A Beautiful Wedding Disappointment

It had all the ingredients to be a disaster. All the key elements were there. The time was right, the stage was set... and nothing happened. I feel cheated.

I'm talking of course about my former roommate's wedding which took place this past Friday. He had actually been married to this girl for the past year and a half, but the original service was a civil ceremony with only one witness, more or less for green card purposes. The couple decided that if they were still happy with their decision in a few years, they'd have the traditional wedding with friends and family. So that's what this was.

The days leading up to the ceremony were crammed with events that could only have led to a videotaped submission to both The Worlds Worst Wedding Disasters and the New York State district attorney's office. It had (in no particular order) a stolen car, no less than nine prank phone calls to the couple's answering machine (uh.... partially my bad... but this is what happens when you mix beer with old buddies who love practical jokes), roughly 20 coordinated flights from northern Norway (where the bride's from), a fairly large language barrier, and the groom's three very protective Irish brothers (think matching tattoos). And just to add insult to injury, it was taking place on Friday the 13th.

The bachelor party the night before consisted of just me and the three brothers-- and no groom. That's right, he was too whipped to show up at his own bachelor party. So we bought lap dances for the best man instead. Let's just say that there were plenty of harsh words directed towards the bride that night.

So you can see where I thought this was going. I was expecting fireworks in a big way.

Then Friday happened. The wedding itself turned out to be a very pleasant ceremony, followed by a perfect reception with no shortage of smiles, tears and free booze. Let's just say that at my wedding (whenever that may be-- I can't believe I just said that), if the speeches are half as heartfelt as the ones I heard last night, I'm going to be a snivelling, sobbing ball of a man. My girlfriend said it best when she remarked, "Weddings bring out the love in people." She was right. Everybody got along, everybody had a great time, everybody, for one night, forgot any differences or preconceptions they may have had and created one of the most beautiful and memorable evenings I've ever witnessed.

But I still felt cheated.

Congratulations to my friends
and their new life together.

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