Canned beer and wedding tears.

My morning has started at 11am. Morning weather forecast: a very hot and muggy 98 degrees without a cloud in the sky. We have lots of functions today so it’s going to be hectic. Just how I like it! My wedding today was completely put together by a Travel Agent in the boondocks of Iowa, random. She’s not here for the wedding but she played wedding planner for them and helped get all the details together. I imagine that resources are limited in their little rustic town. I did the couples rehearsal last night. The groom looks a little like Doogie Howser and is very particular. It takes him a while to explain details to me. Of course I’ve done all of this a million times so I know what he’s going to ask before the first three words come out. Another coordinator here made a slight screw up and overlapped my function time with her afternoon event. I’ve decided to set up one of our smaller and more casual rooms for my guests to head to for cocktail hour after the ceremony. This gives us one hour to take all the previous items out of the ballroom, clean it and completely set it back up for my wedding. Can it be done? Only time can tell.

Everything seems to be going as planned today. However, we are about 2 hours out from my wedding and it appears all of my guests, and the bridal party, have set up camp in the hotel lobby. A canned beer kind of camp. Even the bride was sporting an aluminum brew as an accessory to her wedding gown. The front desk is complaining about not being able to hear guests calling on the phone so I try to come up with a solution. I suppose it’s a little warm out for them to gather outside of the air conditioning… I check their cocktail hour room and to my delight it is already set up. I’ve let the guests know that we have prepared a room for them, with a bar, for them to gather in. (One guy definitely caught the buzz as I heard him say “I think they’re trying to get us out of the lobby”). I catch a couple heading into the ballroom that definitely do not look like wedding guests. The man is in a tank top, with very large furry arms all out and about for the world to enjoy, and a pair of cargo shorts. His lady of choice was in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I stop them and ask if they are with the wedding and one of the other guest replies that they are. I was a bit confused until I walked into the room and noticed many others in the same kind of garments. If this is their wedding attire, could you imagine what they wear for casual events?!

The bridal party is all lined up and the ceremony now begins. The groom has decided he wants to usher all the parents and grandparents down himself. This took about 15 minutes (or at least that's how long it felt) as he gave each of them very long and endearing hugs before they took their seats. He comes back to me and gets in line with his groomsmen. It appears at this point the groom is already sobbing his eyes out. Our little Doogie Howser is clearly the sensitive type! If you've ever seen the movie "Bedazzled" with Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser, recall back to the part where he plays the "sensitive type" on the beach with his dream girl. This is what I was witnessing! He fought through the tears and made it down the aisle, as did the rest of the party, and another couple was married.

Oh yeah, and not only did we have the ballroom set up in time, we were 20 minutes early and awaiting their arrival!