Wedding Bells

Saturday

Get up early. Get ready. Eat some leftover pizza. Throw tux bag and clothes in the car. We drive to the Greek's place, picking up flowers in town, coffee for us and a bagel for him en route.

We arrive at the Casa Greek just before 11. Unload flowers. Filterless Jay and the Greek, along with a few other people, are trying to get everything ready. Two large barbeques that look like they were made by the A-Team are being readied at the side of the house for Sunday's efforts. Johnny shows up with a third. Oil drums, bicycle chains and electric motors are heavily involved in the construction of these fascinating monuments to human ingenuity in the pursuit of barbeque.

I help out with moving stuff and getting stuff ready while my lovely wife chauffeurs people and helps with the hall. The scene is one of order being imposed upon the potential of chaos. There is an energy in the air.

FilterlessJay, the Greek and I all get ready. The photographers have arrived and are snapping pictures. DiverG arrives with his wife and two lovely children, and then Ladybug's Brother arrives, completing the groomsmen collection. My lovely wife gets back from the hall and helps out at the Casa while we get ready. She looks radiant.

All dressed (and looking damn sexy), we throw our shit in the cars and drive to the hall.

We take care of a few things at the hall, put flowers in our lapels, and head to the church.

We get to the church. People start arriving. We groomsmen show them to their seats.

My family arrives; Wolfgang, KGB, and the Mothership. Wolfgang looks very dapper in a suit and silver tie; KGB is beautiful in a black dress and sports a rock on her finger. The Greek's brother and his family, and his sister, arrive; uncles and aunts, relatives, and friends. Pretty soon the place is mostly full and the Greek and his father (who is also the best man) take their place at the front of the church, and we groomsmen line up beside them.

The shoes they give you with your tux look pretty but man, they aren't made to stand in.

The ceremony. It is beautiful. The Greek and Ladybug read their vows, written themselves and from the heart.

The priest announces them as man and wife, and even gets the last name right, and everyone applauds and cheers.

We follow them out of the church, bridesmaids on our arms.

There is a reading by the Greek's wee nephew, who does tremendously well, and then we release doves. (They aren't really doves, but a kind of pigeon, trained to fly around the church a few times and then go back to their roost.)

We load up in cars and drive to a nearby spot for pictures. There's a waterfall nearby, and all the trees are in colours of autumn. The kids, who have been extremely well behaved so far, can be forgiven for getting a little playful now that they've been deposited in the woods with not much to do. There are lots of pictures, and we sneak out a case of beer.

The groomsmen go off to one side with a photographer who tried (mostly unsuccessfully) not to get flustered at all the gay-chicken humour going on. The Greek has given each of us a honkin' huge belt buckle which suits us in particular, and we get pictures in our tuxes with our big belt buckles. Then we get one with our belts and pants around our ankles. Good times.

The Greek and Ladybug retire to the waterfall for more pictures and we wait, talk, and try to relax a bit. Then, to the hall.

The Greek has the DJ cue up loud greek music with an incredible beat to it and he enters dancing, and we follow. We dance around the room for a while, clapping our hands and snapping our fingers. Then the music changes and Ladybug dances in leading her bridesmaids. I never thought that dancing like an idiot in front of a hundred people could be this much fun.

The Greek and Ladybug break bread and we head to the head table. They announce the tables in order to eat. The food is really good.

Wolfgang, KGB and the Mothership are seated at table 14 with DiveBunny, the Rocket and TeamHooking, and my lovely wife. My lovely wife has been on the move all day and hasn't had a chance to eat since the pizza we scarfed this morning, but she's hanging in there. When table 14 is called they all jump up with a whoop and a cheer and do a dance move that they've obviously worked out in advance. It's very funny.

I eat my fill and then decide against stuffing myself, since I have a speech to give (very imminently!). FilterlessJay and DiverG keep me well stocked with beer. Ladybug's maid of honour, StarInWaiting, finishes off my half-eaten dinner roll.

