Jan 20, 2010

Erin & Eric, hail!

Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of attending my freshman roommate's third wedding ceremony. Despite the disappointing fact that all three of her marriages have been to the same man (civil and church in California, where they reside, as well as this informal do in Virginia for her family and friends), a good time was had by all. And by 'all,' I mean me. Who cares about those other bitches?

First, I met up with my freshman hall mates, aka the Goochies, to decide what we were going to do for the talent show. Did I mention the word informal, yet? We had planned to do a skit and/or interpretive dance to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." Then we realized we didn't want to make total asses of ourselves (turns out we needn't have worried - there were two other dance numbers in the show, both with a distinct emphasis on cross-dressing). Rachel's husband Zak proposed we re-do the lyrics to "Our Alma Mater." Here's a taste of what we came up with:
Hark the Goochies' voices swelling,
Strong and true and clear.
Erin & Eric's love they're telling,
Ringing far and near!

Erin & Eric! Love so new,
Hark upon the gale.
Hear the thunder of our chorus,
Erin & Eric, hail!

Awe-inspiring, is it not? We even got the audience to join in on the last chorus, in the traditional W&M style (that is to say, they shouted the names and mumbled their way through the rest of the lyrics). After crafting this masterwork, we split up to get ready for the wedding. For Ashlea, Rachel, Kristy, Zak and Frank this meant donning their wedding frippery. As for Jojo, Kristin, Shawn and myself, we went out for ice cream.

Finally, time for the main event was nigh. Erin had asked me to bring props for a silly picture booth (informal), so I was lugging around a duffel bag full of junk. It amuses me that my old Halloween costumes and such will end up in Erin's wedding album. Once I had set up the props, I shimmied into my chudithar kurtha - so useful on such occasions, since it looks incredibly fancy but is actually as comfortable as a pair of pyjamas - and joined back up with J, K, & S.

The ceremony started with remarks from a couple minister friends of Erin's (she herself is a minister and Eric does something or another with humanitarian aid - they're both so wonderful, could you just vomit?), followed by traditional vows. Then, they invited their guests to participate in a variation of a Scottish (?) hand-fasting. Instead of the ministers tying their stoles around the couple's joined hands, each guest was invited to tie a small ribbon (informal). Most disagreeably, Erin would not allow me to tie their free hands together with my ribbon. I contented myself with a tricky knot that captured their thumbs. Eric later consoled me by saying that was quite the most difficult one to get off.

Me: Eric, I have something very important to tell you ... Tonight is your wedding night. And you have your duties.
Eric (without missing a beat): You know what they say about Greek women - they are lambs in the kitchen, but tigers in the bedroom!
Me: Well played, sir. Well played.

For dinner we enjoyed a simple, hearty meal of shepherd's pie (one vegetarian and the other filled with blasphemy ... I mean, beef). Erin & Eric came over to regale us with their difficulties getting their names changed - instead of her taking his name or vice versa, they decided on a portmanteau (informal ... no wait, just quirky). Long story short, they got the name they wanted but have been politely asked never to visit the county office again.

After dinner was the talent show, then the room was cleared and we danced the night away. At least, until about 10pm when the couple made their exit. I packed up my bag of props, grabbed my party favor (A bag of granola, Erin? Really?), and drove home. There is usually a big let-down following a wedding, but this one was just too delightful and odd to leave one with anything but amused bafflement and the final impression, they looked so happy.

4 comments:

outdoorchica said...

awww, so sad I missed it, and so glad to live vicariously through you!!! HUGS!

Monkey Sri said...

Aw, we missed you - but I'm glad you enjoyed the post. And I didn't even mention the quilt squares, or Erin's dress (cute), or the Unnecessary Panic Over Corkscrews...!

Secretary said...

Pictures??

Monkey Sri said...

Other people have posted on Facebook. I'll try to remember to do the same.... no promises, though.