Long post for obvious reasons, and please to be ignoring my lack of lit skillz as I mix tense all over the place and have lots of disjointed observations… I don’t want to take the time right now to clean it all up, and I’m pretty sure my grade won’t rely on this photo essay :p. I briefly thought about writing 2 different accounts, one for those that were there / know the parties involved, and one for those of you that don’t. I decided that was too much effort, so you’re stuck with a mix of the two. I also dumped most of my pictures into a gallery instead of annotating them nicely and including them here…Sue me.
Pre-Game
Strangely enough, the CT weather forecasters were correct, and snow greeted my rising. Thankfully they were also correct with their prediction that it would clear during the morning. I was seeing patches of blue sky by the time I made it to Alec’s. I walked into Al’s parents’ house wearing ski boots, as we had been joking the day before about going skiing if it snowed and “getting to that wedding thing some other time”. Alec comes down the stairs to meet me carrying his skis and boots, how cool / hilarious is that!?
Standard joking ensues as all the groomsmen make ourselves look pretty for the wedding, except Anthony, who needed to get to the church first and shovel the steps. Bonnie plays, “Mom” yet again for a scout when Matt has a blow out on his top button and requires a replacement button. Steve and the twins are unexpectedly a little late, so the boys get some quick help to get dressed.
We take various pictures and then board the “party bus”, which certainly lived up to its name. Its like a traveling party lounge with a big screen TV, strobe lights, ice chests, leather sofas, etc. Everyone agrees that this would be a great way to go to Maine. Some mimosas and bloody marys are passed around to help quench our thirst ;)
The Main Event
They both said, “I do”. Everything went well. What should I say about the actual wedding ceremony? Ah yes, all the brides maids looked lovely, and the bride herself was stunning. For those ladies reading, there’s some pictures of the dress and such in the photo album, I won’t be offended if you don’t bother reading any further J
Let’s see, what else? It was catholic, so there was a mass involved, but it all took only a hair over an hour. The church was spectacular and colorful, especially with the early morning light filtering through the stained glass. The priest who conducted the mass was a relative of Antoinette’s, so that made for some nicely personal comments. Not unsurprisingly, he took the opportunity to preach on the declining moral state of the world today and how marriage should be playing a role in making it better. They did the Moms lighting candles thing. The groom didn’t pass out or otherwise slip up; although I’m pretty sure he sweated out a wading pool’s worth of sweat just in the church. He started with a wad of paper towels to wipe himself down, and then at least two of us provided hankies during the ceremony as well. He upgraded to a hand towel when we got to the reception, due in part to a large fireplace factoring into many of the pictures.
The kids did well, no real problems there at all. In fact the girls were a bit more rambunctious then the boys. I was a little worried that my stomach rumbling from lack of breakfast would disturb the entire church, turns out I only bothered a handful of people around me. Given the “brisk” weather (okay, very chilly by all accounts), our receiving line was kept to just inside the door and ended up spanning down the aisle, which didn’t really work all that well given the physics of the area and the size of the extended wedding party (there was, count ‘em, twenty six of us; 1 bride, 1 groom, 4 parents, 1 matron of honor, 1 best man, 7 bride’s maids, 2 flower girls, 2 ring bearers, and 7 groomsmen) . It worked okay for awhile, but 237 people take awhile to exit a church, especially when most know each other. The ladies began to freeze from the constant draft, so we moved off to the side to let people out faster and start in on the required picture taking that needed to commence anyway.
Aqua Turf, Eternal Land of Celebration
The entire bridal party piles into the party bus for the ~30 minute trip to Aqua Turf, one of the premier “special occasion” locations in the area. That ride was great fun, with everyone drinking champagne and other refreshments and just generally relaxing and having a good time. Hand rails in the ceiling were very helpful, as were the drink holders high up on the walls.
We all then wander through the “wagon room” at the Aqua Turf to the back, where there is a photogenic open area off the bar with a fireplace. The wedding had a fall theme, so this particular room and setup worked really well (kudos Antoinette!). We’re greeted with plates of hors d’oevures and our own dedicated drink waiter. This was an interesting setup, as the bridal party is milling around near the bathrooms and bar, but we weren’t really in the reception hall area proper. That meant folks were coming up to visit with us some, but it was all very low key. We certainly had “down time” on the bus, and this allowed us to still have some respite from the craziness, but not feel completely stuck and isolated in some room in the middle of nowhere either. We had a bit of a delay as the photographer’s car died on the way, but that didn’t cause much pain at all.
After many various pictures, and towel downs of Alec, we walked back through the hall to the front entrance, where we waited to be introduced. There was some trouble with Antoinette’s dress, I’m not really sure what, but they got it all squared away while the kids ran around playing tag.
