Last Saturday was our fifth of six weddings spanning October 2011 through September 2012. There was actually going to be a seventh, but the bride and groom decided to delay their wedding for awhile. I don’t imagine we will be so wedding-rich again for some time, if ever.
Last weekend’s wedding involved a former student of Mer’s and one of my former improv students. Dan has stayed in touch over the intervening seven years since he graduated, and we were very pleased to be invited to his wedding. Dan had met his bride, Carolyn, online, which I think is the third such wedding we have been to since the dawn of internet dating made such meetings possible.
The wedding was in Pittsburgh, which is always an adventure, even with a GPS. For those who have not driven in Pittsburgh, the city is very hilly, and so the streets tend to wind, and the intersections can come up very quickly. We made it to the church with little difficulty (we were not quite so lucky on the way home, where I took two wrong turns, from which the GPS rescued us). Dan’s younger brother, Mike, was also in my improv group, and had just gotten back from a months-long mission trip to South Africa. We were able to chat briefly with Mike and his girlfriend at the reception, and made plans to catch up with Mike later.
The actual wedding was an Anglican wedding, and was presided over by two priests – Mike’s priest from New York and Carolyn’s priest from Pittsburgh. The ceremony was from the Book of Common Prayer, and the homily was given by Mike’s priest. She looked a little tired from her trip the previous day, but she did fine. The entire service was a real church service, lasting over an hour, and included several congregational hymns, and Dan and Carolyn served each other communion, which I found very touching.
The reception was nearby in a fire-fighters’ hall. Mer and I were seated with Dan’s fellow-students, most of whom were in my Royal Fools improv group, and most of whom have stayed in touch with both me and Mer. It is always a great time to see this group of former students; we have a good time together. The food was excellent, and the fellowship was grand. There was dancing after supper, and Mer and I got to dance a fair amount. The only downside to the evening was that the music was too loud to allow for conversation, even when we were on the other side of the hall. That was fairly minor, as we figured we could make plans to see most everyone, and we made definite plans to see Mike.
The next wedding will be in early September, and will involve the same group of students. It will be a fine way to wrap up the Year of the Wedding.