First and Second

I neglected to bring my camera to the actual wedding and I regret it. I've grown accustomed to the camera. If it's in my hands I always have something to do, and if I see something I like I can share the memory of it with others.

Katie and Brian's wedding was lovely. There were a handful of children at the reception and they immediately gravitated toward an enormous chess board at the site. I spent a few happy minutes helping some of them play the game. I had to ask a few other adults about some of the rules of chess that I'd forgotten.

Here's my daughter (in the back) with her first cousin on the left and her second cousin on the right.

Thanks to my sister-in-law Terra for taking pictures. I swiped this one from her facebook page.

Wedding BBQ

The night before the wedding, Brian and Katie invited friends and family to join them for a kick-off BBQ. It was casual and fun. My husband's aunt arranged all the food which was delicious. Location couldn't have been better--a pavilion in a park right on the beach. There was a playground less than 50 feet away. Perfect.

It was really fun to meet the bride's family. Her parents are in this photo, standing together to the right of the pillar.  They're very nice, fun-loving.  Here, they're listening to the bride's maids who were giving advice to the soon-to-be newly-weds.

On the far left, Katie. On the far right, Brian. And between them two bride's maids. Their advice was mostly silly (things like Katie is always right) but there were a few touching things in there too, and I liked that.

Natalia and Paul

It isn't often that we're invited to weddings, and it also isn't often that we're able to attend. Furthermore, it isn't often that two people as wonderful as Natalia and Paul find each other and decide to spend their lives together.

The ceremony was held in a Syrian Orthodox Church in the Detroit suburbs. Orthodox ceremonies have a lot going on; incense, bells, candles, singing, chanting, and sections where the audience lets out something like a battle cry that is sure to startle you if you don't know to expect it. The ceremony was pretty much half English, half Arabic. Most of it was sung, though there were some readings from the Bible.

It was a very orthodox ceremony, followed by a reception that was far more relaxed and far less solemn--as any reception should be, I suppose. I met a few people there that I knew from the old Beirut days--Matthew's former colleagues who have moved on to other locations. The Bride and Groom made their way from table to table throughout the evening to greet the guests. I chatted with them briefly and their happiness was absolutely contagious.

It was a beautiful wedding.

Missing Emily's Wedding

First, let me share the good news. See? The reception was beautiful, well thought out and executed. As a guest, I must say I felt very well taken care of.

And even better, Emily and James are a fantastic couple. They're off toward a wonderful future together, and I'm so glad they invited us to be here for their wedding.

As good news goes, that ranks pretty high. But there's bad news, and I really have no one to blame for it but myself. The ceremony was to start at 11, and I arrived at nearly 11:40. Yes. 10 minutes after the ceremony ended. ENDED. I missed all of it. They were well into the family photoshoot by the time we arrived.

How did such a thing happen? Do you really want to know?

Glossing over too many details, let's just say that I ended up strapped for time, behind the wheel, with a GPS unit I thought I could trust. The girls and I made it to the car by 10:45, at which point the GPS informed me that it would take 18 minutes to arrive at my destination. This made no sense. I'd looked at a map. I thought the wedding was nearby. It looked close on the map, but maybe I read it wrong. Maybe a road was closed and I had to take a huge detour. Maybe a thousand things that made it plausible that the drive would involve highways. I was immediately completely overwhelmed. I thought about going inside to check google again. Instead, I re-entered the address (straight from the invitation!). I thought about calling someone, but figured everyone would have their phones off. And then I decided to just trust the GPS, follow the directions, and hurry. If I hurried, I'd only be three minutes late.

18 minutes later, after jumping a median, running a stop sign and a red light accidentally because I was looking at the GPS, I arrived at a mini-golf place. MINI GOLF.

Admittedly, I don't know Emily and James really well. Maybe putt-putt says wedding to some people, but I was pretty sure it wasn't what they had in mind for the most important day of their lives. I was supposed to be at a real golf place, a country club, and that place was supposed to have a wedding at it.

Another 18 minutes later, I was back at my hotel, back on google, and then back on the road to do the 5 minute drive to the actual real golf place for the actual wedding. Ceremony was over, and everyone asked where I had been. Everyone noticed. Everyone had worried.

But, guess what?  After the pictures,  I sat down and enjoyed a lovely wedding reception filled with people I love and good food and dancing and fun.  If only horrible tales of getting-lost-in-Detroit stress could always end on such a positive, happy, delicious, love-filled note.