an unofficial officiant of a wedding
everyone went to mary's mom's house for a big breakfast. i didn't go. i needed time to be alone, gather my thoughts, study, pray, cry, you know. i slept until 10, which was 7am at home. i had many quiet hours in which i did all of the above. i was avoiding the wedding prep though and i didn't start to work on it until just before john and boyz got back. john was a bit all over the place, but it was his wedding day so, that's ok. they all left again at 3 to go get ready at some other place. i was supposed to go too, but i balked. i didn't want to get ready in a group of people, in chaos, and without my final thoughts ready for the wedding. john was all "so you want your own private dressing room." and i was all "yes.", nod, nod. so we made a deal. i got the room all ready for the wedding night, the bed made in new sheets and everything tidied up, and i got my own dressing room. when they left, i had 2 hours. ok good, i thought, an hour to get ready and an hour to prepare what i will say....and do the room. at one point, i'm not going to lie, i started to hyperventilate. i just didn't feel like i had the ability to do it. i felt like i had no reserves of anything to give in my part of the wedding. but i wanted to be able to do it for them. i prayed a lot and eventually the rapid shallow breathing settled into that warm peaceful calm in my belly and i knew i would have help, that God could make me more than i am, like he has so many other times, and at that point i stopped worrying. it was going to be ok.
i was ready a little after 5. the wedding wasn't to start until 6:30, but i had said i would get to the venue (i told john to please refer to it as the venue, and he really took that to heart), marty's market around 5. i still had to go down to the bottom floor of the hotel (by the way it was a cool old brick hotel that used to be a monastery) to the business centre and print out the vows. so i did that. and then i went up and asked for the shuttle bus to take me to marty's market. it was out but the girl said it wouldn't be longer than 20 minutes. what to do, but wait and look over my notes. another couple was waiting too. the man was either a little tipsy or just socially weird. i couldn't decide. finally the shuttle came and i waited out on the stairs with the couple. it was raining. hard. it rains hard in pittsburgh, it seems. like a couple of seconds out in the rain and you are soaked through and through. so the shuttle bus/concierge guy knew about the wedding at marty's, and he was committed to getting me there first which i appreciated. the couple were waffling on where to go for a seafood dinner. he told them a number of options, but they couldn't seem to make up their mind. he was all, well i have to get this young lady to marty's market. and they were all ok. so we drove there, and i got out into the rain with all my luggage and bags and into the market. i was a little worried that i would be later than i should and that everyone would be worried. no one had a way to contact me because my phone was obviously off due to roaming issues. but john wasn't there yet and neither, obviously was mary, so everything was fine. mary's mom, that warm hearted soul, greeted me and asked me if i was with the boyz and john and i said no, i was alone and she said you are not alone, you are with us. the wedding ceremony was supposed to be at the marina down the road, what john called the sub-venue, but marty's was to be the back up plan if it rained. it was obviously raining very hard, so i asked if the wedding was to be at marty's because it didn't look like it was ready for a wedding. no, said the owner of marty's, mary's friend, very firmly. it's at the marina and it will stop raining soon and everything will be fine. she seemed so sure. ok i said and sat and waited for things to happen.
it wasn't long until john and the boyz showed up looking very handsome. john was wearing a light brown suit with a lavender shirt and bow tie. christian had a robin's egg blue shirt, black vest and a bow tie. ryan had a purple shirt, vest and bow tie. they each were pinned with lavender boutineers (i have no idea how to spell this). john, the boyz, colorado bob, and i all stashed our stuff in the back room of marty's market. i took my purse with me but didn't wear it because well it was red and this is one time where i did care about matching it to my outfit. while we waited i took some pics of the boyz in the produce area of the market.
of course some selfies ensued. ryan always got cut out, a fact he rued. ryan turns 13 today. happy birthday ryan!
this one makes me think that christian despises tomatoes...
i love this one of ryan. he knows how to rock a pototato.
and christian finds so much joy from squash.
i am so glad the boyz were there. i could be their fun wacky aunt and forget about my troubles for a while.
