A Very Nice Wedding

Regular reader(s) will recall the weird wedding my wife and I went to a couple of weeks ago. Last night we had a chance to go to a very cool one.

Our friends Fred and Tina tied the knot. It's her first and his second. He also brings two kids (a girl who is 13 and a boy who is 15) to the party. He's my age (in fact, his birthday is the day before my wife's) and she's in her early 30s.

The wedding took place just before sunset in a park in a marina (very close to the beach). I teased Fred that she must have serious faith in her hairdresser as it was as likely be foggy and/or windy. It was clear, if a bit breezy (being a good planer, Tina had wraps available for the women). There were about 50 people there and was officiated by one of Fred's childhood friends (he had baptized his kids and I'm guessing officiated his first wedding). As I later found out, Tina is a bit estranged from her dad, but he was there with a big smile on his face (her brother walked her up the aisle). Given how chilly it was, it was the fastest leaving group of wedding guests I've every seen.

The reception was at a local hotel, but they had recently redone this particular ballroom in California Mission style so it was nice and comfortable. As both Fred and Tina have successful law practices, they didn't scrimp on the table clothes, napkins, silver, etc. The food was great and it was an open bar (woot!). One of Fred's brothers made a terrific toast and when Tina danced with her dad they were both laughing and clearly enjoying the moment.

The wife and I danced a little and had some great conversations with the people at our table (we knew some of them). We were still a bit dragging from the DC trip and taking the HB and some of his buddies to Universal Studios as part of his birthday weekend earlier in the day (more about his birthday in an upcoming entry).

As a general rule, I LOVE weddings since they remind me of mine, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a great feeling to see two people so very much in love (and with such supportive friends and family) taking the plunge, even after Fred's first one didn't work out. A clink of the champagne glass to them both.

Weird Wedding

First, I wanted to let you know that the Anteaters got their asses handed to them by Fullerton last night, so another year passes without UCI in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

A good friend of mine (let's call him Neil) got married yesterday. Neil's my age and I've known him since high school. He joined the air force after high school (his dad was in the service) and came back a bit frazzled. Neil found a good job, battled the bottle a bit, but then met Lisa. They met in a bar, natch, and she manages a big restaurant. The wife and I have double-dated with them and they are clearly a good match. Interestingly, after the first time I met her, Neil tells me, "She doesn't mind swearing, except god-damnit and fuck." OK, whatever, everyone has their limits. I later noticed she wore a easily noticed cross and had a funky tattoo on her right calf.

Their original wedding date was in the fall, but they had to reschedule so she wouldn't be either 9 mos pregnant or nursing during the ceremony. I guess they wanted to get the baby thing out of the way....or not.

The ceremony was at a Calvary church, so figured it would be on the conservative side. It was weird that the ceremony seemed very canned and the minister had a creepy "just drank the kool-aid" look on his face. Lisa's dad walks her down the aisle. He wears a mid-60s buzz cut and when asked who is giving away the bride, he responds like replying to and order, "I am." Then, he walks back to his seat. No hug, peck on the cheek or anything.

The Jim Jones follower goes through some VERY conservative wedding vows. She gets to do everything to support him (the only word left out was obey) and he gets to be the leader. I looked at my wife and said, "She just agreed to be his third base coach."

After the ceremony, we chit-chatted a bit with some friends, then my wife took the HB to rehearsal and I headed to the reception. Everyone had some drinks then made our way to the dinner hall. There, they ran through all the wedding traditionals, bouquet throw, garter, cutting of the cake, etc. Then it comes to the father-bride dance.

You'd think that he was the 6 y.o. being forced to dance with his 90 y.o. aunt. They stood about 3 ft from each other and didn't say a word through the whole song. The music stops and, like at the ceremony, he walks right back to his seat.

Later, I ask the best man if the guy was a marine sergeant. He say, "Not marines, but I think about that rank in the army." If they have a girl, I hope that Neil has a better relationship with her.

So, here's to Neil and Lisa. To a life of love, happiness and peace.