October 5 – “The Wedding”

And so, the wedding.  As with many others, this one didn’t start on time.  Actually we were thirty or forty-five minutes late.  All the principal characters were on site, but many of the key guests were stuck in the glorious Houston traffic.  Luckily, they had the entire venue until midnight, so a bit of a delay didn’t matter that much.  It did drive the wedding coordinator to distraction, though.  And that’s always a plus for adding some excitement. 

Once we began, I knew this one was destined for greatness.  The three-year-old ring bearer started things off by making his way down the aisle carrying his cute little pillow … in his mouth.  Cracked up the whole house.  Awesome start.  And then about fifteen different people did their dead-level best to convince the flower girl to begin her walk.  She finally did make it as far as where her Mom was seated about three or four rows from the front.  Close enough. 

The color scheme was quite unusual.  Black and white with red roses.  The bride’s gown was even trimmed in black with a black ribbon used to tie it together in back.  Had the look of, well, a skunk.  It sure made the white striking though.  The bridesmaids dresses were all different styles, but each one was black.  Groomsmen were all in black suits with white vests and wore white spats on their shoes.  The groom was all in black, even his vest.  That flower girl was wearing all black.  A very poofy looking dress.  Honestly, it reminded me of something I saw Abby Schuto wear on NCIS.  The ring bearers had on my favorite attire of the night.  They wore black pants, but their shirt had been monogramed with their name inside a shield.  And on their back was stamped “Ring Security.”

Generally speaking, the wedding itself went off without a hitch.  The only thing unusual, other than me, came when I mentioned something about how you’re not supposed to live with your parents forever.  The bride’s mom shouted a resounding “Woohoo.”

As we were taking pictures after the wedding, one of the fake Doric columns (Hey, I learned something in my college CORE class) fell to the ground.  I heroically managed to rescue the huge fake flower pot at the last second.  Later on the column fell again.  This time I wasn’t there to affect a rescue.  I crashed to the ground and took out the flower pot and a girl standing nearby.  Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt.

At the reception, the groom’s uncle from Tijuana, Mexico, spoke for five or 10.  All in Spanish.  When the translator finally got the mike from him, she gave us: “He says he’s sorry he doesn’t speak English.  Where he comes from there is no river separating them from Texas.  And … welcome to the Hernandez family.”  Guess it must have lost something in the translation.  He later spoke to us, and I knew enough Spanish to understand that he was saying Chris was beautiful to the eyes and that I was blessed by God.  Right on both counts.

Lots of dancing ensued.  They weren’t nearly as accomplished at the line dancing as April and Nathan, but it was entertaining nonetheless.  The night ended with a big fireworks display outside.  Well, it didn’t actually end for everyone, but that’s when we left.  The others went back in to continue the party, but my inner pumpkin was yearning to come out so we headed back to the hotel.

Genesis 2:24 says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”

Father, watch over Lynsey and Victor.  Draw them close to you.  Amen.