aaaaaanyways, after a while the rain did indeed stop and we all walked down to the sub-venue. by this time my turquoise-pop-of-colour-high-heel-wedge shoes, were getting uncomfy, but not too bad. they had a gorgeous lei made for me out of orchids. however it was down on the table at the sub-venue in the rain. luckily my purse was well stocked with kleenexes thanks to my love who forced them on me before i left egypt. so once we got down there i just shook it off, and blotted and put it on. not only was it so beautiful but also so fragrant. it smelled divine. so the wedding planner stashed my unsightly red purse in a portable for me, and the wedding party and me were all herded up the hill to the marina gate and we waited for the bride to arrive. john was made to only look forward so he wouldn't catch sight of mary before the time was right. at this point everyone was all jitters and i was very calm, even though, i didn't know exactly what i would say at some parts of the ceremony. my jitters were over.
when the time was right and every one was ready, the music started. this girl was singing and she had a beautiful voice. i gingerly made my way down the steep hill, thinking now would not be a good time for one of my characteristically spectacular accidents. everyone else followed in their order. mary and her dad started down even before the last were all the way down. she had a teal dress, knee length and very pretty and quirky just like her. john teared, mary teared, the music stopped, and i started. and everything went well. it was a simple ceremony. a friend did a reading which was nice, and there was an hour glass thingy where they both put sand into the hour glass, symbolizing their time and commitment to each other. that part took some time because the sand went down quite slowly. i had to hold the funnel, and i was all jiggle, jiggle, come on sand, let's get going! then i said their self-written vows and they repeated them after me. they were really nice vows and so mary, if that makes any sense. for instance the words 'shenanigans' and 'tomfoolery' were included. then they exchanged the rings and i almost forgot to talk about ring symbolisim but i did it after like that was the way it was supposed to be. and then i was all "wait, let me check.. yep you are husband and wife, you can kiss the bride" and everyone laughed and they kissed and everyone cheered and i presented mr. and mrs. clarke and they stood in front of everyone, walked to the top of the hill and everyone lined up to hug and kiss them as they returned the venue for the party. me and boyz stayed at the bottom because they were required for pics from the photographer. while we waited we took some pics of our own. (it turned out to be a gorgeous evening after all)
this is during the reading. i stole this pic from fb. thanks mary's mom!
this is my fave of the 3 of us.
pittsburgh is the city of bridges. there are all these cool looking yellow ones. there are a couple in the distance.
christian's camera, which was the go to camera, since i didn't have room for mine and ryan, ryan was quick to point out he had a better camera than christian, but where was it? it was in his dad's car..at the hotel..anyways christian's camera had this photobooth feature that we tried out.
so yah, john and mary are having a romantic moment here, but also i wanted to show a pittsburghian building...that's important too.
so i sat around and waited through all the obligatory group shots, and was part of some of them and just chilaxed. chirsten, the guy who was ordering everyone around--and what happened was that mary asked for a shot of me and the boyz with john and christen said 'later, first the big groups' and then he said to me, i hope you don't mind...i was all whatever, i am totally down with whatever happens. he then said 'yah, did you have a beer before coming here? you are just so relaxed." ha. beer. pfff. what did i have to be uptight about? my part was over. that's all that mattered.
let me tell you i had to really be persistant to get this jumping shot, but i think it was worth it.
yah, that's my finger. i'm a bad person but i don't care. i don't care about anything anymore. i may quit caring about doing any serious photography too. in fact i'm pretty sure i am done.
then we all headed back to the venue. there was a fun first dance where mary's dad cut in and then john cut back in.
there were no tables left so we sat on this bench. there were good and quirky foods. lavender lemonade, lavender maceroons, lavender ice cream... i approved. a very good mac and cheese... i was so full even though that was my only meal of the day really.
the signing makes it official folks.
mary's sister emily said i look just like her friend. so we took a selfie together. i really like emily.
