S & A 's wedding

Awwww.... I'm a sucker for weddings, even boring ones, and this one was awesome! When we first drove up I was surprised by how beautiful the location was (Warner Park)--I've driven past it but never guessed how nice it is beyond the big Mallards sign. A delightful little stream, woods and fields, a curved bridge, even a deer drinking from the stream off in the near distance--all golden in a late-afternoon, post-rain hazy light. We spotted two sandhill cranes making their way, with their uniquely deliberate bobbing that is somehow graceful, along the stream, over the road, and on into the meadow beyond.

They were still visible from the room where the ceremony was held (windows all around gave a lovely vista of the park). Just as the bride and groom entered the cranes suddenly took flight. It was beautiful! and seemed like a lovely auspicious sign.

S looked just stunning in a dress made by her sister (with help from Chels to do the fittings)--it was simple, elegant, and just lovely in every way. During the ceremony she looked so calm and... "happy" seems too frivolous a word. It's like what I was trying to say in my post about the Shrek/Fiona and Aragorn/Arwen love stories...(I hope if the happy couple ever see this they will not be offended at being compared to ogres--hopefully not, if they read the previous post!) S. just looked at A. like she knows him so well and chooses him completely, in comfort and trust and peace. (OK, scuse the mushiness but like I said--I'm a sucker for weddings).

A. was so sweet--he looked at times a bit nervous and shy and not always sure where he was supposed to look and what he was supposed to do with his hands... but it seemed that as the ceremony progressed he was more and more able to forget the room of people watching and find his home and resting place in S's calm eyes. (Toward the end they started giggling which was really adorable!) I was thinking that a lot of women would have been mad (or impatient) at the groom for not taking her hand at the "right" moment, not meeting her gaze at the "right" moment, not being "romantic" in some pre-programmed "perfect" way that she had imagined her whole life.

But S just seemed content to be there, to look at A and accept and love everything about him, just A being A in his own sincere and tender way. I think the hypothetical annoyance of some women in that situation would be based in insecurity, but it seemed to me, as an observer, at least at this moment, these two people had no doubt about each other. That's the same thing I was talking about in the post about ogres and elves, the same thing I feel like we have in our marriage too. The canter mentioned that S said that just because they survived A's cancer doesn't mean their marriage will work, and of course that's true, but conversely, I think there is something greater there--call it honesty and trust and belief in each other as one another's home and resting place--that enabled them to survive the cancer and will also carry them through the years ahead. Anyway, that is what I hope and wish for them. I was very happy and honored to be a part of this day.

The reception was also a blast--I haven't danced in ages. It seemed like a great group of people, all the friends & relations unknown to me, and everyone seemed to be having a great time, relaxed and friendly. The toasts were hilarious, the food was great and it was fun to hang out with friends without school stuff hanging over my head. A rare treat indeed! Well, time for bed. Tomorrow we'll go to the post-wedding brunch, where apparently A has made bunch of different delectable bread.