They call up StarInWaiting for the first speech, then FilterlessJay, both of whom have written notes for their speeches and both of whom do a very fine job. I don't know the speech order, but I figure they'd alternate between bridesmaids and groomsmen, so when a server offers me coffee I take one. I dump in cream and I'm just reaching for the sugar when FilterlessJay finishes up and the MC calls me up to speak.

I have no written notes; I have an outline of where I want to go in my head, but that's about it. So I mostly wing it. It seems to go well; I was happy with it, and people laughed at all the right places. The Greek and Ladybug both give me big hugs and thank me when I'm done. My hands a shaking a bit when I sit back down and pour sugar in my coffee. When I was in school I hated speaking in front of crowds, the idea terrified me; it still kinda does, but it looks like I've more or less learned to cope with it. I'm glad I have because it meant a lot to be able to speak that night and say thank you.

The speeches continue, and all of them are well written and engaging, delivered by personable speakers. The father of the groom and the father of the bride both give excellent and very funny speeches. Ladybug delivers hers, and it's great, and then the Greek. He made his mom cry, which I was sort of expecting, but then his dad started to cry too and I almost started to cry at that point myself. It was a great speech.

And then the dancing. Oh good lord, the dancing.

The mothership points out that she's never seen all the kids dancing together before. We manage to get her up for a few dances herself. I dance with my lovely wife, with KGB and Wolfgang, and with DiveBunny, the Rocket and TeamHooking; I bounce off of MisterLips and manage to land without hurting myself, to the amusement of all. Plates are broken. We eat food and we drink. We dance some more.

We close the place down in the wee hours. My ears are ringing, my voice is hoarse, my legs are sore and my feet are aching, but I'm elated. Although we had a gracious offer of hospitality from a friend of the Greek's, and now a friend of mine as well, my lovely wife and I drive back home, unable to resist the lure of the comfort of our own bed.

I can't quite believe that the Greek and Ladybug are married.

What an incredible day.

Sunday

We arrive at the Casa Greek about ten thirty. FilterlessJay is still up, and hasn't been to bed yet, because of issues with the cooking. He's prepared a whole pig on one of the big rotating spit machines and has a turkey and a lamb on the go. Four chickens are put on the barbeque. Tables are set up by the girls and decorated beautifully. Beverages are set out. Ice is collected. There is so much to do.

FilterlessJay grabs a few hours of sleep and the Greek tries to do likewise but can't. People start to arrive. The Greek and Ladybug change into authentic Greek costumes of the style of the Greek's father's home town, shipped from overseas. They are amazing and they both look great. Friends and family start to arrive, and we stake out a decent spot to sit in the shade, drink beer, and talk.

The afternoon is a blast. Good times, good food, amazing weather. The lamb in particular is superb; FilterlessJay has outdone himself.

As the afternoon winds down, and people start to drift away, we start to clean up. We end up stoking a bonfire at the side of the house, and FilterlessJay, DiveBunny, Wolfgang and his roommate, and my lovely wife and I stare at the fire and FilterlessJay sings songs, and smoke cheap cigars from the Depanneur.

Later on we go inside, where the Greek and Ladybug are still up, going through presents and letters with StarInWaiting. The Greek is falling asleep as we speak to him, so I tell him to get some sleep and the rest of us (Ladybug, StarInWaiting, Wolfgang and his roommate, and my lovely wife and I) retire to the kitchen. There we light candles, tell stories, and drink two 1.5L magnums of champagne. I hadn't really had a chance to sit down and talk with StarInWaiting before, and I'm really glad we did. She's a beautiful person with mountains of personality, and she's very funny.

Then, since it's past one in the morning, we bid the Casa Greek adieu and head home. Ladybug gives my lovely wife a beautiful centrepiece. We drop off Wolfgang and his roommate and then head home, and crawl into bed, and sleep.

The past two days -- well, the past three or four, really -- have been amazing. The Greek and Ladybug are both incredible people and they are so great together. The weather has been absolutely perfect for the whole duration and I choose to take that as a sign that higher powers approve of this match as much as the rest of us do. I am tired and sore, but so very happy, and proud and honoured to have been a part of this.

And now, we relax.