… even in the midst of casualty among wedding guests. Let me explain, but first I’ll exclaim – a celebration was had by all as my Son Blaise was successfully married to his lovely wife Jessica this past weekend, [in the midst of some surprises]. Many congratulations were said, with a cup that spilleth over among the many guests and onlookers over this 2-day weekend celebration in Austin, Texas. Turns out though in the world of wedding celebrations one thing hasn’t changed, and that is to say “you can’t take us parents anywhere” these days. Next time, think about getting a babysitter for the old folks and you may find that your vows and festivities run a bit smoother? 🙂

Photo: Rehearsal Dinner with Blaise & Jessica

In Retrospect ~
The day after the wedding night the new couple held a sort of “send-off” brunch in which I exclaimed to the bride’s father I had not had that much fun over two days since, well, I can’t remember when. Two nights of just letting go and partying and dancing like crazy [who was having the time of his life watching these two lucky individuals well, get lucky]? Or something like that. I proposed taking a vote to see if maybe they could get married again, you know just for us guests? That was so much fun, so can we do that again next month? I mean all their friends meshing with their relatives and their thoughts and our words of advice, some which had worked and some honestly which had not but still we shared any wisdom we had or ever even heard of that “might work”? Okay, enough of that, they are off on a lovely European escape and better off being far away from everyone at this point [in my mind anyway].

On Wedding Day ~
The couple opted for a garden wedding [outdoors]. It was hot and sticky that day in Austin as the crowd gathered to take their seats outside on the veranda. As the ceremony began all things looked like a go. With Blaise’s cousin Paul doing the officiating, he was almost at the affirmations when one of the guests, the mother of the best man collapsed in her chair. Paul tells me later he saw her go down right away and purposely stopped his wedding speak as everyone turned to look at what could be done to get EMT’s there to the rescue. I grabbed my phone as did another guest sitting nearby, probably three of us calling 911 at the same time. Once an ambulance was on it’s way I turned to my ex sitting along with me in the front row as Paul resumed the ceremonial speak and I whispered to her, “the sirens should begin about now, looking down on my fake watch” and they did only 5 seconds after which she replied, “be quiet!” [So see? Nothing much has changed since our divorce 10 years ago.] 🙂 As predicted, sirens arrived in front of the hotel momentarily making everyone speak A LITTLE LOUDER! However, I have to give credit to Austin Emergency Responders as they must have seen that a wedding was taking place out front because as soon as the ambulances pulled up all sirens turned silent. They quickly tended to the patient and she apparently responded well to their rescue efforts. The ceremony continued [absent the patient and almost on time] and the new couple was successfully “hitched” without another delay.

The Reception Party ~
Now on to the fun stuff, the reception dinner began indoors as the band played very subtle type stuff and other marriage ordinances commenced in the way of speeches beginning with the Bride’s Father. After all nicety’s were said and bellies were full it was obviously time to party? The band gauged the crowd well as they moved from more traditional slow dance stuff into R&B then rock and roll and more rock and roll and more, and more and more great stuff! The dance floor became crazy, it was one of those great times when you didn’t need a partner, a big circle of guests formed on the floor, each a willing, and half-ennibriated to allow themselves a personal expression of a dance they didn’t have much command of but boy was it entertaining to watch us all try anyway. I did participate in this but don’t remember any of the steps I made up as they were quite random and luckily for me, I don’t remember what all I did to express myself on that floor that night. I’m just hoping no one had their camera phones on? [If so contact me, as I will pay for that to go missing.] 🙂 Suffice to say much fun was had by all!

More Afterward ~
Then, just as the band directed everyone to begin congregating outside to line the walkway and spew things onto the new couple as they passed by, another guest collapsed inside the reception hall. Passed out completely, she was quickly revived and tended to without the need to call for an ambulance. I did witness her walking talking the next morning so not sure what that was all about? So the weekend casualties held at two, two was the number of guests that went down but luckily both battled back to live another day and thank God for that as we wouldn’t want any other outcome during a wedding celebration.

The Morning After Gathering for Brunch ~
A customary send off “Come and Go Brunch” was held the following morning to make amends to anyone you said [or did] something to over that weekend you’ll only regret later – you know the drill. By Sunday morning I’m guessing anyone in attendance would have traded shoes with the new couple since they were looking ahead to a nice retreat [away from all this craziness]. Funny how that works isn’t it? Everyone loves them so much, love was “the cup that runneth over” on that particular weekend… it’s the legacy that will remain.

I am sharing my Rehearsal Dinner Speech [in its entirety] which I wrote for the occasion being the father of the Groom:
[I began with a few marriage-related jokes and some words of wisdom.]

“A man approached a very beautiful woman in the supermarket and asked, “I’ve lost my wife in here so will you talk to me for a minute?”
“Why?” she asks.
“Because every time I talk to a beautiful woman my wife appears out of nowhere!””
_________________________
“I have always heard how Marriage is a great institution, I just don’t like the sound of being “institutionalized” that’s all.”
_________________________
“The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once.”
_________________________
“A husband returned home after work when his wife demanded that he take her somewhere expensive, so he took her to a gas station.”
_________________________
“The wife exited the shower and grabbed her robe while the husband was getting in the shower when their doorbell rang. She ran downstairs to see who it was. She opens the door to find their neighbor Bob standing there. Bob says to her if you drop that robe right now I’ll give $1,000! She thinks about it for a couple of seconds then drops the robe and is standing there naked. Bob hands her the $1,000 and walks away. She quickly gets the robe back on and returns upstairs when the husband asks, “who was that at the door honey?” She says, “it was our neighbor Bob”. The husband says, “Oh good, did he say anything about that $1,000 he owes me?””
_________________________
“The Paradox of Marriage is ~
A woman marries a man expecting that he’ll change, but he doesn’t. A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change, and she does.”
_________________________

“My Power of Love Speech”
“When Blaise reminded me that the Groom’s Father always gives words of advice, or a speech for the rehearsal dinner guests, I thought about it [for a half-second at most] and realized I wanted to talk about what brings two people together in the first place. It’s a thing called love and as it turns out love is the most powerful force in the universe. It’s an integral part of God’s perfect design for mankind. Love has the power to motivate us into action, justify a cause, as well as heal any wound we may be suffering. While men choose a fight to prove who is right and who is wrong, love rises above it all because love conquers without the need to bear any arms. More powerful than the strength of ten armies combined, the power of love has been known to make that which appears impossible to be possible. Love can endure and persevere like nothing else in this world, and it can overcome the strongest forces against it. Love is unique because love is truly indestructible. Nothing gets in the way of true love, not the highest mountain nor the deepest ocean will ever stop its intent. Nor can anything erase true love as it can survive and live on and on. So we should cultivate this power and harness its strength remembering that love has its unique abilities to pierce a heart with ease and even drive the best intentions of man with an unstoppable force.”

“We will find traces of love in everything, everything that was ever done and undone, as well as those things seen and those that will forever remain unseen. So it is love that is at work here once again as we gather this weekend [with our family and our friends] to witness its power in action, a beautiful work that can only be accomplished by the love between two people. Now as we celebrate and witness the union of two people brought together by love let us be reminded of its everlasting credentials and the power of its legacy, as these two, Blaise and Jessica, go forward to share their lives. And let us never forget the power that love brings as two become one – one in mind, one in heart, one in hope, and one in dreams of their future together. Let us pray that those dreams be fulfilled by, for, and from the love they have for each other as we propose this toast, “To the couple, Jessica & Blaise – Cheers!””

[If you choose to plagiarize this material all I ask is that you credit me, Brant Newman.]

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