Reflections on the Big Wedding

Jan and I are headed out of town today for an Alaskan Cruise. I promised I would take her on the cruise when she turned 40. She's turned 40 11 times since then but we're finally doing it!

So before we head out a few reflections on the marriage of my daughter Alycia to her now husband, Corey.

Because Alycia was in school in Minneapolis, Jan did the majority of the planning for the wedding and absolutely loved it. And the wedding went without a hitch, almost.

Around 5:45 am Saturday, as Alycia was heading out to get her hair done (for the 10 am wedding) she yelled that she couldn't find her engagement ring. Long story short, our Beagle, Santi, had taken it. Thankfully, she didn't swallow it (as she did a year ago with one of Jan's diamond stud earrings!). She just laid it down at her feet and waited for us to acknowledge what a good girl she was for "finding" the ring.

It was an outdoor wedding and turned out to be even warmer than we had expected. The mornings leading up to Saturday had been fairly mild at 10 am (mild for Phoenix). But the wedding staff did a great job of getting 90% of the guests in shade and everyone was given a fan.

My son and I played some fooseball while pics were being taken and at one point had a laughing fit that left us in tears. In the end, it got some good emotion out of me so that I was able to lead the ceremony just fine.

Alycia was absolutely radiant, wearing her mom's wedding dress with a few touches of her grandma's wedding dress mixed in. Corey looked fantastic, as well.

As a surprise to my dad, I asked him just before the wedding if he would walk Alycia down the stairs to the start of the aisle where Jan and I would then walk her up front. It was a nice moment for him. Alycia didn't know that Jan would also walk her down the aisle. Because of Alycia's passion for women's rights, she decided not to have me give her away. While she loves the tradition, she wanted that day, as an act of solidarity with women who are treated like property to be sold or given away, to not have me do the traditional dad thing. So I had Corey's siblings give him away, instead.

It was such a privilege to perform the ceremony. Though a bit warm, it was a moving, fun, touching ceremony. During the unity sand Amber, our daughter in law, sang a song from West Side Story. Our son, Mike, ended it with a quick surprise solo of "My love opens the door..." Very unexpected. Very Mike. Very funny.

The only time when I felt I would lose it was during the opening prayer as I gave thanks for all who had shaped the lives of Corey and Alycia. I thought of my mom. Earlier dad had said this was the one wedding mom wanted to see as Alycia was the first grandchild.

The reception was great fun. Various stations with amazing brunch type food. And a big band provided the music. Corey and Alycia learned a dance to "In the Mood." Wow. Words can't describe the next dance as I dazzled people with my lack of fancy footwork during the dad/daughter, son/mother dance. Alycia and Corey did their best to ensure that the wedding was a "green" as possible, using bio-degradable plates and providing recycle bins for plastics.

It was so fun to see Alycia and Corey so happy.

Surprisingly, to me, it was on Monday that the emotions set in. Thinking about my daughter now married. The relationship will be different from now on.

Saturday was a good day. (If I get a free moment I'll try to add a pic or two.)

(On Sunday, just before we were to head out to church, Jan discovered that Santi the Beagle had somehow gotten a bag of brownies and eaten around 10 of them. A quick call to the vet and we forced Santi to throw up! Pleasant stuff. Jan had to miss church on Sunday to stay with Santi. She was a bit out of it (Santi, not Jan) for most of the day but she's back to her normal lovable, naughty self. (Perhaps not ironically, the sermon I preached that day was on Hell! We were in it for a few moments with our dog.)