The Wedding

Christy and Dan’s wedding was certainly my favorite wedding I’ve been to so far. Sure they’re both great friends of mine, but there was something more to it. Perhaps it was that so many people attending were good friends of mine. Perhaps it was that both Christy and Dan were very chill during their wedding so it was a low stress affair. Perhaps it was that I was in the wedding party and didn’t screw up any of my responsibilities too badly. Or more likely it was all of the above plus all those little intangibles that transform a good night into a great night.

Of course before the ceremony they needed to get some pictures of me (and a few other unimportant participants in the wedding, but I’m sure it was mostly about me.) Then there was marriage ceremony in Christy’s Catholic Church. They skipped the mass because Dan’s side of the family wasn’t catholic. I think it’s nice that the church gives the options to skip mass. I though they would have been pretty insistent on the sacrament of communion, but evidently not. There’s not much to report on here. Nothing cool like lost rings or any fainting occurred. Then Dan and Christy did a smoochy-smoochy in the church and it was all over.

After this, us important wedding party folks headed out to the Edwardson Christmas tree farm for more pictures. The photographer was pretty cool about everything, but I could tell she was gritting her teeth a little when it came to the pictures with their dogs. I suppose it makes sense that photographers don’t like rambunctious dogs since it makes taking pictures a little less predictable. To me that little unpredictability just made the grueling task of pictures a little more interesting.

Then it was on to the reception for a night of great food, great conversations, and great dancing. One of the things that made this night great in my mind was that I shared many friends with Christy that showed up at the wedding so I had no shortage of people to chat with. It was great catching up with old friends. Then we ate dinner. I had prepared a toast which I gave after dinner. Below is something similar to the toast I gave, but I’m sure it’s not exactly the same.

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This night started about three years ago when Christ and Dan met at Glacier National Park. I had the pleasure of spending the summer there with them. It was certainly one of the best summers of my life, and yet looking at them it seems to have turned out even better for these two.

From the beginning I knew that at the very least these two would be great friends. And everyone here tonight knows it turned out to be even more than a great friendship. From the beginning they had signs of just "clicking". Long conversations that had that smooth organic flow that can only exist between people with similar beliefs and interests. When together their eyes were a little brighter, their smiles a little bigger, and their laughter a little louder.

And then the summer ended...

You should know that Glacier Park is a beautiful and magical place. There must be hundreds if not thousands of relationships started their each summer. But when the people leave the park and that magic behind the vast majority of these relationships fade. But not these two. Even a few thousand miles did not dampen their love for each other. In fact the love between them has continued to grow since leaving Glacier, and I am sure it will continue to grow for the rest of their lives.

I would like to propose a toast to the love and dedication between Christ and Dan Chen that has lead to this marriage and will be the cornerstone of their happiness for the rest of their lives.
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Then there was the wild night of dancing. I have very little sense of rhythm so I pretty much flail about on the dance floor, but I do enjoy my flailing. I have started to incorporate new dance steps into move repetwar. These moves are named “patting a canoe”, “sweeping the floor”, “ski poles”, and so forth. The dance floor was certainly dominated by a few groups of young people. Thinking back I’m not sure if other people didn’t join in because they didn’t like to dance or because they were scared off by my mad dancing skillz. I hope it was more about what they wanted to dance than being intimidated by the group of unfamiliar faces out there dancing. Well to make me feel good I’m going to assume it was that they just didn’t feel like dancing. About a quarter of the way through the night Eric got a little over enthusiastic in his dance steps and sprained his knee. After that he used a good deal of liquor to keep the knee working. I was a little worried about it the next day when he could hardly walk, but now a week later it’s getting better and everything looks like it will turn out fine. I could also tell you about how a bunch of uncouth yahoos “decorated” Christy and Dan’s car with silly string and balloons, but I choose to plea the fifth.

After the reception a bunch of us went to Perkins. For those not familiar with the greatness of Perkins it’s a cheap chain restaurant with greasy food in Wisconsin where drunk people often go to eat after partying, and I can attest that some of the people I went with were certainly a bit tipsy. It was a good way to wind down the night. And by the end of this I think I was tired enough to sleep on an airplane (this would be quite a feat for me).

Christy and Dan are now on their honeymoon to the hurricane infested Caribbean . Last I heard the weather was great and I can only assume they’re enjoying themselves. I’d like to congratulate them on their marriage and thank them for the awesome party!