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wedding weekend, part 2
Oct. 6th, 2014 11:13 pmSaturday morning, we got up and sat around a little while. I didn't need breakfast, due to the large amount of food I ate the night before. I had a little coffee cake, and that lasted me through most of the afternoon. Cyn left at 10:30 to join the bridesmaids to have her hair done. That took about four hours. I sat around that whole time. I got a message that lunch would be available in Mike's room at 1:30. At 2:00, Brad got a call asking what kind of bread he wanted the sandwiches on. I went back to the room to get dressed. I expected it to take about 20 minutes. It probably took me 45. I had to iron my shirt, and my moustache was acting up.
We were to catch the taxis at 3:00. The bride was running late, so after she left at 3:00, the groom could safely exit the building without seeing her. We stood around a while, and he and three groomspeople finally got their taxi at 3:20. Greg, Cyn and I had to wait for the next one. The cab was a mess, and smelled like a parking garage stairwell. We told the driver we were going to the Bourne Mansion, and he had no idea where that was (it was two miles due south, on the shore). In fairness, Long Island is a big place. I had to look up the address on my phone, so he could plug it into his beat-up GPS. Then the thing told him to turn left on Montauk Highway, but the mansion was to the right, so that took a few minutes, even though he was driving rather abruptly. At one point I had to pick his glasses up off the floor for him. It turned out that the first taxi was filthy. Heather got a stain on her dress.
It had been raining all day. Cyn's dress was so long that it trailed on the floor, even though she wore the tallest heels she could manage. So she trailed water for a while. It looked like someone was mopping the floor behind her. But the rain quit shortly after we arrived, and it hadn't cooled off yet, so the groom's party went outside for photos.
For the ceremony, Jill's mother walked her down the aisle. Jill started crying about halfway there. She looked gorgeous, of course. The ceremony was very nice. The officiant had done some homework with the two, and spoke about what drew them to each other, and what they loved about each other.
After the ceremony, we did some photos. Then we had a few minutes to look around the reception area. There were a couple of fancy rooms in the mansion that had several hors d'oeuvres tables, including a couple of carving stations, and also the bar. They had a few picture frames set up on the mantles and bookshelves, with photos of Mike and Jill as kids, and some old family photos. Cyn and I looked around for a bit, while they took more photos of Mike and Jill together, and them with the wedding party. Then we went upstairs to the "bridal suite" to hang out and eat a few snacks. The photographers got a few more shots of Mike & Jill because the sun came out, just as it was ready to go down. We got ready for our grand entrance into the hall. Everyone was seated at their tables, and the parents came in followed by the wedding party, who made an arch with their hands, under which the happy couple walked.
What happened then? I think we took our seats and ate salad. Seems like we then had some dancing. It must have been the couple's first dance. They had practiced well, and did spins, and the like. Then Jill danced with her mother, and Cyn's dance with Michael. Cyn learned the box step, and they danced to Fleet Foxes's "White Winter Hymnal." Beautiful. They danced well, Cyn looked beautiful, and the song was sweet. I forget what happened after that. Maybe there was more dancing, or maybe we took our seats again for the entree. Steak or Salmon, both excellent. Then there was more dancing. The DJ blackmailed us onto the dancefloor, and played some oldies for us oldies - a Sinatra-ish song, the Beatles, Chubby Checker. Then they brought out dessert platters. Then the cake. Then more dancing. Mike made sure there was Lagavulin behind the bar.
We were sitting at the family table with Jill's cousin and his wife, her mother, her aunt and her niece. I conversed with most of them. I spoke with only a few people beyond that. Mostly people I knew, of course, and there weren't many of those. Then the party broke up at 10:30. Most of the people who were left rode the shuttle buses back to the hotel.
And... the next morning, we got up, packed, and sat around the hotel until about 11:30, when we were finally able to visit with Mike and Jill for a few minutes. I hadn't actually spoken to her all weekend, and it was nice to chat with them for a little bit after the wedding. We checkout was at noon so we waited as long as we could since our flight wasn't until 2:30. We sat at the airport for a couple of hours. We were among the first people there. At the airport, I mean, not just for our flight. Southwest does only a couple of flights a day, and the rest is all small planes, which don't go through the terminal. We flew to Baltimore.
From Baltimore, an honor flight went with us. Or we with them. Mostly WWII veterans, with a few Korea and Vietnam vets. One woman among them. Most of them were in wheelchairs. While we were waiting, we saw a young lady and man handing out flowers to them. An announcement was made that they were newlyweds. She had brought her bouquet along, and took it apart to hand out. The vets boarded first, so boarding took a while, but that was okay. We weren't really in a hurry. During the flight they did a mail call, where they handed out "mail" to the veterans. It was letters written to them by friends, family, politicians and the like.
