The Wedding

My last post was nearly 3 weeks ago.  I feel that I should give an update (And also to prove to Lynne that a married man can, in fact, xanga–albeit while is wife is not home…)

I had to reread my last post because I had no recollection of it.  I admit that I was very much in a haze, and I did wake up beside my new wife on a boat (and it was going fast…).  I greatly enjoyed the wedding day festivities regardless though.  I will attempt to describe the emotions I went through during that 24 hour period here since, from what I hear, they weren’t very evident on the outside, and those not yet married may be interested to know (though they’ll never fully understand until their own wedding).

Friday, August 7th
2:00 PM     I leave work.  The farewells were more touching that I had intended and this adds to my emotion on the way home.  However, I get home and the lengthy to do list with little time to do it replaces sadness with frustration.  I’m scrambling around, finishing packing for the honeymoon, printing important documents, running to the bank for traveler’s checks, and doing everything I can to keep from biting family members’ heads off.
5:00 PM     Everything is done.  I leave for the hotel (the Groomsmen and I will be staying there tonight).  I go to check in.  The girl can’t find my name for a bit…I’m struggling to control myself…she found it, finally!  Crisis averted.  She asks me what I’m in town for.  I tell her–she nearly explodes with delight.  I disclose to her how I was about to bite her head off back there.  She seems unamused…
5:30 PM     I grab a gin & tonic from the free cocktail hour and down it rapidly before it is time to leave for the rehearsal.  It helps significantly…
6:00 PM     Rehearsal.  We meet at the church, and Pastor Eric tells everyone what to do.  I almost cry the first time through the ceremony watching the wedding party from the stage during the processional, but I’m able to compose myself.
7:00 PM     Rehearsal Dinner.  This is at Spaghetti Works in Ralston.  My mother had reserved the party room there.  I distribute gifts for the groomsmen and ushers.  They are pocket knives from Cabela’s wrapped in pages cut from Maxim.  Everyone seems to enjoy them.  I buy Benjamin a beer which his drinks somewhat serepticiously until my dad finally sees him, but due to the occasion, allows him to finish it.  My father gives a nice toast which employs mine and his clutter in the garage as its anecdote.
9:00ish PM     We head back to the hotel.  Bridal party and ushers congregate in one of the rooms.  I’m relaxed.  We have a good time.  The girls retire first since they have to get up at 6 for hair.  The boys stay up to greet Nick, who characteristically roles in at…
12:15 AM     Nick arrives.  We go to bed.
2:00ish AM     I’m still struggling to find sleep.  Kyle, in the bed beside me, hears the “stroking” sound of his own foot fidgeting against the sheets and becomes suspicious that I think he is asleep and am masturbating.  He proceeds to roll over while violently flopping around to let me know that he is still awake.  I, that being the last thing on my mind that night, assume that he is irritated with my tossing and turning.
3:00  AM     I manage to get some sleep at some point.
8:30  AM     We get up around this time, shower and head down for breakfast.  I’m pretty emotionless at this point.  Excited and nervous, but not nearly as much as I probably should have been.
9:30  AM     We put the tuxes on and find ourselves in a minor wardrobe malfunction.  Garin and I have a different colored bow-tie than Kyle and Ben.  They are both blue, and I don’t care at this piont, so I ignore it.
9:45  AM     We go down to find the other’s.  The’ve already got their tuxes on and have gone to Cabela’s for camo disposable cameras.  Skyler has only just gotten out of the shower and is shaving.
9:50 AM     We find the others.  They all have the bow-tie that Garin and I don’t have.
9:55 AM     Back up to the room.  Skyler is now dressing, and is in the process of putting on a blue regular tie.
“Where the fuck did you get a regular tie?”  I demand, to which he shrugs.  I call Men’s Wearhouse.  We come to realize that Garin and I are the only ones with the correct bow-tie.  There’s virtually nothing they can do, but they do manage to dig up one more “incorrect” bow-tie so that we can give the correct bow-ties to the fathers and all match in the incorrect bow-ties.
11:00  AM  We arrive at the church, hang out, and attach the flowers.  The Men’s Wearhouse guy shows up with the additional incorrect bow-tie.  Tara’s uncle takes pictures of the guys.
11:45  AM  My dad shows up with Jason the ring bearer.  He has sprained his ankle ironically tripping over some clutter in the garage on the way to the car.  My mother frantically tries to dust off his tux jacket.  Garin quietly pulls a lint remover from his pocket to assist.
12:00 PM    Cherie the photographer arrives and immediately rushes me into “The Reveal”.  Basically, Tara comes in all prettied up and I get to see her while they snap photos of our reactions saving me from being all emotional up on the stage in front of everyone during the actual ceremony.  It turns out that I’m already pretty numb though.  Hopefully they got some good ones.
12:15 PM     The rest of the “formal” shots.  25 year old Gavin chats it up with cute photographer intern who is 18.
1:15 PM     Pictures are done now we wait.  Guests begin to arrive.  I’m forced to awkwardly mingle before the wedding.
2:00 PM     Ceremony starts.  I escort in the grandparents.  I had expected the walk up and down the aisle to escort in the parents and grandparents to be incredibly awkward, but I have become…comfortably numb.  Someone even cat calls me.  Oh yeah…
2:05 PM     The processional begins.  I watch them come in from the stage.  There is no emotion, no feeling.  It’s practicaly an out-of-body experience.  Tara comes in.  She’s crying.  I’m happy too–hopefully it shows.  Her dad passes her off to me.  I one-up him–who is most comfortable just shaking hands–by giving him a hug.  I’m still not sure why I did that…
Whenever     The ceremony proceeds.  I swear I was listening to the sermon, but I couldn’t recap one bit of it now.  I remember the readings, but only because we picked those out before.  We do the vows.  Tara’s crying more.  I’m almost wishing that I would cry too.  I normally would be in this sort of situation, but I truly am numb.  I keep focusing on bending my knees not wanting to pass out up there.  We do the unity candle, talk amongst ourselves while the song finishes.  Of course I can’t remember what we talked about there either.  The announcment of husband and wife, and the kiss.  I make sure to hold it out long enough for the inevitable “ow ow!” from somone in the congregation.  Thanks to whoever that was.  Then the recessional.  I dress it up a bit with a huge heel kick off the stage.  How I stuck the landing in my condition is beyond me.

