My Wedding. May 28, 2005.

I may be a little biased, but I think that was the best wedding I’ve ever been to.

The whole day flew by. One minute, Jen and I are having breakfast together in the hotel with a dozen screaming soccer players. The next minute, I’m in a suit and tie standing in front up 100 people waiting for my bride to walk down the aisle. Whoa.

The ceremony was beautiful. Jen looked amazing. It didn’t go exactly as we practiced it in the rehearsal (the officiant decided he was going to improvise about half way through), but everything worked out OK. We changed things up just enough to make it personal. Anything we didn’t like, we omitted. Was I nervous up there? Yeah, of course I was. But it was worth it. And it was over before I knew it (I felt like I could have used 2 or 3 more practice runs before the actual event). Suddenly, Jen and I are leaving the building. After the receiving line, our guests musically accompanied us to the car on 75 kazoos. Too funny. I almost lost it there.

After the ceremony, we went to Glen Falls Park for pictures. Lots of pictures. I hope the ones from the end turn out OK, because my face was hurting from smiling so much. There were at least three other wedding parties doing their pictures there that afternoon (and a few kids from the high school prom). Now this was a pretty small space for three wedding parties. There was some intense jockeying for the best backgrounds. Add in attendants, giant SUV limos, and a few Clydesdales, and you’ve got a potentially volatile situation. Unfortunately, it never came down to an all-out rumble. That would have been great.

I finally got 5 minutes to talk to Jen on the car ride between the pictures and the reception. That was nice. I really hadn’t seen her much that week. It’s amazing how little time you actually get to spend with the person you are marrying during the days leading up to the wedding.

I had a blast at the reception. The food was quite good. I loved the cake. And the DJ did a good job. He didn’t get to everything on our playlist, but I was pleased. The dance floor was packed all night. He did his job. This was the first reception I’ve ever been to where the bartenders were dancing. Jen’s idea of “movie themes” during dinner as background music went over really well. Everyone seemed to have a lot fun guessing which movies we were using (the DJ himself was highly amused - “First time in 19 years of dee-jaying that I’ve played the theme from “Pee-wee's Big Adventure” at a wedding reception…”)

We were also treated to one of the all time top-ten best man toasts. Seriously. Mike knocked that one out of the park. If you’d like to hire him for weddings, birthday parties or other gatherings, I can get you his contact information (but be warned… he has an extensive list of “contract demands”…).

Again, the whole event flew by. But according to my married friends, it ALL flies by after the wedding and the first kid. Great. "Vroooom! What was that? That was your life, mate. Oh, that was quick. Do I get another? Sorry, mate, that's your lot."

We really appreciate everyone making the trip out to Buffalo (and we totally understand if you couldn’t make it). I wish we had gotten the chance to spend more time with everyone and actually shown them some of the things in Western New York I think they would enjoy. Don’t feel slighted if you didn’t get to see us much. We were there on business. We had a job to do.

Finally, we love pictures. If you have any good ones, please send them in.

Coming soon… The Honeymoon. Stay tuned!