Our Wedding Day Part 5: After the Ceremony

 Soon they were all off in the dining area snacking.  Adam and I were having our photos taken, and we were all shouting over the musicians it was so loud in that little room.  At some point the cake topper tumbled off the cake.  I can’t even remember it happening; I had to ask my friend Cindy the following week, “Did it happen during or after the ceremony?”  And she said it was after.  I have a vision of everyone stopping dead/gasping but I might have made that up in my head later.  I asked, “Did we at least get a photo of it already?”  Sarah said, “Well, I did” and the photographer did not.  They turned it around, set the topper beside it, (one of the musicians tried to wipe the frosting or hot wax from the fallen candle off her dress) and the photographer promised to put the topper back on for a photo later.

The photography process was interesting; he had a lot of advice for us.  First, he wanted to photograph the flowers, not the stems, so he told me to pretend there’s a gun in one of the roses and to aim it at him.  He told Adam not to wrap his fingers around my arm but to keep it on my back because disembodied hands look creepy in photos.  And he had me stand on the opposite side of his boutonniere.  All interesting!  And there were a LOT of photos, (I think he had us hold a pose for 16 rapid fire shots at once!) and I only has a quick break to munch on the goodies I picked out.  I didn’t have time (or need) for much, but what I did eat was tasty. 

Dinner was really fantastic, but then I knew it would be!  It was a little awkward as everyone was being served.  I know usually people have speeches at weddings, but Adam was STRONGLY against the idea.  So I said a quick thank you to everyone for coming and sharing this day with us, and let’s dig in.  Which went over well!  It was a little quiet, which Jenn commented on (she asked us where our dance floor was) and I said, “You have to understand, we’ve been partying ALL WEEK.”

Just before the cake, the photographer asked me if there were any other photos I wanted, and I consulted the list.  We had pretty much everything, except the Email to Adam!  I really wanted that captured.  All those years we spent connecting over Email for months on end.  I wanted to write him a touching Email about how far we’ve come, and how amazing it felt to be starting our lives as husband and wife today.  Instead it sounded something like, “Dear Adam, Today is our wedding day.  But everyone is downstairs now waiting for cake, so I have to go.  I love you.”  And sure enough, everyone was sitting awkwardly waiting for me.  Oops.

 After that, I was really looking forward to playing games with everyone.  I had bought 2 cool wooden board games, we had dominoes, and I had mom bring playing cards.  Aled and Sarah set up ONE table, with no chairs, so the room was not really conducive for entertaining everyone.  Damn.  And time was ticking down to the limo arrival.  Mom asked me to make a list of things I needed her to bring back to my place, so I started going over it with her.  But everyone was standing around, there in the room with me.  I felt really awkward, and mentioned the games, asking if anyone wanted to get started playing them, and they said, “no.”  I was disappointed.  And then felt even MORE awkward when they said, “We want to toast you and Adam.”

Oh.

I didn’t just feel awkward for myself, though going over the list like that make me feel silly.  I was worried about Adam, because he said no speeches.  He begged Aled not to give one, but he did anyway.  And it turns out we’re so glad he did!

He started out by saying that best man speeches are usually to make fun of the groom.  But then he went on to say, “So I was trying to think of the first time I met Adam.  But then I realized, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t friends with Adam.”  I was so moved by that statement that I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.  He went on to say that this means he’s known Adam for a long time, so knowing him it came as a HUGE shock to hear that he was going to be moving to America!  Again, so true.  Adam hates change, I know.  He wasn’t too fond of America when I first started talking to him, either.  So Aled went on to say that he knew I must be pretty special for Adam to be willing to do that.  And after spending a week with us, he saw that the two of us are a lovely couple.  We’re alike in so many ways, (and I thought about how quiet we both are, and sort of geeky) but we’re also different in other ways that complement each other.  And that he was right; I am pretty special.  It was such a moving speech.  Short, but perfect.




And before we knew it, it was 6:45.  No games were played (which broke my heart; they looked fun!)  We had to get changed to get our limo at 7.  Getting the wedding dress off was about as tricky as getting it on.  And then there were about a thousand bobby pins to remove the veil from my hair.  I kept the tiara on, but the veil would have been too much.  We got our bags, said goodbye to everyone, and hopped in the limo.  The wedding was really over.