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Oct. 25th, 2004 05:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizillaWent to my sister Anne's wedding this weekend, in California.
I left Thursday night after work, flying out on Northwest. As I had feared when I got stuck flying out on Thursday, I had lots of trouble getting away from work in time for my flight. I got there just in time. And unfortunately there was some kind of drama at the baggage check and they managed to not put my luggage on my plane. Grrr. I didn't get my suitcase until Friday night. I'm not sure which thing I missed the most, my clothes, my laptop, or my hairbrush.
Friday I helped with some of the prep, and then went out to dinner with a couple dozen friends of the happy couple. I rode to the restaurant with some of their friends who had two little kids, age five and six. The kids were fighting and I came up with an excellent distraction. The whinier of the two kids was the girl, Katy. Short for Katherine. I gave Katy my phone to play with. We had her call my mother and say, "Hi, this is Katherine, I just called to chat."
Anne wanted a small wedding, and she thought it would be fun to have it on the beach. So she decided to get married in Carlsbad, CA, even though neither she or her fiance have ever lived there. My parents are retired and they live there, and she only expected about 40 people to travel to the wedding. Surprise! She got about twice that many. I guess a lot of people are willing to go to SoCal in October. Or maybe she really is that popular!
Anne's new husband, Larry, is a very nice guy. It turns out he has a nice family as well. I enjoyed meeting his sisters and his niece.
The wedding was pretty, but it was hard to hear over the sound of the surf and the sound of cars passing on the Pacific Coast Highway. Some people honked their horns and waved as they went by, obviously pleased to see the nice wedding couple on the hill above the road. I did manage to make out a few of the words. It was a non-denominational service, with a cheerful female minister who had an Australian accent. She made a little speech about the bride and groom and what they had told her when she interviewed them. Larry said he was first drawn to Anne because she was "cute and sorta goofy", and Anne said Larry always calmed her down when she got "over elevated". They looked very happy and utterly besotted with each other. It was an exceedingly simple ceremony, no attendants, no music, nothing very theatrical. It was over in ten minutes.
After the ceremony, Anne realized she had forgotten to bring two things. Her bouquet, and the marriage license. Someone was sent racing back to the hotel to get them.
The reception was in the community center at my parent's condo complex. My parents decided to do a lot of the work themselves. They ran around moving chairs and clearing up dishes and acting like caterers. Anne had to drag my dad out of the kitchen every time he was needed for traditional father of the bride kind of stuff. It was frustrating watching them wait on people hand and foot while obviously exhausted, and I felt guilty for not doing more. But every time someone outside our immediate family offered to do anything, they pushed them away. It didn't have to be that hard; other wedding guests would have pitched in. Or they could have hired someone or let Anne hire someone.
Larry and his family brought the beer and wine and champagne, which is traditional I suppose, but I was surprised that my parents managed to not have apoplexy since they are such hardcore teetotalers. Some of the friends and some of Larry's family got a little tipsy, while my parents mostly hid in the kitchen or sat at the farthest possible table from the drinkers, smiling cheerfully and pretending not to notice. When they did the toasts Anne brought out a bottle of sparkling cider for my parents, but they wouldn't drink it, instead they had bottled water.
Late in the evening as things were winding down, Larry's friends tossed him in the swimming pool. They pulled his pants off first so as not to ruin them. One of the other guys who had been drinking fell in the pool with Larry, fully clothed. It was funny!
Yesterday on the way home I landed at Detroit Metro a little after 4pm, and as I was getting off the plane I heard someone calling me. I looked over and there was David Gibbs! He was waiting for his plane, which was going out from a gate right near where mine came in. It wasn't due for almost an hour, even before it ended up being delayed, so we got dinner together in the terminal. It was good to see him.
I left Thursday night after work, flying out on Northwest. As I had feared when I got stuck flying out on Thursday, I had lots of trouble getting away from work in time for my flight. I got there just in time. And unfortunately there was some kind of drama at the baggage check and they managed to not put my luggage on my plane. Grrr. I didn't get my suitcase until Friday night. I'm not sure which thing I missed the most, my clothes, my laptop, or my hairbrush.
Friday I helped with some of the prep, and then went out to dinner with a couple dozen friends of the happy couple. I rode to the restaurant with some of their friends who had two little kids, age five and six. The kids were fighting and I came up with an excellent distraction. The whinier of the two kids was the girl, Katy. Short for Katherine. I gave Katy my phone to play with. We had her call my mother and say, "Hi, this is Katherine, I just called to chat."
Anne wanted a small wedding, and she thought it would be fun to have it on the beach. So she decided to get married in Carlsbad, CA, even though neither she or her fiance have ever lived there. My parents are retired and they live there, and she only expected about 40 people to travel to the wedding. Surprise! She got about twice that many. I guess a lot of people are willing to go to SoCal in October. Or maybe she really is that popular!
Anne's new husband, Larry, is a very nice guy. It turns out he has a nice family as well. I enjoyed meeting his sisters and his niece.
The wedding was pretty, but it was hard to hear over the sound of the surf and the sound of cars passing on the Pacific Coast Highway. Some people honked their horns and waved as they went by, obviously pleased to see the nice wedding couple on the hill above the road. I did manage to make out a few of the words. It was a non-denominational service, with a cheerful female minister who had an Australian accent. She made a little speech about the bride and groom and what they had told her when she interviewed them. Larry said he was first drawn to Anne because she was "cute and sorta goofy", and Anne said Larry always calmed her down when she got "over elevated". They looked very happy and utterly besotted with each other. It was an exceedingly simple ceremony, no attendants, no music, nothing very theatrical. It was over in ten minutes.
After the ceremony, Anne realized she had forgotten to bring two things. Her bouquet, and the marriage license. Someone was sent racing back to the hotel to get them.
The reception was in the community center at my parent's condo complex. My parents decided to do a lot of the work themselves. They ran around moving chairs and clearing up dishes and acting like caterers. Anne had to drag my dad out of the kitchen every time he was needed for traditional father of the bride kind of stuff. It was frustrating watching them wait on people hand and foot while obviously exhausted, and I felt guilty for not doing more. But every time someone outside our immediate family offered to do anything, they pushed them away. It didn't have to be that hard; other wedding guests would have pitched in. Or they could have hired someone or let Anne hire someone.
Larry and his family brought the beer and wine and champagne, which is traditional I suppose, but I was surprised that my parents managed to not have apoplexy since they are such hardcore teetotalers. Some of the friends and some of Larry's family got a little tipsy, while my parents mostly hid in the kitchen or sat at the farthest possible table from the drinkers, smiling cheerfully and pretending not to notice. When they did the toasts Anne brought out a bottle of sparkling cider for my parents, but they wouldn't drink it, instead they had bottled water.
Late in the evening as things were winding down, Larry's friends tossed him in the swimming pool. They pulled his pants off first so as not to ruin them. One of the other guys who had been drinking fell in the pool with Larry, fully clothed. It was funny!
Yesterday on the way home I landed at Detroit Metro a little after 4pm, and as I was getting off the plane I heard someone calling me. I looked over and there was David Gibbs! He was waiting for his plane, which was going out from a gate right near where mine came in. It wasn't due for almost an hour, even before it ended up being delayed, so we got dinner together in the terminal. It was good to see him.
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no subject
Date: 2004-10-25 11:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-26 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 03:02 am (UTC)I always kinda think, hey, I know a few people in Detroit, wouldn't be neat if I bumped into one of them at the airport...and it really happened.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-01 09:30 pm (UTC)Congrats to the both of you for being extra-plus good on being in the right spot at the right time!