Aaron's Wedding

Well, after all the stress and worry, the event went off with nary a hitch. It was a genuinely lovely ceremony with the expected emotional moments. Even though it was only 65 degrees Fahrenheit or so, I was still sweating quite a bit. I'm sure I had some nice pit stains when I took my jacket off, but I didn't bother to check. Nikki was a beautiful bride of course, and Aaron was outwardly very calm. Regrettably, I cannot say that I was particularly involved in the wedding effort in the months leading up to this one, but I can say that I was pretty involved with at least the last week.

On Wednesday, we had a small bachelor party. Brett and I went golfing with Aaron at Sunset. I had the best score with a 59 over nine holes. For you non-golfers (like me) out there, that's not good. We golfed the last hole using only the putters. Then we went to the Seneca Casino in Salamanca with Turck, Aaron's brother Eric, Aaron's then-future brother-in-law Paul, Matt, and Thom. We ate at the buffet, which was very good. I provided Aaron with some seed money for gambling. Hours later, none of the eight guys had won a damn thing. I did pretty well at blackjack, but unfortunately spent too much time on the slots. After the casino, we went back to Brett's (The Studio) for a fire and some music. By this time, there was only Matt, Thom, me, Brett, Turck, and Aaron left. Aaron stayed until about 3am. He seemed to have had a good time, despite our luck at gambling.

Thursday was the rehearsal dinner, which was at the Marvin House and was very nice. I met most of the wedding party that I hadn't up to that point. Chrissy and Keah were Nikki's friends from California that she had met at Anderson University in Indiana (Christian school). Both girls were very nice. There was at least a glimmer of interest in conversation when it was revealed that Keah is a Zeppelin fan. However, shortly afterward I was brought back to earth during a conversation about Colorado when she mentioned that Colorado Springs is where 'Focus on the Family' is based. I was quickly reminded who I was talking to. Focus on the Family is the foundation set up by James Dobson (of 'SpongeBob is gay' - and other idiotic pronouncements - infamy). I suppose I could have mentioned that it's also where I had some fantastic passionate sex with my girlfriend at the time, with a lovely view of Pike's Peak out our window. However, I decided to be civil.

Friday, I drove to Cuff's Formal Wear in Erie because Aaron's father Greg's tux had pants that were about three inches too short and his shoes were too small. I made up a map at Aaron's house for the route from the church to the reception, and then Aaron and I went to dinner. After a Market Fresh sandwich, we went to the Legion in Frewsburg to set up for the reception. I drove Aaron back to his apartment and then went home to finalize my Best Man speech.

I had been working on the speech in my head for months but I hadn't actually written anything down. The Best Man's Handbook that Wendy sent me helped me to synthesize my ideas into a semi-coherent 2.5 page speech that looked to draw some laughs and also to convey my sincere feelings. I finished typing it up around 3:30am.

I was pretty nervous the whole time leading up to the wedding. I went to the mall, purchased a gift, and had it wrapped. I had many opportunities before to buy a gift, but I hadn't really found anything I liked. I settled on a small chest with three photo albums inside. I figure married people can never have enough photo albums, right? I went to Aaron's house and took him to the church. We changed into our tuxedos and got ready for pictures, which were being taken by Aaron's friend Yoo Rok from RIT. My responsibilities included hanging onto the ring as well as lighting the candles in the windows and the candelabras on the altar.

The receiving line after the ceremony probably took longer than the ceremony itself; there were over 200 people there for the wedding. It's always nice when people greet the bride and groom warmly and then just stare at you and keep walking. Even nicer is when the line stops and you're stuck across from someone you know not at all and you just stare at each other awkwardly.

Sorry this post is so disjointed. I'm typing things as I remember them. I've been in three weddings now and things always seem to go by in kind of a blur. Basically, everything was very nice and very well done. I was nervous about the speech I was going to have to give, so I was somewhat preoccupied during the time after the ceremony because I was worrying about that.

Anyway, the speech went surprisingly well. It helped that they had a microphone for me, and I noticed the DJ turned me up about three times. I got quite a few laughs and an overall very positive reaction from everyone who commented.

The reception was dry, as I may have mentioned earlier. This did not preclude a lot of dancing. I think Al and Barb, Nikki's parents, were the cutest couple to watch dance. Al was tearing up the floor. I always enjoy seeing older couples having fun with each other.

Keah dragged me onto the floor for a dance, but after brief consultation we both headed to the bar, where I had the unique opportunity to buy a drink (a Madori Sour - I have no idea if I'm spelling that right) for a pastor's daughter (she is apparently a youth pastor going for her Master's Degree in Divinity). I had a Tom Collins. I didn't want a White Russian right then and I really don't know drinks very well. I ordered what came to my mind first. A Tom Collins is what Holden orders in the hotel bar in Catcher in the Rye. Anyway, she seemed like she was a fun person, if somewhat misguided in her thinking.

The reception wound down about 11 or so. The DJ, who was supposed to have "The Rain Song" because it is Aaron's favorite Zeppelin song, could not produce it. He had only the fourth album, which 25 million other people have as well. And he had "That's the Way" because it's on the Almost Famous soundtrack. Lame. I requested "Going to California" but it was not played. I was disappointed.

I'm at work, so I think that's all I'll write for now. It was a good time. It's weird to have yet another friend married. If this trend continues, we single people will soon be in the minority. Odd.