“Your wedding event was the most hyped up thing since I can remember, and it exceeded expectations.”
- James Mincks
There are a lot of people who don’t buy into the institution of marriage (“buy” being the keyword here). I have to admit, their bullet point arguments are pretty sound. Whenever vendors hear “we’re getting married”, you can see the dollar signs spin in their eyes. It’s bullshit. You know it. We know it. They know it. I even tried at one point convince Beth it would be a good idea to tell our location vendors that it was for a “family reunion” just to see what the cost difference would be. The most popular argument you hear is “Why pay for a wedding when you can use that money towards a down payment on a house.”
They’re right. For what we spent on our wedding, we could be well on our way to plopping down the foundation for a cute little Los Angeles cottage.
But on Friday afternoon before the wedding day, just as I was about to perform a wicked cannonball into Smoke Tree’s pool, I looked out among my childhood friends, Beth’s childhood friends, my high school friends, Beth’s high school friends, my college friends, Beth’s college friends, my family, and Beth’s family all splashing around together. This was my cauldron of awesomeness. My beautiful, beautiful stew.
This is why I wanted to have a wedding. No other time in my life was this ever going to happen. I don’t regret throwing down that kind of cheddy for that kind of feels.
So. How was the wedding?
Quick and to-the-point response: I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Everything went as expected and while I knew it when Beth and I first started to plan this beast back in that tiny ryokan in Japan, I’m glad we did it our way. Beth and I tried to sprinkle in as much of “ourselves” into every aspect of the wedding weekend as we could and I think we accomplished that goal. From the Survival Kit Gift Bags that contained bottles of water, packets of Emergen C, band-aids and marriage equality stickers to the Beef Jerky VS Donuts table. Beth’s dream has always been to attend cocktail hour at her own wedding and we did.
Why explain it when you can show it, right? Here is a link to some of the photos
http://tinyurl.com/c6a679d
All that being said, I’m excited to get back to a life of normalcy. We can actually come out of our cave, blink into the sun as our eyes adjust to natural light and join our friends just as we had before. No more “Sorry, we can’t…. wedding errands.” And we can look forward to talking about anything else but the wedding. Onto the next adventure.
“I feel like we’ve passed a milestone. In the story that is our youth and young adulthood, we’ve made it to the climax of the third act–the Death Star was destroyed, medals were collected, Chewie moaned, the music swells (the orchestral theme, not that shitty pan flute music at the end of Return)–and now it’s that time where the protagonists ride into the sunset to destinations and adventures unknown as the credits roll. The audience doesn’t know where they’re going, just that they’ll be alright. “
- Wylie
Thanks for partying with us.
Brandon
FAQS
Who was your officiant?
Beth’s cousin Shannon. I’m surprised you don’t know her. No one else could have pulled it off. You can read more about her here.
What was that song Shannon referenced in her sermon?
Simon & Garfunkel’s Kathy’s Song
What were the readings you had at your ceremony?
Cousin Amy read a slightly altered excerpt from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. You can find it here.
Nick read his own poem (one that was tailored to Beth and me). You can read it here.
What was with the donut and beef jerky table?
Beth is obsessed with donuts. I love beef jerky. We wanted to have our guests indulge in things we love.
For your first dance, that wasn’t Jim Croce singing “I’ll Have to Say I Love You In a Song”. Who was it?
The story is that Beth and I wanted Jim’s song to be our first dance, but it was much too fast. Lucky for us, Beth’s brother Matt is a brilliant sound engineer. He played the guitar and mixed a slower version while he had a buddy of his provide the vocals.
How did you kill it with the dance music?
A lot of beers and a lot of hours with Wylie and Beth. This was not an easy task. We provided our DJ with a finely combed excel sheet with three columns: 1. Must Plays 2. Inspiration 3. Do not play under any circumstances. If you’d like a copy of said form, I’ll gladly send it along.
We also told him to reject all requests and to deny the microphone to anyone. #sorry #notsorry 
Whoa… who did everyone’s hair?
Our favorite lady, Dessarae Harrington. She’s got her own place up on Magnolia Boulevard called Parlor.
Who were your photographers?
Micah & Megan. Calm, cool, funny, the best. Hire them.
Who was the artist that made all your Seating Arrangement Cards?
Noelle Stevenson. We were lucky to get her! You can find her blog here.
Uh… how many pizzas did you order at the After Party?
40
Which Newsies songs did you actually end up playing?
Details are a bit fuzzy, but I believe we ended up singing shouting “Carrying the Banner”, “Santa Fe”, “The World Will Know” and “King of New York”. I could be wrong though. I had a lot of whisky.
How’s that ring doing?
I ask myself, “Should I be getting food on this? Is handsoap going to ruin this somehow?” I also keep spinning it on my finger. When does that stop? I hear not for a while.
I guess I can’t crash on your couch anymore now that you’re married?
I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.
