Day after the wedding

Notes from the 8th Jan - day after the wedding. 

Well, the wedding is over and done, and we’re all walking around like zombies.   We went into the church at ten (I’d thought that was when the wedding was starting and wondered why everyone was being so casual about the time) and hung around for an hour until the actual service at eleven.  This meant we greeted people as they came in.  The girls were running around in the background - they get dressed and doodied up at the church, here.   Sarah was visible occasionally, but not Liz, who managed to stay out of sight.    Cathy had made some wonderful 'buttonholes' (I'm not sure what the American word is) for everyone in the bridal party.  These were made out of various bird feathers, including pheasants feathers, and were held together at the bottom so that they formed a kind of miniature spray.   They looked great. 

We got the latest update of the order of things from the pastor, Harold, a lovely man keen to make sure everyone was at ease (I think he found Dom’s shenanaghins at the rehearsal a bit surprising), but Liz had already re-ordered things by that stage by email, and so we finally went with her version! Harold had thought there wasn’t an official run of things and had made one up in case.   Ben and Dan, as well as being part of the bridal party, worked as ushers.  This meant that Ben took Celia down the aisle with me following; a little odd, but what the heck.  Sarah came in by herself, as she was the only bridesmaid - although Daniel was also on Liz’s side up on the altar steps - he spent most of the service with his cap on (except when they were praying) and much of it checking out the congregation.  

The service went well - a fairly pregnant lady played the piano for the songs (we didn’t stand, which would have made them easier to sing) and I read Psalm 103 from the NASB.  Had quite a number of people afterwards asking if I was a Pastor/Preacher because I read it so well!   (I said, nope, just an actor, which bemused them a bit.)  Anyway I was glad it went over well - I was the only non-wedding party person to do anything. 

Both Dom and Liz choked up at points in the vows section - and then Dom didn’t realise, after he’d put the ring on Liz's finger that he was supposed to say an I will at that point (I will accept this woman, or something) so that caused a bit of a laugh all round. 

After the service the two families and Dom and Liz stood in a line and greeted everyone as they went out.  It took at least an hour, and we were all exhausted by the end.   Each person wanted to say something, or felt they should, and then we talked and so it went on.   The grandparents were included in this line, as well as Chris' step-mother, who retired early on.  It was exhausting keeping up with it. 

Home for a snooze or a rest and trying to remember what else was needing to be taken to the reception.   Seems we've spent the last couple of days transporting things hither and yon.   The reception was a bit different to a New Zealand one: for starters all the guests were already there when we arrived and the food ladies were well organised.  And people weren't dressed up, as they had been for the wedding.  Only those 'officially' involved (including the parents) were still in their wedding finery.  

There were supposed to be 200 guests, but there were probably more like150, perhaps less…which meant we had a bit of a crisis when we cleared up later on: there was heaps of food left over. We managed to give away some of the excess food and took the rest home where no doubt it'll get used up fairly quickly. 

Sarah made a speech about Liz, and that was fun, and Jon made one about Dom and explained ‘wench emancipation day’ - at Celia’s behest. I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to speak, although Dom had asked me too - there wasn’t a master of ceremonies as such - but they called me up and I delivered my somewhat prepared speech; 'somewhat' in the sense that I’d made notes and went a bit beyond them.  I wanted to pray for them too, so I’d written the short prayer out, but got very choked up in the middle of it, as I had briefly while reading Psalm 103. And again all sorts of people congratulated me on the speech - it’s the American way, I think: they’re very encouraging.

There was a bit of uncertainty about whether we were supposed to clean up before we left, but people were starting to leave by 7.30 - 8.00 anyway, so we got on with it.  Chris said he’d never had to clean up after a wedding and I said, just make a start and people will help, and they did.  The chairs and tables were put away in no time, but the food sorting out took longer.  The volunteer ladies had cleaned up the kitchen well, and it was mostly a matter of figuring out how to sort the food.  We had enough hands on deck to do all the work.  In spite of exhaustion Cathy and her family came back to the house and stayed till some early morning hour; Christin and Rick, who were supposed to be leaving about 5.30 am the next day were apparently up till 2 or more; Celia stayed up till 1 am, playing games with the others, and another group were drinking and talking out in the workshop.    

So my baby is married; seems ridiculous, but there it is.