Yesterday a coworker, upon inspecting my facebook photos, said the following: "At first I thought you were at a wedding this weekend, but then I realized you were at a classy Cinco de Mayo party." Nope, I was definitely at a wedding ... a Penn State wedding. 
There are a few things that are a guaranteed good time. Any X-men movie, Sunday brunches in the city, and a wedding where a Penn Stater marries a Penn Stater. Hence the activities from this weekend where Alisa (you may remember her from here) and Brian tied the knot. To say this wasn't a long time in the making is an understatement. I remember vividly, awkward moments hanging out as a group when Erica would stop and say, "Hey, guys. This is so great because when Alisa and Brian get married we'll all be old, but we'll like have a college reunion." And that's what it was. Another chance for PSU alum, perfectly respectable and successful humans in their every day lives, to misbehave like in the old days.
The details were perfectly "them". A seriously stunning bride that took your breathe away ... who glided down the aisle with a huge grin and Pearl Jam playing. A best friend who officiated the ceremony with personal stories and anecdotes, and a quick nod to the brides' favorite things - puppies (um, we realized in the car ride there that it would have been better to rip up checks and get her a puppy but it was too late) and shiny things. A binding "I now pronounce you husband and wife and best friends forever." A photo booth stocked with Mexican fare and party goers delights. And a room full of my closest friends, old acquaintances, friends of old "acquaintances" and the such.
From the fact that the festivities took place on Cinco de Mayo (the two met in Spanish class), to the sheer genius who renamed it Cinco de Chi-O in honor of it being a full on sorority formal. How about the glass bottle in the middle of the dance floor, you know the one normal people place there and then dance around? How about how the
photographer tapped a friend on the shoulder and asked if this spectacle was a traditional Irish dance? Jill just answered the best way she knew how, "Nope, Penn State." Or the school bus ride home that reminded me all too much of returning from a Greek formal where you knew po-po and/or an RA would be waiting for your unruly arrival.
The evening was filled with dirty dancing. Then there was the moment. The one when you remember it happening in real life, but can't believe someone was unbelievable enough to capture it in photos and yep, video.
The one when it becomes clear the groom is having "the time of his life." [um, listen here. you will hate yourself if you do not click on that link.]
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| SIDENOTE: sadly, this Dirty Dancing reenactment seems to be popular among my friends. Natalie broke her ankle practicing the move at a bachelorette party last year and attended the wedding in a cast and crutches. |
The after party had your typical bridesmaid looking for her misplaced purse, groom asking if it was ok he was down in the bar with his new wife passed out on her father's suites' couch upstairs (no, seriously, totally fine), couples breaking up for the night, friends who walked up to the McD's drive thru and cried discrimination when the woman wouldn't serve them because they weren't in a car. I rode the elevator up to my hotel room with the groom's father holding a bag of fries and Big Macs, and many a guest returned to their hotel rooms with warm chocolate cookies from the hotel front desk. My car ride home blasted the Pandora Disney channel where I tried to scream over the speakers and channel my inner Mulan.
It's these fantastic special occasions where you realize a wedding weekend should be just this. Friends coming together to celebrate a couple who belongs together ... and a party of friends who can still make me laugh. Who remind me that I still have it in me, until, of course, the 3 hour nap I took when I got home and the fact that I'm headed to the University of Arizona this weekend for my littlest brother's graduation ... remind me that I don't.
Congrats to two of my favorite people! I think I speak for everyone when I say, "thanks for getting married." Wishing you a lifetime of happiness, puppies, shiny things, walks to the McD's drive thrus together and never-ending"Classy Cinco De Mayo parties."
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| Father of the Bride's Gift: A Bicycle Built For Two |
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