The wedding took place in Dana Point, and was officiated by a very funny priest, who described the ceremony as "awesome." He really stressed the importance of love and communication.
This became evident a little ways into the ceremony when he asked Cristina and Brad to join their right hands together. The couple, facing each other, reached out and locked their hands in a straight line--his right, her left.
"Your RIGHT hands," the priest reiterated. They dropped hands, and tried again, grabbing the hands straight across again, but closest to the congregation--this time, his left and her right hands.
The priest reminded them "Right hands!" one last time, and as everybody laughed, the realized their mistake, and crossed their hand overs, finally holding their right hands together. It was a sweet and funny moment, which the priest concluded by reminding the couple, "See, I told you communication is an important skill!"
The cantor was also very good--she had a powerful voice. But not all of us understand her words correctly--as she was belting out "Hosana," my niece Gabi whispered, "I thought she was saying 'Lasagna.'" Mark whispered back, "I thought she was saying 'Osama'," and I realized maybe these two need a little more time in church.
The reception was about 15 minutes south, in San Clemente. We stood on the patio, drinking wine, watching the sun set over the beach 50 yards away. It was gorgeous.
I took a nice shot of my dad and future sister-in-law, Shanda. This pic cracked me up because it looks like a giant fire ball is about to consume my dad.
There was an indoor hall attached to the courtyard, and my nephew Grant was guarding the door. I asked him why.
"They're giving stuff away!" he shouted, all excited.
"What kind of stuff?" I asked, and he answered, "Food!"
Just then, a server appeared with a try of appetizers, and I laughed. Of course Grant was waiting for food, that kid's always hungry!
Later on, he enlisted his cousin Lauren to help him stake out the servers. Grant was posted at one doorway, Lauren at the other, so no servers could pass them by. But even that wasn't close enough--I walked by a little later, and they had staked out the kitchen door!
I was about to tell them the servers would be around again with more food, when suddenly, the kitchen door opened. A waiter appeared, handing Lauren and Grant some food and napkins, then immediately shut the door again. Apparently, their plan worked! The kids ran off, laughing happily, shoving baby beef Wellington and crab cakes into their mouths.
Dinner was served in a big, round casino, which confused the kids--they were looking around for slot machines. There weren't any, but we hit the jackpot anyway--amazing food in a beautiful room.
I was just happy to sit at the adult's table this time. As my snotty niece Hannah pointed out, it wasn't that my behavior improved so much as the fact there were no kid's tables this time, but I didn't care. I got to sit with my parents, my cousin Michael, and his family. There were no candy favors on the table this time, but the kids immediately went to work trying to beat open some whole almonds with their silverware. Michael and my dad chided them, pointing out that these almonds were tough, and required the blunt end of the butter knives. Pretty soon, my whole table was pounding almonds with very nice silverware, and I wondered how I got the bad behavior rap in the family!
Cristina and her groom Brad came by to say hi. Brad's very tall--6' 7"--which the kids loved. They goaded their uncle, who's a good foot shorter, into taking a picture with the groom, and proved that no matter what, my brother will always be Little Brad.
Mark had a blast. He tried to push me on to the dance floor when the DJ called for all the single ladies, but I refused. (I just giggled, thinking of the hilarious scene in "Sex and the City," when the bridal bouquet was tossed and landed on the floor next to all the SATC ladies, who just shrugged and went off for Cosmos.)
And though I was reluctant, Mark was not. He joined the much-bigger single men on the floor for the garter toss, even though he had no chance of catching that thing (and would have been mortified if he had caught it.)
Mark also wanted to take lots of pictures. When the cake cutting started, he grabbed my phone and ran right on up to Cristina and Brad, wedging himself into a good position. He got so close up, I had to call him back, because I was afraid he was going to end up in all the official wedding photos!
It was a really fun night. We ate, we laughed, we had a great time with our family. Mark had a blast with his cousins, and I had a blast with all mine. It was a lovely reminder of how great family really is, and how much fun weddings can be.
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