Eat, Drink, and Be Married!

From the time we started processing to the time we marched out, I'm guessing 15, maybe 20 minutes passed. The party that followed? A good 8 or 9 hours. The bus that took people from the wedding site and into town left at 11:30, and I know the bride later ended up in a pizza parlor in her wedding dress.

The reception was a lot of fun. Lots of dancing barefoot in the grass; I don't think I'd done that since I was a kid. Plenty of live music, very little public speaking. There were 3 speeches, though: The maid of honor joked about how she probably knew more about what was going on in the relationship than the groom. The best man -- who really, really, really didn't want to talk, and spent the first half of the night hoping everyone would forget he was supposed to -- was sweet and said my brother was the best friend anyone could have. Then I skipped up and grabbed the mic. J & L didn't know I had plans to embarrass them, but I did, ha ha. Picture me being clever and gorgeous. (I'm not saying I was, I'm just saying you should picture me that way.) I made the following points:

In the porta-potty pictures, J was the blonde one.
When he was little, he smelled like cheese.
L is not the first girl he proposed to; a few years after the porta-potty shot was taken, he asked me to marry him.
It was totally a rebound thing, because Mom had just turned him down.
We're all glad he eventually decided to look outside the family for a bride.
"L, you're not outside the family anymore. Cheers."

If you're going to tell jokes, I highly recommend you find an audience of happy wedding-attendees. They're very friendly.

The band leader was gracious enough to let my brother borrow his guitar. J taught himself to play in college, and he freely admits that his goal was to attract girls. So it's appropriate that he should serenade his permanent girl on the day of their marriage. He started with her favorite song, which was romantic and sweet, and better than the original version in my opinion. Then he launched into You Don't Even Call Me by My Name, a country song which I recommend you all listen to. You gotta listen all the way to the end, though. Man, I had that stuck in my head for days afterward. Which meant that I was singing it out loud, because that's what I do. I sing every darn song that gets stuck in my head. Just a warning if we ever hang out.

I was surprised to see J & L show up the next day for brunch yummies. Not only did they come to hang out, they stayed well into the evening because their friend made his famous pizza (even the dough is from scratch). I suppose the idea was that they'll be married forever, but who know when they'll get Pizza Night again? Makes sense to me.

People were saying it was the best wedding ever. I know this is what J & L had wanted -- to have a good time, and for all their guests to have a good time. This bridesmaid certainly had fun.