Right now the sun is setting on a balmy August afternoon and I figured I would look back and tell you all a little bit about a big happening in my family from last month.
Frequent followers of the blog may know my cousin Eddie and his fiance Ashley from my time down in D.C. They live in Virginia and I was a often in there apartment watching Yankee games or spending my last day in a snow-covered capital.
Well after ten years of dating (all the way back to junior year of high school) and six months of engagement, the day had finally come for them to tie the knot! They got married in their hometown of Wappingers Falls, NY. I was also very fortunate to be asked to be a groomsman in their wedding party.
My duties as a groomsman commenced with a bachelor party in June held in none other than Seaside Heights, NJ. Come mid-July however, it reached it's pinnacle with the big day.
The wedding was set for Friday evening, but I made the trek from MA to NY early for the rehearsal dinner. They decided to hold it at my uncle's (Eddie's father's) house. Complete with deck, pool, and enough room to crash, it had everything we were looking for. Once back from the church, the wedding party wasted no time in sampling the caterer's hors'doeuvres.
The groomsmen were also sure to do one thing immediately: empty their pockets. With the combination of 20-something men and an in-ground pool, it only meant that sooner rather than later we would get our turn touching the bottom of the pool with our dress pants and polo shirts. One by one, the groomsmen would shoot looks to each other planning which unsuspecting soul that would get next. I eventually fell. Before the night was done, all the members of the wedding party except the bride would find their way in the pool.
After we dried ourselves off, we went inside for the wedding party gifts. While the bridesmaids got necklaces, the groomsmen received engraved wood baseball bats to mark the occasion.
The next morning was a case study in gender differences. The women woke up around 7:30am, ate breakfast, got their hair done, got their makeup done, set up the bridal suite, took pictures, waited for the limo, yada, yada, yada...
We groomsmen awoke around 10:30 or 11am, realized what time it was, went back to sleep, woke up an hour or so later, had some lunch, and swam in the pool. Around 2:30, we started getting dressed and climbed in the limo (complete with suicide doors for that Back to the Future look) and made our way to the church. Here we are recreating our best Michael J. Fox pose...
Cue the "Here comes the bride..."
After a brief ceremony, we were back in what was now a very crowded limo for a ride to the picture location: a park along the Hudson river. We took a few pictures and spied an empty shipping vessel docked and climbed aboard for some action shots. We then made the short ride to the reception, which was a tent overlooking the Hudson and Mid-Hudson Bridge.
The wedding party camped out in the bridal suite enjoying the drinks and hors'doeuvres that the wait staff kept bringing us. I was starving, so this was a welcome surprise. When I had devoured all I could from the suite, we were all introduced and the party was officially kicked off.
It would not be a wedding without ridiculous dancing...and this was no exception. It seems that we are all given immunity from looking like fools. Whether it is my cousin's husband Rob stinging guitar solo during 'Don't Stop Believing", my cousin's boyfriend Chris channeling his Darwinian past through his crocodile nose and gorilla thumping, or my trademark "crypt walk" during "Beat It", it seemed like we are were serial offenders that night.
Here's to another great family wedding in the books!
Congrats Eddie and Ashley!
Take care all!
No comments:
Post a Comment