We got back to Milwaukee, got the shuttle back to our car, drove back home, and cooked a frozen pizza. And that was it.
Mike and Jill are somewhere over the Pacific on their way to New Zealand.
We were to catch the taxis at 3:00. The bride was running late, so after she left at 3:00, the groom could safely exit the building without seeing her. We stood around a while, and he and three groomspeople finally got their taxi at 3:20. Greg, Cyn and I had to wait for the next one. The cab was a mess, and smelled like a parking garage stairwell. We told the driver we were going to the Bourne Mansion, and he had no idea where that was (it was two miles due south, on the shore). In fairness, Long Island is a big place. I had to look up the address on my phone, so he could plug it into his beat-up GPS. Then the thing told him to turn left on Montauk Highway, but the mansion was to the right, so that took a few minutes, even though he was driving rather abruptly. At one point I had to pick his glasses up off the floor for him. It turned out that the first taxi was filthy. Heather got a stain on her dress.
It had been raining all day. Cyn's dress was so long that it trailed on the floor, even though she wore the tallest heels she could manage. So she trailed water for a while. It looked like someone was mopping the floor behind her. But the rain quit shortly after we arrived, and it hadn't cooled off yet, so the groom's party went outside for photos.
For the ceremony, Jill's mother walked her down the aisle. Jill started crying about halfway there. She looked gorgeous, of course. The ceremony was very nice. The officiant had done some homework with the two, and spoke about what drew them to each other, and what they loved about each other.
After the ceremony, we did some photos. Then we had a few minutes to look around the reception area. There were a couple of fancy rooms in the mansion that had several hors d'oeuvres tables, including a couple of carving stations, and also the bar. They had a few picture frames set up on the mantles and bookshelves, with photos of Mike and Jill as kids, and some old family photos. Cyn and I looked around for a bit, while they took more photos of Mike and Jill together, and them with the wedding party. Then we went upstairs to the "bridal suite" to hang out and eat a few snacks. The photographers got a few more shots of Mike & Jill because the sun came out, just as it was ready to go down. We got ready for our grand entrance into the hall. Everyone was seated at their tables, and the parents came in followed by the wedding party, who made an arch with their hands, under which the happy couple walked.
What happened then? I think we took our seats and ate salad. Seems like we then had some dancing. It must have been the couple's first dance. They had practiced well, and did spins, and the like. Then Jill danced with her mother, and Cyn's dance with Michael. Cyn learned the box step, and they danced to Fleet Foxes's "White Winter Hymnal." Beautiful. They danced well, Cyn looked beautiful, and the song was sweet. I forget what happened after that. Maybe there was more dancing, or maybe we took our seats again for the entree. Steak or Salmon, both excellent. Then there was more dancing. The DJ blackmailed us onto the dancefloor, and played some oldies for us oldies - a Sinatra-ish song, the Beatles, Chubby Checker. Then they brought out dessert platters. Then the cake. Then more dancing. Mike made sure there was Lagavulin behind the bar.
We were sitting at the family table with Jill's cousin and his wife, her mother, her aunt and her niece. I conversed with most of them. I spoke with only a few people beyond that. Mostly people I knew, of course, and there weren't many of those. Then the party broke up at 10:30. Most of the people who were left rode the shuttle buses back to the hotel.
And... the next morning, we got up, packed, and sat around the hotel until about 11:30, when we were finally able to visit with Mike and Jill for a few minutes. I hadn't actually spoken to her all weekend, and it was nice to chat with them for a little bit after the wedding. We checkout was at noon so we waited as long as we could since our flight wasn't until 2:30. We sat at the airport for a couple of hours. We were among the first people there. At the airport, I mean, not just for our flight. Southwest does only a couple of flights a day, and the rest is all small planes, which don't go through the terminal. We flew to Baltimore.
From Baltimore, an honor flight went with us. Or we with them. Mostly WWII veterans, with a few Korea and Vietnam vets. One woman among them. Most of them were in wheelchairs. While we were waiting, we saw a young lady and man handing out flowers to them. An announcement was made that they were newlyweds. She had brought her bouquet along, and took it apart to hand out. The vets boarded first, so boarding took a while, but that was okay. We weren't really in a hurry. During the flight they did a mail call, where they handed out "mail" to the veterans. It was letters written to them by friends, family, politicians and the like.
We got back to Milwaukee, got the shuttle back to our car, drove back home, and cooked a frozen pizza. And that was it.
Mike and Jill are somewhere over the Pacific on their way to New Zealand.
