Katie's Wedding: A Comparison

Adam’s sister is now officially a married woman. The rehearsal on Thursday night was both interesting and hilarious. The guys just couldn’t grasp the concept of not turning when they met the ladies as they came down the aisle. Each one had to go through the process 2 or 3 times. Then Chris (the groom) had a laugh attack when going through the mock vows. I think he was a little stressed… Other than that it went pretty smoothly. The rehearsal dinner was very informal. I thought what I had in mind was going to be informal but they had lots on me on this one. They kind of passed out gifts as everyone walked into Frank’s and then we sat, talked, and ate pizza. While this is apparently what they wanted, I think I’d like a bit more structure for our dinner. I also think there will be more people at ours. We’ll just have to wait and see.

On Friday, Adam dropped me off at his parents’ house and he went to be with the guys at Chris’ house. I sat in the living room with his dad as his sister and all the girls got primped and dressed. I rode to the church with his mom and she was obviously nervous. We had a few near-death experiences as she cut a truck off in a construction zone and then ran a stop sign. After making it to the church unscathed, I spent some time in the bride’s lounge before I headed upstairs to meet with Father Mike. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that one of the scripture readers crapped out and Adam volunteered me to fill in for her. Thanks, Adam! (Just kidding. I probably would have offered anyway.) In any case, I was seated next to his grandma and his aunt, both of whom are very spunky ladies. The music started and the ceremony began.

There’s not much to comment on ceremony-wise. It’s a sacrament and things go like a mini-Mass. Kind of. The girls came in followed by Katie and her dad. Father Mike said some stuff, Marge (the aunt) and I read our bible passages. The vows were exchanged along with the rings. Unity candle was lit. Poem was read. Kiss, blessing, ta-da you’re married. The end.

That was their version. Seeing an actual Catholic wedding has helped me picture what ours might be like since the form is pretty much set and you just get to pick some of the specifics. Our ceremony will be different from theirs though. Firstly, I hated all the music they chose. (Sadly?) I could even identify them all: The Pachelbel canon (the bane of cellists everywhere), Handel’s Water Music, Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, and The Lord’s Prayer. Booorrrrring. Adam has told me I pretty much have free rein on the music choices since “I know more about that kind of stuff.” I also have to decide who I want to be playing the organ. The organist Chris and Katie chose is apparently an older, retired woman who was a friend of the family. Saying this as nicely as I can, she wasn’t that good. I don’t want to be distracted by obvious blunders on the organ during the ceremony. And if they happen, I’ll notice them. I’m strange like that. There is another organist at the church and I’m not sure if I’ve heard him play. When he does Mass he tends to play the piano rather than the organ. If he doesn’t work out I’m going to have to try and pull some of my musician mafia strings. Ha ha. I figure between the people my mom and dad know I should be able to find someone who doesn’t suck. I’d also love to have this woman from the church sing something. She’s the one who was the song leader (or whatever they call it) the first time I went to church with Adam. We also happened to sit in front of her and her husband once. She has a beautiful voice. The problem is I don’t know her. I guess I’ll wait and see where that idea goes. It would influence my song choices though because I think I’d want some singing as the girls come in and then again when the candle is lit… I don’t know. I’m still thinking about all those kinds of things. Secondly, I’m considering letting Adam pick all the bible readings. I don’t really care what they are and I don’t know who we’ll have read them. They aren’t optional so I can’t just skip them, no matter how much I’d like to. Other than that the ceremony is kind of set. I’m not sure how flexible the wording of vows are but we’ll get to that when we meet with Father Mike again I’m sure.

Ok, enough of that. After the ceremony, pictures were taken for a loooong time. I’m hoping there’s some way to avoid that but I’m not sure there will be since we’re doing the traditional not seeing each other thing. *sigh* I took Adam’s car and went home to grab my ID since he told me they were carding at the reception. (They weren’t.) By the time I got back to Appleton, pictures were done and social time had begun. Then dinner was served with lots of clanking on the glasses. Then dancing began and we left shortly after the bouquet and garter tossings. This is another area where our wedding will be different. We’re at a much larger (and, in my opinion, better laid-out) location. We’re having a buffet whereas they had a family-style dinner. I’m hoping there will be more (or better) toasts. They didn’t even cut their cake (the catering staff did.) Their dance floor was teeny. Adam barely danced. In any case, I’m hoping for better things at our reception.

Perhaps it’s not fair to compare Katie’s wedding to what I hope ours will be. But it was kind of inevitable. I was interested to see what she and his mom had come up with. I think I can do better. :) Not that it’s a competition…

298 days to go. Not that anyone's counting...