Rehearsal Dinner

Rehearsal dinner this evening.  It was a nice chance to get re-acquainted with Toni's family and to meet some of Brendon's family as well.  And, I'm pretty sure the bride is going to kill someone before the weekend is out.  It's entirely possible that someone will deserve it, but I can't be sure.  All I know is that my dear friend Toni is wound tight.

I can't imagine what it must be like to have to plan an execute a wedding.  I suspect that I'd probably wanna kill some one too.  So there's Toni to the left, trying to appear like she's not exhausted and ready to kill her fiance.  Men!  Of course, that poor guy has already been through the whole marriage thing once, and so he doesn't think it's all that big a deal.  Can you guess who I think is the one who's gonna end up dead?  Persons we can be sure will not end up dead are the splendid array of musicians Toni's gathered from the choir and youth groups at her church - with whom both of which she works.  That 's maestro Bruce Smith (her partner in crime in these church activities) and her other friend Duane on the keyboards in the back.

Seriously, though, the pressure to pull one of these things off must be freakin' enormous!  I'm so glad that the good ol' Judeo-Christian fascists who get to make the rules have spared me any chance of ever experiencing it first hand.  You know, since the way I love someone is so inferior to the way you love someone.  I mean, straight people put penises in approved sockets, and all.

But I digress.  This union, I think, is a pretty blessed one.  These two folks are sweet and obviously care for each other a great deal.  That was obvious from the moment I first saw them together, and it will be abundantly clear again once the pressure of this particular little production is off.

That picture to the right up there is of Brendon and his sister, who brought her husband and son all the way from Boston, if I'm remembering that correctly (and if I'm not - apologies!).  I can't tell you how much Brendon was beaming at the chance to see his brother Tim - who's also his best man - and his mom and sister.  His kids Hannah and Ben were scampering around like mad people.  Ben's one of the groomsmen, and Hannah's the flower girl.  That's Hannah over on the left with Kathy, Tim's fiance - which, I suppose, makes her an aunt-in-law-to-be.  Everyone was joking with Tim and Kathy that this was going to be a dry run for their own wedding.

At last, the rehearsal all done (I didn't get to practice my reading, dammit!), we retired to the church hall for a lovely catered rehearsal dinner, and the bride took a moment to relax and hang out with her family and friends...