2008-09-07 
 

dudelyweds

The wedding has come and gone. Dude and I stayed up extra late the night before just talking and listening to some of his older songs. Not the best thing for clear eyes the next day, but wonderful thing to be able to still do with my brother. I had the redness reliever with me...along with all the hair product that Dude normally wouldn't deal with. G put it all to good use yesterday getting Dude's hair (and mine) ready to deal with the humidity.

Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am to have G in my life? He put up with me agonizing over the wedding in general (and the toast in particular) for several weeks now and didn't slap me upside the head once. Then yesterday, Mark wakes up cool as a cucumber and I'm literally shaking with nerves as we put on the tuxes. I don't think it was just the thought of having to speak in public. I had the nausea I'm used to experiencing up in front of any public speaking, but this was different. I was in a state of high agitation. Not the sort of state you want the best man to be in. Anyway G kept up a steady refrain of encouragement that everything would work out and managed to calm me down enough so that I could be there for my brother when he needed me.

About 45 minutes before the outside ceremony was supposed to start, the sky opened up and we got our first taste of Hanna. A secret part of me was happy about this. I had on four layers of tux and just stepping outside onto the front porch caused an immediate sheen of sweat to pop out on my face. A move inside would mean blissful AC. That said, I knew how important it was for both Dudette the bride and Dudette the photographer to have the ceremony outside, so I joined in with everyone who was trying to push the rain away for an hour or so. There were a lot of people actually praying, but I chose instead to try and channel Storm and push it away with my crazy mind power. The rain broke long enough for us to have the ceremony and cocktail hour/photos outside in front of the house. The Daniel Webster Estate is truly a gorgeous backdrop to have in pictures, so whether it was the prayer my X-Men like ability or some strange combination of factors, I'm very glad it worked out.

I remained pretty nervous throughout the ceremony. (I would make a lousy sentinel as I have a very hard time standing still.) Fortunately, the ring bearer was dealing with the same struggle and having someone to be an example for can be very good incentive to hang in there. I must compliment him. At eight years old, standing in place for five minutes is a struggle let alone for a full twenty. Sure, bribery may have helped a little bit, but he even came through when the minister asked him to kiss the rings...something that nobody prepped him for during the rehearsal.

An odd thing for me was that the moment the Dudelyweds turned to walk back down the aisle I stopped being nervous. As stressful as this wedding prep sometimes got over the past months, it was all very worth it. Seeing them so happy up there saying their vows made me even happier that they've finally taken this step.

So, there I am, an hour or so away from the toast and I actually felt deeply calm...even though I'd left my copy of the toast sitting on Dude's bureau and normally would've been freaking out. Turns out that Dude and I really do compliment each other. I'm feeling calm for the first time all day and he began to get agitated about how long it was taking to start the dinner. Hopefully I helped him a little bit there. I managed to snag some of the meat on a stick appetizers and a beer for him and kept him company while we waited for everyone to get their turn in front of the camera. The photos did take a pretty long time, but I'm guessing that happens a lot.

Then came the toast. It went well. I got some compliments and a few confirmations that people got teary at appropriate moments. The caterer did tell me at the end of the night that it was the best toast she'd ever heard, but I truly believe that's something she must say to "all the guys."

My original intent was to have this entry right after the wedding just be what I'd written for the toast, but I varied a bit from the original and I think it came out a bit better because of that. I hit all the main points I'd originally written out, but I'm actually very curious to see the video to figure out how just how much I ad libbed. The scary part about watching that will be realizing just how much champagne I spilled on one of the maids of honor during the whole thing. I do have a tendency to gesture with my hands when talking and that's not very wise with a full glass in my hands. It will also be interesting to see how much I was sweating during the whole thing. Humid weather plus enclosed tent makes for a squelchy atmosphere. I'm pretty sure I was looking a bit like a drowned rat in a rented suit, but pretty much everyone else was in the same boat...or swimming alongside it I guess.

The rest of the evening was great. Good food, lots of dancing and just general fun catching up with familiar people and meeting new ones. In fact, G and I have been invited up to Maine this fall and we're planning on accepting, but more on that later. Right now we're at the Dudelyweds' apartment cat sitting for them while they honeymoon far away from hurricanes in Aruba.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, shout out, spirit

* posted by me at 6:07 PM

Comments: Post a Comment