Danny's Wedding Weekend part 2 -- A Lovely Ceremony
Part 2 (read Part 1 below. I know, I know. Blog postings are arranged reverse chronologically. Blame the genre) of Danny's Wedding Weekend.
So, I get to my aunt's house at almost 4 am Saturday morning. Bear in mind, Danny's wedding starts at 3 pm Saturday afternoon. At least I made it, right? I immediately crash on the mattress set-up (thankfully it's set-up downstairs. I don't think I would've been able to make it up stairs).
Of course, the mattress was in the living room so at around 7 in the morning, I wake up to the sounds of my aunt talking to my uncle (he has Alzheimer's so excuse his constant questions). I listen for about 10 min. as my aunt explains to him how he can't go into the living room because I'm still sleeping and he needs to accompany her, the bride's mom, and our family friend from Taiwan to the hair dresser in the morning so that he can stay out the way of everybody trying to prepare for the wedding. I fall immediately back to sleep...
...for another forty-five minutes before the doorbell rings. It's the housekeeper/cook (my aunt works and is recovering from cancer and my uncle suffers from Alzheimer's. So, they have a housekeeper/cook). I let him in (because my dad CAN'T HEAR THE DOORBELL from the KITCHEN!! PUT IN YOUR HEARING AID!!!) and go back to the bed to put it away (shrug, might as well get up. There's a wedding today!). I sit down to watch TV. Finding nothing of interest on, I switch on the satellite cable (my aunt gets satellite cable with Taiwan programming. 12 channels of Taiwan TV with absolutely no other satellite channels. Thankfully, I'm not picky). I watch a variety show for about 20 min. before my cousin comes downstairs. "Good morning, Danny. Congratulations on the wedding!" "Good morning, Chris. Congratulations on making it into California." He tells me the florist is here. I put on my shoes and go outside with him as we help Moe, the florist, and his assistant unload the carloads of flowers he has and put them all in the garage outside. (Their garage is in their backyard. LA Suburban architecture.) Danny goes back to keep preparing for the wedding while I stay outside and help Moe as best I can for a little bit. My contribution includes filling three large buckets with water. Moe doesn't seem to trust me with anything else. Just as well because I wouldn't either.
I go back inside and sit down again to keep watching the variety show. They're blowing ping pong balls out of a giant glass vase full of flour with their mouths. I'm intrigued... Doorbell again. It's the other guy who's here to help Moe. I lead him to the backyard. Danny tells me that Moe's doing the flowers for free. What a great guy. I smell my shirt and realize that I'm in desperate need of a shower.
Shower done with, I come back downstairs for more TV. My aunt and uncle are back from the hairdresser's. My aunt looks good but she's using a walker. Oh yeah. Danny told me that she fell and had an accident. She'll be in a wheelchair for today's ceremony. That sucks. She's happy to see me tho as am I happy to see her. Aside from the walker, she looks healthy. Our family friend greets me too. Her English name's Chantal. She's a cool person. (She's Grandpa Wong's youngest daughter, for those keeping track.) My mom wakes up too. She changes and is off to pick up my other cousin, Ariel, so she can attend the wedding.
My aunt offers me Chinese breads to eat for breakfast. It's then that I realize that the last time I ate food was Thursday night for dinner (not counting chocolate chip cookies on the plane). Friday lunch was busy and I left at noon. Dinner was non-existent because of the line-waiting and JetBlue doesn't serve meals, just snacks. Wow. Starving and I didn't even realize it. I devour a bread and take a multi-vitamin (I've started taking One-A-Day). I feel much better. Back to watching TV.
I go outside for a little bit too to see how Moe's doing. The flowers are looking really good. It's surprising to see how much effort it takes to make that many bouquets (bouquets for all the bridesmaids and the bride as well as bouquets for all the pews and two gigantic bouquets for the pulpit). I'm absolutely no help. I go back to the TV. The variety show ppl just ate deep-fried shaved ice. I'm intrigued again.
My other cousin, Johnny (Danny's older brother) comes from his apartment (where he lives with his wife, Julie. They got married 2 years apart. They're also 2 years apart in age. I'm 2 years younger than Danny. Uh-oh. I think I'm expected to get married in 2 years) to pick up Danny and bring him to take photos. He jokes with me about getting in at 3 in the morning. Uh oh. I sense this will be the topic of conversation for me all day. Danny and Johnny are both dressed in their tuxes. Nice. On their way out, they give some last minute instructions. "Chris, look after my mom and make sure my dad puts on his tux correctly. It's sitting right here." They're off in Johnny's SUV which is decorated with lace and ribbons and has soap paintings on the windows that say "Just Married" and "J + D!" (Danny's bride's name is Jessica.) Cool.
Hm... probably time to get dressed. I put on my nice new shirt (it's Brandy colored) [This shirt but this color] and my tie (which is a different brand that I picked out all by myself to match the shirt [I bought both in Boston because I've worn the same suit 4 times and I thought I needed a new shirt and tie]. Very proud of myself. I got complimented on the shirt and tie. Yay!) and pants and jacket of course. I'm now dressed. Back to the TV.