Skip some…

3:00 PM    I start to “come to” as we get into the limo.  We head to the park for photos.  There’s a group of people LARPing there as well.  (That’s where you play fight mideaval style with foam weapons)  Ben and I think Kyle head over to them and ask to borrow a couple weapons.  The kindly oblige to a roar of cheers from the wedding party.  The wedding party then engages in a series of duals while Cherie is taking pictures of Tara and me.  I was really hoping to fight, but for an unknown reason, Isaac took the weapons back early.

5:00 PM     We arrive at the reception and get introduced.  It’s pretty much all fun and games from there.
10:00 PM     Tara and I depart in the luxury sedan for the Magnolia hotel in downtown Omaha.  We will head from the hotel to the airport the next morning for a 6:30 am flight to Tampa.
10:20 PM     We arrive at the hotel.  I realize that I left Tara’s ID in my tux pocket which is with my family.  I call them and they head out to give it to us.
10:35 PM     Tara realizes that she does not have her birth control…
11:50 PM     We gratefully take an envelope from an Embassy Suites employee after waiting in front of the hotel for half an hour.  Tara’s mom and uncles had paid the kid to make the delivery when on his way home from his shift.  I call Tara’s mom to tell her that we got it and am easily able to hear through the phone a roar of cheers coming from her aunts and uncles and cousins who have all figured out by now what “medicine” really is.
The night ends at some point after that…

I’ll tell more later.