Of Weddings, Age and Mornings After

It has happened.
My son has finally tied the knot, gotten married, jumped the broom, made the plunge, etc. etc. Mike and Cat were married in a beautiful ceremony at the fabulous Summer House in downtown Newberry, SC at 2pm on Saturday. The weather, despite a threat from Hurricane Hannah, was absolutely perfect, with a light breeze and sunny skies. Friends and family from California, Indiana, Florida, and some from as far away as Greenville and Pickens County attended and made the perfect day even more perfecter(?) The groomsmen and the groom were decked out in black formal slacks, black shirt and white silk ties...kinda like Johnny Cash meets the Sopranos.
The bridesmaids, dressed in above the knee, low cut cocktail dresses (much to the admiration of the groomsmen) with black shoes. Each bridesmaid chose a different style of dress with special made jewelry by the bride to compliment each dress.
But before we go into further detail about the actual ceremony, let's digress a bit to the evening before.

The Rehearsal Dinner
Being the parents of the groom, our main responsibility (other than making sure Mike made the ceremony on time) was to throw the rehearsal after-party. Being Reids (synonymous with broke as hell), we chose the down-home in Carolina approach - BBQ and Karaoke. We hired Hawg Heaven from Prosperity to cater the event and provide us with some BBQ, green beans, mac & cheese, baked beans and fried chicken. Yummy...it sure was good! These folks earned every penny of their fee with good, hot food and friendly (and pretty) servers. Roger and Peggy decided that the party needed some alkeehol, thus stocking a bar with a plethora of liquors and beer that would quench a moonshiner's thirst. After the brief rehearsal, we chowed down and then made room for the chocolate/strawberry groom's cake.
Karaoke was a big hit with all. Our friend Martha was in attendance and, as a former Karaoke host herself, kept the party raucous and rolling. The more the alcohol flowed, the more singers we saw on the stage. Good singers too! Peggy and Roger seemed to have a good time, Mike and Cat were in much demand as a singing act (they harmonize like angels) and Laura and I felt that we had indeed thrown a good party. This was my second realization of the week that I'm no spring chicken anymore. The first was a young man's bachelor party which began at midnight Thursday evening. I was there and lasted until almost 2am. By 3am I was home in bed for a 5:30 wakeup call with a 10 hour workday ahead.
Friday was a blur as I had to pick up the groom's cake and make final preparations for the dinner.
Brother Gary and family were in attendance as well and we bellied up to the bar and drank toasts until they no longer made any sense at all. Then we toasted to being drunk. After that, the party moved to Fort Reid and a few more drinks before we all passed out cold.

The Nuptials
We expected, being Reids, that the day would break with a minor hurricane lashing at us. Instead the day was beautiful, sunny and muggy like a typical southern September day should be. The guests began arriving at 12:45, the tents and chairs were all setup and ready, the wedding party was busy with the photographer (who was wonderful), and the groomsmen were all reeling from an early morning hangover. It was great to see all those old family and friends gathered in one place without a dead person as the center of attention. A joyous mood prevailed as Peggy rushed around from place to place insuring that all was ready and perfect for the bride. She was successful in this endeavor. At promptly 2pm the procession began. The pastor led the way, followed by Mike, me, Chris and Lee. The bridesmaids were next, the ring bearer and flower girl bringing up the rear. Then Catherine appeared on the arm of her ex-military uncle. She was stunning! Mikey did well, very well!
We went through the ceremony without incident (except the ring bearer cried) and all processed out.
The reception was as beautiful as the wedding with food and drink all around.
God smiled on us all this day! Mike and Cat are now honeymooning in San Francisco and Monterrey, California. May they have a pleasant trip!