The Rehearsal in 2 Acts: Act 2 - We Party

Weddings are interesting events. They bring together at least two families and an odd assortment of different friendship circles. The only people who ever have the luxury of knowing everyone in attendance are the Bride and Groom.

I have a couple of social disadvantages. First, I'm shy. No one ever believes that but it is true. I do not easily go up to strangers and make small talk. If the stranger in question comes to me and starts a conversation I can be witty and charming (at least in my own mind) but it is my tendancy to hang on the edges of any event until that sort of effort is made. Second, I have no gift for small talk. Third, I have become really lousy at remembering names.

Going into Friday's festivities, I knew the Bride and Prince, of course. But this was their wedding rehearsal. Spending quality time with them was not an option. I have met, and fed, the Bride's mom and little sister (who was the matron of honor). But again, kinda busy. I had been introduced to the Prince's mom and aunt...neither of who's names I could remember. I had also met a cousin, mother to the flower girl and a sister-in-law, mother of the other junior bridesmaid. I remembered the girls names, of course, but not the moms. So that was the situation going into the evening.

The Bride, however, had thought of a very clever thing. She had prepared name tags for everyone. Now, I am not a wearer of name tags. They make me feel silly. But in this circumstance, they were the smartest thing ever. Not only did the tags bear our names but also our role in the wedding and/or relationship to the couple. Which meant that when we gathered afterwards at the Lake Union Crew House, everyone had a leg up on conversation. Introductions were a fait accompli and conversations smoothly begun with simple formulas.

And so it was easy to chat up Gay and Roy, who know all about our dinner parties, and the Ingalls family from Dallas. (Ingalls, as in Laura Ingalls Wilder). It was a hoot to get to know all the assorted cousins and siblings and Bride’s best friend since high school. By the end of the evening a beautiful community of people had been formed, in-jokes had been created and we were heading into the next day full of ease and esprit de corps.

There were many heartfelt and wonderful toasts, not the least a very articulate and sweet one from The Child, which she ended with a tearful "I love you so much".














By the way, the food was fantastic – particularly the jambalaya. There were also fruit kababs. Which were enjoyed.














We headed home, tired and happy and very excited for the Big Day.