A Paean to Weddings

[marcusmarcusrc]

It was, of course, a splendid and glorious event, as a wedding should be.

I have had the fortune of attending a number of friends’ weddings. Bilingual (Spanish & English) weddings, trilingual weddings (French, German, and English), morning weddings, afternoon weddings, evening weddings. Weddings with prewedding sleepovers. Weddings with many bridesmaids and groomsmen or with none, or perhaps bridesmen and groomsmaids. Sometimes "Superior Humanoids" or "Rather Good Men". Tuxes or no tuxes, swords or (usually) no swords, matching bridesmaids dresses or individual creations. Outdoor weddings, indoor weddings, weddings involving a brief dash outdoors into the heat of a Boston July and then back into the safety of air conditioning, weddings in a blizzard. Fancy hotels, rustic cabins, ancient churches, open fields. Completely serious weddings, or weddings with humor and camel jokes but stirring emotions all the same. At the reception, contra dancing, square dancing, the hora. The bride and groom performing the music for their first waltz. Karaoke. 200 person weddings, 50 person weddings. Catholic weddings, Quaker weddings, Mormon weddings, Jewish weddings, pagan weddings, areligious ceremonies, Unitarian weddings, mixtures. Same sex weddings, handfastings. Weddings in California, Illinois, Boston, Florida, Virginia, Tanglewood, Mexico, Paris, Salt Lake City. MIT weddings, Caltech weddings, elementary school friends, Utah friends. Extensive "tests" for the groom to pass to be deemed eligible. Readings from the Bible, from Pablo Neruda, from Gilbert & Sullivan. Wedding favors of bubbles, fans, leathermen. Wedding programs like theatre playbills, table cards with guild references or octopi.

Bouquet and garter tosses. Or (once) a thesis toss (with very enthusiastic competition to be the one to catch the great stack of paper).

Weddings officiated by friends, by priests, by justices, by parents, or by priest/rabbi tag teams.

All flavors of adorable children tossing flowers, bearing rings, or dancing on people’s feet.

Cakes topped by Han Solo and Beauty (of the beast), or by little figures with telescopes and computers. Chocolate cakes. White cakes. Tiered cakes. A towering cone of cream filled balls with sputtering fireworks. The bride and the groom feeding each other by hand, or by fork, or taking the first slices to feed each other’s parents.

Mariachi bands. The Imperial March. Escaflowne. Organ music, ELH, music composed by friends just for the occasion. Impromptu David Ives performances, mummer’s plays, a cappella concerts. Old history coming out through slide shows, displays at each table, toasts from family and friends.

Picnics, potlucks, buffets, sit-down meals, BBQs. Lots of alcohol or no alcohol.

I’ve gone to weddings where I only knew one person other than the bride & groom. I’ve gone to weddings that effectively become huge college reunions. Weddings where the night before was spent folding, punching, and tying ribbons through programs, or where the morning was spent playing "Give Me the Brain" in full tux regalia. Dozens of different flower arrangements (sometimes complete with cattails handpicked by the groomsmen).

But what really makes each wedding special, each wedding unique, are the expressions of the bride and groom. The laughter, the tears, the smiles, the trembling, the jaw dropping at the first sight of the bride, the drowning in each other’s eyes. Firm declarations of love, or bare whispers through choked throats. Fumbling to slip the ring on, struggling to light the unity candle, or flicking the mating flies out of the kiddush cup. There is something about seeing a friend who you know well make such an important, joyous step in their life. You can read all the signs of bliss in their faces, and feel the waves of happiness flow out over those who gather to celebrate the occasion with them. And for a moment, you know that all has to be right with a world that has such love in it…

Comments

[coraline]

i am pleased/amused to see our wedding in bits in pieces throughout this entry :)

[marcusmarcusrc.livejournal.com]

Your wedding was wonderful and memorable. =)

Plus a lot of fun for the guests. And possibly the best food I've ever had in my life (and I have had a _lot_ of tasty meals)