Ok, helped my uncle and watched in curious intrigue as Chantel and Ariel made up my mom. Wow. They put WAY more work into her appearance than I did in mine. We live in a sexist society. Oh well. I'm dressed so why should I care? =P
3 o'clock and no problems. Time to go! We load up Moe's flowers, as well as helping Moe load up his car with the rest of the flowers. I ask my mom for the map to the church. It's only 6 miles away! Yay! I drive one car and my mom drives the other car. We arrive at the church with no problems. I wheel my aunt in and we all sit around to look at the chaos. My mom joins the chaos by running around with her camera and video camera. She takes many pictures and takes many minutes of video as well. I'm too tired to care either way about her. The church looks good tho. I say hi to Danny's dad's side of the family (who I've met probably twice?) and Pastor Allan (who also married Johnny and I've met probably a dozen times). Like a good pastor, he remembers me and jokes with me about getting in at 3 in the morning. Apparently information was being disseminated at the rehearsal dinner. I feel bad about taking at least some of the attention away from Danny and Jessica at last night's dinner.
I sit in the front with family. My mom gets the aisle seat and has her video camera aimed at the doorway, adjusting until she got a good shot framed. (We saw the video later and the lighting was all fucked up anyway so you couldn't see anything. Good try tho.) Me and Ariel chat and look at the program. "Worship songs?" Uh oh. This will be a long ceremony...
Oh! The music starts up and it's wedding time! Two bridesmaids make their way down and light the candles that'll be used in the unity candle part. The parents of the groom and bride next. My aunt and uncle have special instructions because of my aunt's wheelchair. Basically, Johnny wheels his mom down the aisle and my uncle's walked down with his sister, who will surrogate for my aunt for the unity candle part. Bridesmaids. The groomsmen and Danny come out together from behind the pulpit. It was a SURPRISE ENTRANCE! The ring boy (who's ... 2, it looks like and is wearing a little tuxedo. Cute) and the flower girl come out together. The ring boy looks really scared. Pastor Allan steps down to lead him up by the hand. The ring boy turns and tries to run away. Wow. That was funny. Now it's Jessica's turn. It's the first time I've seen her in the last couple of months. Wow, she looks really pretty. Looking good is definitely a good thing on your wedding day.
The ceremony's what you expect. Couple of memorable moments include singing 2 worship songs, Pastor Allan accidentally calling Danny "Johnny" and then correcting himself with the whole church laughing uproariously including the wedding party, Danny and Jessica saying vows in private when they were lighting the candle (I assume they were vows. It was private so nobody could hear what they were saying), both Danny and Jessica crying, and several "let us pray" moments. It was a very lovely ceremony.
Part three to be posted later. It's kinda late right now.
So, I get to my aunt's house at almost 4 am Saturday morning. Bear in mind, Danny's wedding starts at 3 pm Saturday afternoon. At least I made it, right? I immediately crash on the mattress set-up (thankfully it's set-up downstairs. I don't think I would've been able to make it up stairs).
Of course, the mattress was in the living room so at around 7 in the morning, I wake up to the sounds of my aunt talking to my uncle (he has Alzheimer's so excuse his constant questions). I listen for about 10 min. as my aunt explains to him how he can't go into the living room because I'm still sleeping and he needs to accompany her, the bride's mom, and our family friend from Taiwan to the hair dresser in the morning so that he can stay out the way of everybody trying to prepare for the wedding. I fall immediately back to sleep...
...for another forty-five minutes before the doorbell rings. It's the housekeeper/cook (my aunt works and is recovering from cancer and my uncle suffers from Alzheimer's. So, they have a housekeeper/cook). I let him in (because my dad CAN'T HEAR THE DOORBELL from the KITCHEN!! PUT IN YOUR HEARING AID!!!) and go back to the bed to put it away (shrug, might as well get up. There's a wedding today!). I sit down to watch TV. Finding nothing of interest on, I switch on the satellite cable (my aunt gets satellite cable with Taiwan programming. 12 channels of Taiwan TV with absolutely no other satellite channels. Thankfully, I'm not picky). I watch a variety show for about 20 min. before my cousin comes downstairs. "Good morning, Danny. Congratulations on the wedding!" "Good morning, Chris. Congratulations on making it into California." He tells me the florist is here. I put on my shoes and go outside with him as we help Moe, the florist, and his assistant unload the carloads of flowers he has and put them all in the garage outside. (Their garage is in their backyard. LA Suburban architecture.) Danny goes back to keep preparing for the wedding while I stay outside and help Moe as best I can for a little bit. My contribution includes filling three large buckets with water. Moe doesn't seem to trust me with anything else. Just as well because I wouldn't either.
I go back inside and sit down again to keep watching the variety show. They're blowing ping pong balls out of a giant glass vase full of flour with their mouths. I'm intrigued... Doorbell again. It's the other guy who's here to help Moe. I lead him to the backyard. Danny tells me that Moe's doing the flowers for free. What a great guy. I smell my shirt and realize that I'm in desperate need of a shower.
