Published: September 07, 2008 12:13 am            

DRINKWALTER: The wedding day — part II

LOCKPORT — As I wrote last week, the day after we hosted the rehearsal dinner, my husband’s job was not just to give his only daughter away, but to set the stage for the wedding. A trellis that we wove flowers and ribbons meticulously around and 50 chairs had to be set up at a particular spot at Bond Lake. Once Paul set up for the wedding, he had to sit at the site to be sure that no one would disturb or encroach on our space until the wedding was about to begin. We couldn’t rent the space at the lake itself so we couldn’t actually reserve it like we did the reception location at the Conservation Center across the road. A band of gypsies could have decided to set up for the day at that location and all we could have done was asked them politely to move away from that space. (Bring on the Ginsu.)

At noon, the bridal party gathered at our house and took off for the Hair Chateau for hair up-dos and such, then they came back to get dressed while the groomsmen met Paul at the lake for photos with Bill Myers.

By 4 p.m. the limo rolled up to the lake with the bridal party and we were just about to begin the ceremony when a gust of wind came up and began blowing the trellis over. The decorative flower pots that Rachel’s new in-laws brought had to be butted up against all sides of the trellis to keep it from falling over. The adorable little flower girl’s rose pedal were scattered long before she made it down the aisle, but the ceremony was fabulous in spite of the little glitches. The bridal party looked beautiful and the bride radiant.

After the ceremony, I noticed that no one passed out the bubbles, so I sauntered around to the guests while the wedding party was having photographs, “Thank you for coming, bubbles?” I inquired. “No, I know your name isn’t bubbles, but would you like some bubbles to blow at the bride and groom?” I amused myself with that greeting until it was family photo time.

Meanwhile back at the reception, the revelers were restless. The violin played classical music and every imaginable beverage could easily be acquired, but the beer taps weren’t on the beer kegs. After some commotion the taps were found and the brew began to flow.

When the wedding party arrived, the DJ began playing the theme from “Rocky” introducing each of them as the group ran in two by two. When he introduced the last couple, the bride and groom, I burst into tears. “Oh,” I said, “the theme from ‘Rocky’ does that to me every time!”

When Rachel and her dad danced to “Butterfly Kisses,” I noticed her eyes welling up with tears and of course I immediately followed suit.

Speaking of suits, while putting on his black tuxedo, my husband couldn’t imagine why wool tuxedos were used for an August wedding, but apparently wool is very breathable. It turned out that no one seemed too uncomfortable. Then again, most felt very little by the end of the night. We had a bus shuttling from Bond’s Lake to the Lockport hotels. The Lockport Holiday Inn treated the bride and groom very well!

Finally at 1:45 a.m. Sunday, my Jeep rolled slowly back into our driveway. The festivities were fun and won’t be soon forgotten, but my sister was right when she told me, “What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” Momzilla is now strong like bull, but we don’t plan on hosting or bank rolling any more weddings; I don’t care what way the groom puts the toilet paper on the roll.

Deb Drinkwalter is a Lockport resident. Her column runs every Sunday.

        

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