Call her Mrs. Smith!

The rehearsal was heldThursday. Heather ( from AZ, with Aly in tow) and Dee (maid of honor), had flown in the day before so it was almost like a family reunion here in the house. At the chapel we met the groomsmen and had a quick bit of 'blocking' -- You! stand here, move there now, and so on. It was over almost too quickly.

Jeff, Nicaela, Fred, Ben, Dennis, Tish, Dave

One small incident (fortunately not repeated on Friday) did cause concern however. As we were getting ready to run through the processional order when Tish suddenly couldn't hear anything. In trying to explain that, she stumbled over some words ("I can't hear you and I (mumble) see.") leaving us with the impression she also couldn't see (not the case). Her hearing returned in short order and with that the vision confusion was cleared up too. The practice went on to its conclusion. The groom and party split directly after the rehearsal leaving us to a pleasant, if noisy, dinner at the local eatery, the Capital Grill.

Friday morning Mike (Heather's spouse) drove up from the Springs. Time passed with the women going off to get their hair and makeup done. All in all, the day went off beautifully with the occasional expected surprise. One was, "OMG! The flowers!!" Another, twice: "Do you have a pair of black socks?" And finally, "Where's the garter?" Everything handled we left the house at 4pm in four cars. Even though a couple different routes were taken to Golden we all got there within three minutes of each other.

Fran and I were providing all the drinks for the reception but the beer, that provided by the groom. So there I was, schlepping 12- packs of soda from the car to the kitchen while the women disappeared to the bride's dressing room. During this period the groomsmen arrived. Dennis was the appointed greeter and seater. He got dressed first. Kent (Dee's constant companion) aided with the two ice, pop and wine filled coolers. The other groomsmen (Fred - best man, and Ben - Jeff's father) and Jeff (groom) got changed, then me. Thursday was my first time climbing into a monkey suit and it took time figuring out how to adjust everything to a proper fit. Friday I found the necktie a bit loose. A bit of adjustment and suddenly the shirt collar developed an unexpected family of wrinkles. With a little fiddling around most of the family was eliminated leaving a small one I could see but no one else apparently could.

Some people arrived early. Dennis directed them first to the reception hall to drop off their gifts and meet other early arrivals. Time flowed, slowly and simultaneously quickly. Our guests moved upstairs to the chapel to be led to their seats by Dennis. Before the wedding party could get scared totally silly, the time arrived to arrange ourselves for the procession. It was my very first time seeing Tish in her gown. She was a knock-out, drop-dead beauty! Woof!!

A moment later the processional music began and so did the show all had come for. One by one the bridesmaids, Crystal, Heather and Dee, walked slowly down the aisle. Nicaela, Jeff's daughter and flower girl, was last. (She did a near-professional job of scattering the flower petals down the aisle.) The doors to the chapel were closed and Tish and I got into position. Music. Doors reopened. We were off! I could not stop smiling as we passed the guests. I could not have been more proud. After arriving at the alter steps I put her had in Jeff's and made a motion to join Fran only to be stopped by the minister's "Who gives this woman's hand in marriage?" Oops!! I knew I had something else to do. "I do."

The ceremony itself was brief but included all the necessary bits one would expect. All present were fulfilled. During the recessional we had a small hiccup. Being a groomsman Ben was not available to escort his wife, Laura, out of the chapel and Dennis, the appointed leader-in and -out didn't return for her as discussed during the rehearsal (he later said it had completely slipped his mind). Laura, Fran and I looked around a moment. I then got up and offered an arm to both, leading them out smiling the whole way.

We grabbed the little bubble bottles on the way out the chapel's front doors (rice was not an option) and waited as the guests did the same and arranged themselves along the approach path. The bride and groom came out of the doors to bubble-filled cheers and applause. Everyone was involved and happy, happy, happy.

The wedding party re-entered the chapel for photographs while the guests walked to the downstairs reception hall. Who knew there were so many ways of arranging bridesmaids, groomsmen and parents? Oof! It was a good half hour until we could go downstairs and begin to party.

The reception was a hit! The caterer was already circulating the hot hor d'oeuvres by the time we got downstairs, people were chatting and everyone was happy. Though I can't detail the rest of the evening (it was just too busy to fully remember) I do recall that everyone I talked to was having a good time. Who could ask for more? Whenever anyone said what a great ceremony and party it was I made sure they knew it was Fran who put it all together. (I'm a guy, and for us wedding plans just happen.)

Things began breaking up around 10pm. By 11 only wedding party members and the DJ (Thumper) were left. We had guessed the food requirements well with the caterer and had only a couple of containers left to take home. The sodas were hardly touched and only the red wines had been consumed. We'd also overestimated the Champaign needs (that's a problem?) Where we did err was forgetting the gifts. I had to impress a neighbor (many thanks to Mary) to help transporting them back to the house.

Heather, Aly, Dee and Kent all boarded planes for home earlier today. Fran and I were glad that they had all gone out for their way and made Tish's day such a memorable one.

Jeff and Tish are currently at Red Feathers Lodge on their honeymoon. Sadly that will end tomorrow, Jeff having to return to work Tuesday. I just spoke briefly with her and she's very happy.

So are we.