The Wedding

Jan 7, 2017

I caught a ride to the Wedding with Uber (it works now) and met the driver, a great "Sister in Christ", she invited my to her Church on Sunday, I plan to go.

The Wedding was wonderful!  With all of the possible Family dynamics and possible drama, everything was loving and Family friendly.  My Nephew married a grade school friend; he met in the fifth grade, his brother's best friends Sister.  This was 30 years later, their were 3 Children from previous relationships, 2 his, one hers, grown but not married yet.  His parents were divorced and remarried, their was another half Sister and Brother and their spouses.  Bride and family were Catholic, Groom wasn't.  Bride had a large family, groom didn't, etc...

It was beautiful!  Very different, held outside in the dark (6 PM)with a beautiful moon and white lights in the trees, a little cool, but tolerable. (It had rained and the grass was a little squishy) The ceremony was officiated by an Evangelical Catholic Priest ( They flew him in from Bend, Oregon) and assisted by a Roman Catholic Priest (I think it was her Priest from Huntington Beach where the Bride's Family lives).  Her Father read some of the scripture with the help of the light of someone's cell phone.

Instead of the Mothers lighting the unity candle, they each had bottles of different colored sand, that they each poured into a pretty see-through container. 

 The Bride and Groom did their own beautiful, touching, honest vows to each other. (Lot's of tissue was passed around). The ring bearer dropped both of the rings while it was quiet, and you could hear the clinks.  The Priest said, "that is not a good sound", and immediately people in the Bridal party, front row, Photographer, all scrambled to find them (in the dark).  Finally, they were recovered and the Ceremony continued.  Everybody was laughing, the Ring Bearer was cool. 

My Brother-in-Law was having some pain from his tumble out of the wheelchair in the Airport and so he couldn't walk my Sister down the isle, so I did.  I got a corsage like I was a part of the Wedding party.

The Wedding reception was off the charts!  (Remember that the Bride had experience with event planning and the Groom is an event planner).  We had to drive a ways to get to the Venue.

 I caught a ride to the Reception with the Father of the Groom (My Sister's first husband) and his Son.  I got a chance to reconnect with him, I hadn't seen him for about 30 years.  The colors were black and white, their was a pre-dinner reception with coffee, tea and other drinks and delicious hors d'oeuvres, then we went into the room with the tables.  I sat at the "Oregon" table with my Sister & her husband, the former caretakers of Camp Myrtlewood, Oregon, English friends of my Sister's that live in their same town, the Priest from Bend, Oregon, and my Sister's friend and her Husband from Huntington Beach.  The food was awesome.  They started with a beautiful wild greens salad and garlic cheese bread,  then the main course was Chicken Croquettes, Mahi Mahi, (fish, which I exchanged for another Chicken because I am allergic) steamed vegetables, and a potato patty. Delicious, I couldn't eat it all.

I left early with the same ride and they took me home.

I thought I would go to the Shaklee kick-off but it started at 9 AM, it is about 45 minutes away and it would cost about $60 round trip with Uber. I was invited to the Family brunch by the Brides Mother (It is at her house) at 11 AM.  I will probably go there.