Don’t we all look like a happy bunch of people? That’s me on the left (you know, in case you didn’t recognize the outfit), my 16-year old niece, my sister, my Dad, my brother-in-law, his parents, and on the bench, my 12-year old nephew, and my Mom.

The wedding today was lovely. First, the weather was practically perfect–just a hair warmer and more humid than the last few days have been, but really lovely and–most importantly–ahead of the rain moving in tonight. The wedding ceremony was beautiful–caring, kind, thoughtful words from the minister who married them, and a couple very nice songs and readings from friends and loved ones.

The reception . . . well, wow. A tremendous amount of really good food for the cocktail hour while waiting for the bride and groom to get through with the endless photographs (more on that later). Really good sit-down meal. Individual Baked Alaskas for dessert, in addition to the wedding cake (also good).

My brother-in-law (as Best Man) gave a very nice, dignified, thoughtful toast and then was more or less upstaged by the bride’s sister giving a very sweet and emotional one. It took her a couple of minutes to compose herself before she could begin, and spent a few minutes afterward being hugged by her sister, both of them rather teary (but in a good way). It was really touching–she talked about growing up with Betty as her big sister and how, when she met Tim, she immediately felt he fit into the family, and knew he was the right one for her sister . . . all very sweet.

Then there was the poem read by one of Betty’s friends–actually one of the five of them who have been close friends since they were little girls, which is something you don’t hear about very often, that an entire group stays that close for so long. Anyway, originally, apparently Betty had tried to set Tim up with one of her friends, until, well, things went in a different direction. But her friend put it all into an amusing poem, and read it to all of us–also very sweet.

And then, they had a montage of old pictures of Tim and Betty growing up–baby pictures, birthday parties, vacations–going back and forth between the two of them as they got older . . . and then suddenly, pictures of the two of them together, and doing things with each other’s family . . . all set to music and nicely created on a friend’s computer. I’ve never seen anything like it at a wedding, but it was such a great idea. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house at the end!

So the negatives (because nothing is ever completely perfect), though the list is small. Two items in fact.

1. The army of photographers. No one thinks good wedding photographs are more important than I do. I also allow that it is now acceptable for photographers and video-recorders to do their thing during the ceremony. (I’ll even admit that I took a non-flash photo or two myself.) However, they hired a veritable army of photographers for this wedding. I counted at least five people carrying professional equipment busily around the wedding. Which, you know, is fine and all, but during the ceremony, they were right there, on the altar, circling the action to get their shots. They did back off a little during the actual vows, but otherwise, like Mom pointed out, it was like a movie set up there. I thought that was rather intrusive. Is there really any good reason why the videographer had to be up there with the minister, the bride, and the groom? This must be one of the best, most-documented weddings ever. They looked like a very efficient group and I’m sure the photos will be great (and multitudinous), but . . . I kind of would have liked to have been able to get a shot of the bride and groom myself once in a while without having the photographer-brigade in my way. Unless, of course, Tim’s been in the CIA all these years and the photographers were actually bodyguards in disguise?? Hmm. Hadn’t thought of that.

  2. There can, I suppose, be too much perfection. I was so delighted at the match between shawl and shoes that I forgot that match-makers can sometimes do too good a job. The shoes and shawl liked each other so much, they couldn’t stay away from each other. I counted at least 7 times that my heel got caught in my shawl. Not just momentarily tangled, but actually all the way through one of the double-YO eyelets in the shawl. Because, remember, my shawl came out so large and therefore hangs so long on my 5’3″ self, and then the heel on the shoe was so narrow, it easily went through the holes . . . thank heaven the yarn didn’t tear! (That KnitPicks Baby Alpaca/Silk Shimmer yarn–it’s laceweight, but tough!) I’m going to try to block the shawl again so that it’s a little smaller (though I don’t know if that will work), but mostly, I’m just glad that everything worked okay. The shoes looked fabulous, but did make me feel a little limited for safely moving around–between the shawl-tangling and the fact that those narrow but high heels were somewhat treacherous on the floors. See, nothing is actually perfect!

  To end the day–the wedding favors were bamboo shoots for luck for everyone. There was also a donation made in Tim and Betty’s name to Save the Children through the I Do Foundation, a (and I quote) “nonprofit organization that helps couples bring a charitable focus to their weddings.” Isn’t that a nice touch?

And to top off the day, Julie sent me an origami crane which, since it arrived on Tim and Betty’s wedding day and also signifies luck, I’m choosing to consider a good sign. I might even be tempted enough to send it to them instead of keeping myself, just because . . . or, no . . . well, I’ll decide that later. But wasn’t that nice of her??

I just love a good, happy day, don’t you?

And now, since it was a tiring, good, happy day . . . I’m going to bed. I’ve been up (well, on the computer) later than I’d planned since our modem went out again, though it came back after about 10 minutes. I promise there will be some knitting content tomorrow. Really!

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