Kristen and Joe Vescovo
My firstborn was married a few days ago, and I'm only now catching my breath.
Bottom line: things went off without a hitch. My daughter was beautiful, and my new son (!) was handsome. The hall was gorgeous and the food was pretty darned good. The band was competent, and the photographers were a class act. Nothing but good things to say about the hired guns here.
But the kids' friends were the real heroes. They did the table settings, trellis, bridesmaids' dresses, the cake, and other stuff - a real community effort that was notable for the love that went into this production.
I had it easy; all I did was pay some bills, walk Kristen down the aisle, drink some Scotch, and dance my arse off. (Hey, you didn't know I dance? Never gave me any Scotch, did you?)
Bernice was walked down the aisle on the arm of Kristen's pal Charles - a Marine in full dress uniform, wearing his sword. I stood under the stairs while the bridesmaids (including my other daughter) came down and walked the walk. Finally Kristen emerged and floated down the stair.
I rounded the base and awaited her. She came to me and I opened up my hands, leaned over and whispered "It's showtime!". She smiled and took my proffered arm and we headed for the crowd. She was nervous and started to walk a bit too fast, and I held her back a bit. "Slow down, take it easy" I said, smiling a big smile for the relatives. "Take your time. Let's give 'em their money's worth." She made a face at me - no telling what the relatives thought of that.
Walked her to the dais, shook Joe's hand - it seemed appropriate - and put her arm in his. Then I walked back to Joe's parents, shook Louis' hand, and touched Debbie's shoulder. Sat down next to my wife and hauled out my cell phone, punching the Gran button and enabled the speakerphone. Please God, don't let Gran's dogs bark during the ceremony.
Father Bruce (Joe's family is Catholic) is a nice guy, and did a good job officiating. Not overlong, certainly not a Mass, and Gran got to hear most of the deal. Only heard some noise come out of the speaker a couple of times; either the dogs barking or Gran sniffling, I'm not sure which.
They finish, we applaud, we recess, we take pictures. Yadda yadda yadda. Then we party.
It's a pretty good cover band (The Plaintiffs), not too loud, taking their time winding up. 150 people or so in the room, and shortly there is a line at the buffet and the bar. A couple of Kristen's pals get good n' loaded, probably the same ones that were dancing with me.
Hell, even Bernice danced with me. That never happens.
The kids closed the place, staying 'til the bitter end. Bernie and I, Allison, Kristen and Joe finally left at about 1:30am, after everyone else had split and the hall had been cleaned of all our stuff. We took Allison back to Rhodes, while the kids went... well, I'm not sure exactly.
K&J flew out of Memphis on Monday morning, bound for Jamaica. It's raining there, but I don't somehow think they'll notice all that much.
posted at: 08:14 | path: /ontheroad | permanent link to this entry