Shower done with, I come back downstairs for more TV. My aunt and uncle are back from the hairdresser's. My aunt looks good but she's using a walker. Oh yeah. Danny told me that she fell and had an accident. She'll be in a wheelchair for today's ceremony. That sucks. She's happy to see me tho as am I happy to see her. Aside from the walker, she looks healthy. Our family friend greets me too. Her English name's Chantal. She's a cool person. (She's Grandpa Wong's youngest daughter, for those keeping track.) My mom wakes up too. She changes and is off to pick up my other cousin, Ariel, so she can attend the wedding.
My aunt offers me Chinese breads to eat for breakfast. It's then that I realize that the last time I ate food was Thursday night for dinner (not counting chocolate chip cookies on the plane). Friday lunch was busy and I left at noon. Dinner was non-existent because of the line-waiting and JetBlue doesn't serve meals, just snacks. Wow. Starving and I didn't even realize it. I devour a bread and take a multi-vitamin (I've started taking One-A-Day). I feel much better. Back to watching TV.
I go outside for a little bit too to see how Moe's doing. The flowers are looking really good. It's surprising to see how much effort it takes to make that many bouquets (bouquets for all the bridesmaids and the bride as well as bouquets for all the pews and two gigantic bouquets for the pulpit). I'm absolutely no help. I go back to the TV. The variety show ppl just ate deep-fried shaved ice. I'm intrigued again.
My other cousin, Johnny (Danny's older brother) comes from his apartment (where he lives with his wife, Julie. They got married 2 years apart. They're also 2 years apart in age. I'm 2 years younger than Danny. Uh-oh. I think I'm expected to get married in 2 years) to pick up Danny and bring him to take photos. He jokes with me about getting in at 3 in the morning. Uh oh. I sense this will be the topic of conversation for me all day. Danny and Johnny are both dressed in their tuxes. Nice. On their way out, they give some last minute instructions. "Chris, look after my mom and make sure my dad puts on his tux correctly. It's sitting right here." They're off in Johnny's SUV which is decorated with lace and ribbons and has soap paintings on the windows that say "Just Married" and "J + D!" (Danny's bride's name is Jessica.) Cool.
Hm... probably time to get dressed. I put on my nice new shirt (it's Brandy colored) [This shirt but this color] and my tie (which is a different brand that I picked out all by myself to match the shirt [I bought both in Boston because I've worn the same suit 4 times and I thought I needed a new shirt and tie]. Very proud of myself. I got complimented on the shirt and tie. Yay!) and pants and jacket of course. I'm now dressed. Back to the TV.
Ok, helped my uncle and watched in curious intrigue as Chantel and Ariel made up my mom. Wow. They put WAY more work into her appearance than I did in mine. We live in a sexist society. Oh well. I'm dressed so why should I care? =P
3 o'clock and no problems. Time to go! We load up Moe's flowers, as well as helping Moe load up his car with the rest of the flowers. I ask my mom for the map to the church. It's only 6 miles away! Yay! I drive one car and my mom drives the other car. We arrive at the church with no problems. I wheel my aunt in and we all sit around to look at the chaos. My mom joins the chaos by running around with her camera and video camera. She takes many pictures and takes many minutes of video as well. I'm too tired to care either way about her. The church looks good tho. I say hi to Danny's dad's side of the family (who I've met probably twice?) and Pastor Allan (who also married Johnny and I've met probably a dozen times). Like a good pastor, he remembers me and jokes with me about getting in at 3 in the morning. Apparently information was being disseminated at the rehearsal dinner. I feel bad about taking at least some of the attention away from Danny and Jessica at last night's dinner.
I sit in the front with family. My mom gets the aisle seat and has her video camera aimed at the doorway, adjusting until she got a good shot framed. (We saw the video later and the lighting was all fucked up anyway so you couldn't see anything. Good try tho.) Me and Ariel chat and look at the program. "Worship songs?" Uh oh. This will be a long ceremony...
Oh! The music starts up and it's wedding time! Two bridesmaids make their way down and light the candles that'll be used in the unity candle part. The parents of the groom and bride next. My aunt and uncle have special instructions because of my aunt's wheelchair. Basically, Johnny wheels his mom down the aisle and my uncle's walked down with his sister, who will surrogate for my aunt for the unity candle part. Bridesmaids. The groomsmen and Danny come out together from behind the pulpit. It was a SURPRISE ENTRANCE! The ring boy (who's ... 2, it looks like and is wearing a little tuxedo. Cute) and the flower girl come out together. The ring boy looks really scared. Pastor Allan steps down to lead him up by the hand. The ring boy turns and tries to run away. Wow. That was funny. Now it's Jessica's turn. It's the first time I've seen her in the last couple of months. Wow, she looks really pretty. Looking good is definitely a good thing on your wedding day.
The ceremony's what you expect. Couple of memorable moments include singing 2 worship songs, Pastor Allan accidentally calling Danny "Johnny" and then correcting himself with the whole church laughing uproariously including the wedding party, Danny and Jessica saying vows in private when they were lighting the candle (I assume they were vows. It was private so nobody could hear what they were saying), both Danny and Jessica crying, and several "let us pray" moments. It was a very lovely ceremony.
Part three to be posted later. It's kinda late right now.
posted by Chris "Krang" Yang | 12:33 AM
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