw a dock with an elderly couple fishing off of it. I don't know what we were thinking, but we decided to go mess with them..or bother them, I'm not sure what we were going to do. We got down to the dock and ended up having a 20 minute conversation with two of the nicest people I have ever met. It was the bizarre highlight of the day.
We then had a couple more beers on the party bus(which by the way, I don't like beer, and when I do it is certainly not Miller Lite, but somehow I managed to polish off three of them on the party bus)and headed out for picture time with the wacky photo dude. We took all sorts of the usual photos of the bridal party, and with the groom, and with the best man, and so on. Then it was back on the party bus for the short trip to the reception.
We got to the hall, and we were all starving since we didn't have time to stop for lunch, and it didn't help that we had been drinking on the party bus. It wasn't long before people started arriving and the most brilliant appetizer selection of all time was placed before us. Prepare your taste buds for the awesomeness. Cheese cubes, vegetable platter, crab with cocktail sauce, egg rolls, meatballs, jalapeno poppers, onion rings, beef skewers, and a bunch of other cool little finger foods. The jalapeno poppers were the highlight of that course. It was about time for dinner to be served and by this point we were full of fried foods and alcohol, but the food ended up being pretty good.
First up was a cheesy rice soup, which was really good especially when you dipped the bread in it. The salad I have to say was really gross, but the main course was a delicious perfectly cooked twice baked potato, a piece of chicken and a piece of beef which I think were in the same sauce. I liked the chicken, but the beef couldn't compare to the night before. There were also some vegetables I didn't touch. For dessert was an amazing strawberry cheesecake that I think may have been gelato style. So all in all the food was good.
Now it was time for dancing, and to be blunt, I don't dance, and I don't like the music you dance to. Luckily I was in good company, with friends some I haven't seen in quite some time. It also helped that Thuglife(that's his name, I just found out why, I will spare you the details)kept the gin and tonics flowing. So it was a beautiful ceremony, and a great reception for a great person I have known for a great long time. I wish them all the best and many wonderful years. I had a great time.
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