i was ready a little after 5. the wedding wasn't to start until 6:30, but i had said i would get to the venue (i told john to please refer to it as the venue, and he really took that to heart), marty's market around 5. i still had to go down to the bottom floor of the hotel (by the way it was a cool old brick hotel that used to be a monastery) to the business centre and print out the vows. so i did that. and then i went up and asked for the shuttle bus to take me to marty's market. it was out but the girl said it wouldn't be longer than 20 minutes. what to do, but wait and look over my notes. another couple was waiting too. the man was either a little tipsy or just socially weird. i couldn't decide. finally the shuttle came and i waited out on the stairs with the couple. it was raining. hard. it rains hard in pittsburgh, it seems. like a couple of seconds out in the rain and you are soaked through and through. so the shuttle bus/concierge guy knew about the wedding at marty's, and he was committed to getting me there first which i appreciated. the couple were waffling on where to go for a seafood dinner. he told them a number of options, but they couldn't seem to make up their mind. he was all, well i have to get this young lady to marty's market. and they were all ok. so we drove there, and i got out into the rain with all my luggage and bags and into the market. i was a little worried that i would be later than i should and that everyone would be worried. no one had a way to contact me because my phone was obviously off due to roaming issues. but john wasn't there yet and neither, obviously was mary, so everything was fine. mary's mom, that warm hearted soul, greeted me and asked me if i was with the boyz and john and i said no, i was alone and she said you are not alone, you are with us. the wedding ceremony was supposed to be at the marina down the road, what john called the sub-venue, but marty's was to be the back up plan if it rained. it was obviously raining very hard, so i asked if the wedding was to be at marty's because it didn't look like it was ready for a wedding. no, said the owner of marty's, mary's friend, very firmly. it's at the marina and it will stop raining soon and everything will be fine. she seemed so sure. ok i said and sat and waited for things to happen.
it wasn't long until john and the boyz showed up looking very handsome. john was wearing a light brown suit with a lavender shirt and bow tie. christian had a robin's egg blue shirt, black vest and a bow tie. ryan had a purple shirt, vest and bow tie. they each were pinned with lavender boutineers (i have no idea how to spell this). john, the boyz, colorado bob, and i all stashed our stuff in the back room of marty's market. i took my purse with me but didn't wear it because well it was red and this is one time where i did care about matching it to my outfit. while we waited i took some pics of the boyz in the produce area of the market.
aaaaaanyways, after a while the rain did indeed stop and we all walked down to the sub-venue. by this time my turquoise-pop-of-colour-high-heel-wedge shoes, were getting uncomfy, but not too bad. they had a gorgeous lei made for me out of orchids. however it was down on the table at the sub-venue in the rain. luckily my purse was well stocked with kleenexes thanks to my love who forced them on me before i left egypt. so once we got down there i just shook it off, and blotted and put it on. not only was it so beautiful but also so fragrant. it smelled divine. so the wedding planner stashed my unsightly red purse in a portable for me, and the wedding party and me were all herded up the hill to the marina gate and we waited for the bride to arrive. john was made to only look forward so he wouldn't catch sight of mary before the time was right. at this point everyone was all jitters and i was very calm, even though, i didn't know exactly what i would say at some parts of the ceremony. my jitters were over.
when the time was right and every one was ready, the music started. this girl was singing and she had a beautiful voice. i gingerly made my way down the steep hill, thinking now would not be a good time for one of my characteristically spectacular accidents. everyone else followed in their order. mary and her dad started down even before the last were all the way down. she had a teal dress, knee length and very pretty and quirky just like her. john teared, mary teared, the music stopped, and i started. and everything went well. it was a simple ceremony. a friend did a reading which was nice, and there was an hour glass thingy where they both put sand into the hour glass, symbolizing their time and commitment to each other. that part took some time because the sand went down quite slowly. i had to hold the funnel, and i was all jiggle, jiggle, come on sand, let's get going! then i said their self-written vows and they repeated them after me. they were really nice vows and so mary, if that makes any sense. for instance the words 'shenanigans' and 'tomfoolery' were included. then they exchanged the rings and i almost forgot to talk about ring symbolisim but i did it after like that was the way it was supposed to be. and then i was all "wait, let me check.. yep you are husband and wife, you can kiss the bride" and everyone laughed and they kissed and everyone cheered and i presented mr. and mrs. clarke and they stood in front of everyone, walked to the top of the hill and everyone lined up to hug and kiss them as they returned the venue for the party. me and boyz stayed at the bottom because they were required for pics from the photographer. while we waited we took some pics of our own. (it turned out to be a gorgeous evening after all)
this is during the reading. i stole this pic from fb. thanks mary's mom!
hi. i'm an unofficial officiant. i don't think i'm all that and a bag of chips. i just do what i'm told.
then we kept forgetting it was on...
and again...
let me tell you i had to really be persistant to get this jumping shot, but i think it was worth it.
then not long after all this and that the couple lefted in a bicycle pulled cab for two...so cute, and not long after that, sam, mary's brother drove me and the boyz to mary's parent's house. i slept in mary's comfy bed last night. but first me and the boyz played chinese checkers. and we talked with the fam and so on and so forth.
and now my plane is finally leaving...
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