The bridal party was introduced with the Jock Rock classic, “Rock & Roll, Pt. 2“ playing in the background (go here, scroll down, and listen to the sample, you know the song, trust me). The bride and groom entered to the Star Wars "Throne Room" procession (you know the one at the end of the 1st movie where they’re getting their medals). I could not have picked music that better suited Alec; most excellent. I don’t recall any of the other music selections for the various bits (1st dance, etc). I don’t think I really knew any of it, and I got progressively distracted through the course of the afternoon catching up with old friends and such (hence the lack of pictures then as well).
I myself didn’t get to visit and talk with everyone I wanted to at the reception. I’m not sure how Al & Antoinette did it. It was so very nice though to see old friends on such a fun and happy occaison. I’m fairly certain that the entire bridal party was seated at the head table all together for approximately 5 minutes out of the entire afternoon; that being mostly for the best man’s toast. Steve took the opportunity to literally (although I don’t think many caught it) “dust off” his speech and then brought his twin boys (the ring bearers) into it some as he tried to do the math around how long Al & Antoinette have been together (11 years), how long Steve's kids have been around (they’re 5), and thus how long he’s been waiting to let them have a sleepover at Grandma’s house, where Alec just recently moved out of.
Let’s see, what else would people want to know? Food? The cake was topped with Babs and Bugs bunny, and was fan freakin’ tasticly scrumptious. The cake ceremony itself was tame though (come on, what ever happened to making a mess!?) Dancing? A goodly amount thanks to a DJ that was able to keep people engaged. Zach was a dancing machine, the guy was on the floor more then any two other people combined. Mom & Dad cut the rug with big smiles, as usual. Music? A mix of wedding / party classics, country, and others. Drinks? Open bar, tended in part by a young lady that Anthony I’m hoping was able to get a phone number off of for himself ;) They were also “kind enough” to ply the wedding party with Alabama slammer shots a couple of times as the conga line (you can’t escape such things, you know?) snaked by the bar. Wedding favor? A fall themed mason jar with gourmet cocoa and marshmallows, yummy, but as several folks found out, a bit breakable. No snowball fights broke out, we are getting weak in our “old age” I guess L
Post-Game (You know how to get to Paul’s house, right? So you just…)
For the record, no, I don’t know how to get to Paul’s house. I’ve never been there. I realize that one might expect better from a guy that was in his wedding as well and all, but they moved in two years ago; you know, right about the time I’d already been living in California for two years? Any of you CT folks know how to get to my house? No? Here’s what you do: “Hey JC, can you pick me up at the airport?” J
Anyway, Alec & Antoinette, having just moved into a condo (evidently near Paul’s house), had people over after the reception ended. I got to run out and buy them a corkscrew so we could open some wine (ah first home details J ). As usual with that crowd, there was way more food then even we could eat. Stuffed breads, meatballs, ziti, hotdogs and peppers, cold cut tray, etc. Alec & Antoinette began handing out large doggie bags for everyone, because anything that stayed would just go bad, as they’d be gone on their honeymoon. It turns out that we’re all mostly “adults” at this point, so we were pretty tired and cut the partying fairly short. It was nice to deconstruct some of the day though, and we were all in agreement: great day, great wedding, great time.
Alec & Antoinette have a busy week ahead: the *night* football game at Foxboro against the Bills, complete with scoreboard congratulations message to them during the 1st ten minutes of the third quarter, if they make it that long in the cold. That is followed by a Monday morning flight to Vegas, baby. They have both kindly invited me to crash on the pull out sofa in their room (Antoinette pointed out that it would be good training for her when Maine comes along, hah!). That just goes to show you how inclusive these two friends of mine can be (no, not in that way, get your mind out of the gutter!).
The size of the wedding is a testament to the friendships Al & Antoinette have created and maintained over the years. There are 33 fathers and sons in this picture all connected in two ways, their involvement in Boy Scout troop 401, and the resulting friendship with Alec. Our ages range from 21 to 70 something in this photo. Although one could fill a book, I think I will just write another post some other time about the amazing folks associated with Troop 401 (yes, ladies included, I just don’t have that shot J ). Antoinette has been a part of many events over the last 11 years, and I think we all look forward to her first year camping in Maine. Welcome to the Yorktown, Antoinette, your sense of smell, personal hygiene, propriety, and ability to sleep in adverse conditions may all be tested, probably all at once, and certainly repeatedly. 11 years of stories should have you well prepared though, I suspect.
Well, there are many other little anecdotes I could mention about the day, but I think that is more then enough. Bon Voyage, Alec. I have not seen your hatchet, but I swear the lake is a foot higher this year.
