Celebratory Moments
Weddings eventually become common place for all of us. Meaning there's a long stretch of time where we're pretty much attending a wedding a year (sometimes more). Despite getting older myself, I'm no dire hurry to find myself married. However I do admit that I'm constantly envisioning my own wedding and its proceedings...again the hopeless romantic side takes over. This past weekend I attended the wedding of my good friend Nick who got married in Green Bay to an excellent lady named Megan. I wish them the best as right now they are sitting on beach in Hawaii relaxing and enjoying some down time. Bearing this in mind here are some small thoughts:
-Not to dis our entire gender, but choreography is not a male thing. During rehersal of the ceremony I was told to wait until the two brothers made it all the way down the aisle before starting myself with the two bridesmaids I was standing up with. During the ceremony I did not realize I was also supposed to wait for this slightly longer song to end, then begin the desent. Thankfully, I was thrown a signal from others standing in the wedding that I was ready to go a little early. Great lesson here as most folks aren't aware of what the choreography is supposed to be. So in the end, go with it, and smile while you're doing it.
-I've just started golfing last summer. It's a humbling sport which I will write about some other time. I had the great oppurtunity to go golfing with the groom and his brother and dad. It was exciting to be a part of a family outing like this and when you boil it down, we were having fun and not trying to take ourselves seriously. Moments like these give you the feeling that your own family circle grows larger when you can truly feel like yourself in front of others.
-I gotta mention the coolness of our 'party bus'. As you're probably aware there's the bizarre down time between the ceremony and the reception, typically reserved for pictures. When you're not in the wedding party, it's not atypical to head to a family member's house or a bar with others before going over to the reception. In the wedding party, you're taking pictures and usually travel around in some type of luxurious vehicle, doing a little pre-partying before the reception, and riding to a picturesque site for...of course...pictures. From the outside, our vehicle of choice did look a little suspect. It looked like one of those casino busses you take from the hotel to the nearby casion. Or a bus used at a car rental place at an airport. Never judge a book by its cover as we stepped into a party bus which would have made Xzibit proud. There were strobe lights, black lights, color changing lights, leather seats, mood lighting (awkward), and of course a kickin' stereo. I've ridding in limos, old fashioned cars, and trollies, but this thing takes the cake.
-One of my favorite things at weddings these days is if the bride and groom do a photo collage of some type. One of the reasons that I enjoy this is because to me it sends a message of "here are two people who lived seperate lives, unknown of the awesomeness of the other person, and one day, they serendipitously met, and now they're married, and it's cool." It's a reminder of the simplicity of life that we're all human, we make mistakes, and move on. But there's that one person out there who is also human that accepts us for being ourselves. Really classy.
-Finally, during the best man's well elocuted speech a waitress approached him. I'm unaware truthfully how well this waitress knew the bride and groom. However, she had a two fold purpose for doing so. In an unplanned moment she grabbed the microphone and talked about how wonderful the reception had been, how nice the families were, and how sweet my friend and his bride to be were. This struck me as strange but then I thought about how often there are folks 'serving' us at weddings who really are apart of the experience but may just feel like they're working. This woman upped the emotional ante with her comments and brought the room to a strong applause appreciating her simple compliments. Then, in another humorous tone, she chided the oft-long winded best man to see if he was gonna be longer because dinner was ready. Mad props to the best man who was humble enough to let her speak.
Really soak up the wedding atmosphere for the next wedding you attend. There's always a great story or two about the bride and groom and their families. They are a time for celebration and hope, that two people can make it through their differences to stay together in a union where they love and support each other forever. I really appreciate having been a part of Nick and Megan's wedding, and thank them for the good time!
And on a final related note, I'm honored and fortunate enough to have another wedding on plate next year as my friend Jim has recently asked me to be in his wedding. He too is getting married to a great lady and I look forward to the festivities.
pb
-Not to dis our entire gender, but choreography is not a male thing. During rehersal of the ceremony I was told to wait until the two brothers made it all the way down the aisle before starting myself with the two bridesmaids I was standing up with. During the ceremony I did not realize I was also supposed to wait for this slightly longer song to end, then begin the desent. Thankfully, I was thrown a signal from others standing in the wedding that I was ready to go a little early. Great lesson here as most folks aren't aware of what the choreography is supposed to be. So in the end, go with it, and smile while you're doing it.
-I've just started golfing last summer. It's a humbling sport which I will write about some other time. I had the great oppurtunity to go golfing with the groom and his brother and dad. It was exciting to be a part of a family outing like this and when you boil it down, we were having fun and not trying to take ourselves seriously. Moments like these give you the feeling that your own family circle grows larger when you can truly feel like yourself in front of others.
-I gotta mention the coolness of our 'party bus'. As you're probably aware there's the bizarre down time between the ceremony and the reception, typically reserved for pictures. When you're not in the wedding party, it's not atypical to head to a family member's house or a bar with others before going over to the reception. In the wedding party, you're taking pictures and usually travel around in some type of luxurious vehicle, doing a little pre-partying before the reception, and riding to a picturesque site for...of course...pictures. From the outside, our vehicle of choice did look a little suspect. It looked like one of those casino busses you take from the hotel to the nearby casion. Or a bus used at a car rental place at an airport. Never judge a book by its cover as we stepped into a party bus which would have made Xzibit proud. There were strobe lights, black lights, color changing lights, leather seats, mood lighting (awkward), and of course a kickin' stereo. I've ridding in limos, old fashioned cars, and trollies, but this thing takes the cake.
-One of my favorite things at weddings these days is if the bride and groom do a photo collage of some type. One of the reasons that I enjoy this is because to me it sends a message of "here are two people who lived seperate lives, unknown of the awesomeness of the other person, and one day, they serendipitously met, and now they're married, and it's cool." It's a reminder of the simplicity of life that we're all human, we make mistakes, and move on. But there's that one person out there who is also human that accepts us for being ourselves. Really classy.
-Finally, during the best man's well elocuted speech a waitress approached him. I'm unaware truthfully how well this waitress knew the bride and groom. However, she had a two fold purpose for doing so. In an unplanned moment she grabbed the microphone and talked about how wonderful the reception had been, how nice the families were, and how sweet my friend and his bride to be were. This struck me as strange but then I thought about how often there are folks 'serving' us at weddings who really are apart of the experience but may just feel like they're working. This woman upped the emotional ante with her comments and brought the room to a strong applause appreciating her simple compliments. Then, in another humorous tone, she chided the oft-long winded best man to see if he was gonna be longer because dinner was ready. Mad props to the best man who was humble enough to let her speak.
Really soak up the wedding atmosphere for the next wedding you attend. There's always a great story or two about the bride and groom and their families. They are a time for celebration and hope, that two people can make it through their differences to stay together in a union where they love and support each other forever. I really appreciate having been a part of Nick and Megan's wedding, and thank them for the good time!
And on a final related note, I'm honored and fortunate enough to have another wedding on plate next year as my friend Jim has recently asked me to be in his wedding. He too is getting married to a great lady and I look forward to the festivities.
pb
posted by Peter Brooks at 1:52 AM
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