THE WEDDING... and the honeymoon!!!
HELLO ALL!!!
So, a little over a week ago I married my best friend, Angie. The wedding was awesome, the reception was awesome... everything was better than I basically could have ever imagined.
According to sources attending the wedding, I had some huge, goofy smile across my face from the second I stepped out into the hall. I am waiting on photo evidence of this though.
So, our two families converged on the Batesville St. Louis Catholic Church on Friday, Oct 23 for the rehearsal. It went rather well. Everyone knew their parts and as an excellent addition, my friend, and now personal hero of the Bass and Dickman families, chenlitao showed up for the rehearsal and the following dinner. So, we all ate, talked, laughed, shared stories and drinks... it was an excellent time.
After the dinner, I returned to my hotel where I shared a room with my life-long friend, David Hanson. I've known him since I was 6 months old... and he and I spent WAY too much time laughing and talking that night, but it was a wonderful time.
Then came Saturday. We all got up, had breakfast, Li went to take photos of Angie and her sisters getting ready and my brothers and I relaxed, laughed and waited for the designated time to head tot he Church.
It was then that a string of surprises occurred... the first, my godmother Jo showed up. I haven't seen her in almost 8 years or more. And that was great. After that I saw in the audience family and or friends that I honestly never expected to see there. It was then that my overly emotional side kicked in and I had to do my best to not cry like a little girl.
Then... the music started. And the girls began their walk down the aisle... behind them I caught a glimpse of my bride and had to look away. Again with the emotional thing... When she began her walk towards the the front of the church I was just giddy and stupid-happy. She looked amazingly beautiful.
The rest is a blur of happiness and insane smiles that last for what seemed to all happen in less than 10 minutes... but was more like an hour... but it was excellent. Every bit of it.
After that, we took some photos with our families and then made our way to the reception.
We entered to the song "Tank" by The Seatbelts... yes, it is the opening theme to "Cowboy Bebop." -- Angie and I first met to exchange DVDs... Bebop was one of them. So, it was awesome.
We came in, we ate, we had cake, there were toasts... some funny, some emotional... all enjoyable. I even tried to make my toast to Angie, but well, thanks to my Dad's emotional moments, I was pretty much worthless at speaking, so it was cut short.... and, for the first time ever, I danced with my wife. We danced to Frank Sinatra's "it had to be you" -- because, well, it did indeed.
We spent the rest of the night dancing and mingling, meeting new friends and saying hello to old ones... And when it ended, we packed up the care and headed back to our place for our first night of the rest of our lives.
The next morning, we loaded up the luggage and boarded plane to Rome, Italy! And for a week we walked around the ruins, the Vatican, and whatnot... ate pasta, pizza and drank wine (and the occasional Jim Beam or Jack Daniels) and we had a great time. One day we even took the high speed train to Florence to meet up with inomuiro for a 4-course meal and some good times.
When Sunday morning rolled around, the first non-smiley moment of my marriage happened as we were met with delayed flights, crowded lines, lost luggage and the like. But... Those fleeting moments don't have the power to over-shadow the events of the previous week.
Right now my wife is asleep upstairs, recovering from jet-lag while I, who apparently has lost all ability to sleep, have been awake since 5:30... the good news is: The airline dropped off my luggage about 20 minutes ago... so I'm pretty excited.
so, for now, I'm going to hop across the street, buy us some coffee and come home and make my wife breakfast!
I hope you are all well!!
-Ben
So, a little over a week ago I married my best friend, Angie. The wedding was awesome, the reception was awesome... everything was better than I basically could have ever imagined.
According to sources attending the wedding, I had some huge, goofy smile across my face from the second I stepped out into the hall. I am waiting on photo evidence of this though.
So, our two families converged on the Batesville St. Louis Catholic Church on Friday, Oct 23 for the rehearsal. It went rather well. Everyone knew their parts and as an excellent addition, my friend, and now personal hero of the Bass and Dickman families, chenlitao showed up for the rehearsal and the following dinner. So, we all ate, talked, laughed, shared stories and drinks... it was an excellent time.
After the dinner, I returned to my hotel where I shared a room with my life-long friend, David Hanson. I've known him since I was 6 months old... and he and I spent WAY too much time laughing and talking that night, but it was a wonderful time.
Then came Saturday. We all got up, had breakfast, Li went to take photos of Angie and her sisters getting ready and my brothers and I relaxed, laughed and waited for the designated time to head tot he Church.
It was then that a string of surprises occurred... the first, my godmother Jo showed up. I haven't seen her in almost 8 years or more. And that was great. After that I saw in the audience family and or friends that I honestly never expected to see there. It was then that my overly emotional side kicked in and I had to do my best to not cry like a little girl.
Then... the music started. And the girls began their walk down the aisle... behind them I caught a glimpse of my bride and had to look away. Again with the emotional thing... When she began her walk towards the the front of the church I was just giddy and stupid-happy. She looked amazingly beautiful.
The rest is a blur of happiness and insane smiles that last for what seemed to all happen in less than 10 minutes... but was more like an hour... but it was excellent. Every bit of it.
After that, we took some photos with our families and then made our way to the reception.
We entered to the song "Tank" by The Seatbelts... yes, it is the opening theme to "Cowboy Bebop." -- Angie and I first met to exchange DVDs... Bebop was one of them. So, it was awesome.
We came in, we ate, we had cake, there were toasts... some funny, some emotional... all enjoyable. I even tried to make my toast to Angie, but well, thanks to my Dad's emotional moments, I was pretty much worthless at speaking, so it was cut short.... and, for the first time ever, I danced with my wife. We danced to Frank Sinatra's "it had to be you" -- because, well, it did indeed.
We spent the rest of the night dancing and mingling, meeting new friends and saying hello to old ones... And when it ended, we packed up the care and headed back to our place for our first night of the rest of our lives.
The next morning, we loaded up the luggage and boarded plane to Rome, Italy! And for a week we walked around the ruins, the Vatican, and whatnot... ate pasta, pizza and drank wine (and the occasional Jim Beam or Jack Daniels) and we had a great time. One day we even took the high speed train to Florence to meet up with inomuiro for a 4-course meal and some good times.
When Sunday morning rolled around, the first non-smiley moment of my marriage happened as we were met with delayed flights, crowded lines, lost luggage and the like. But... Those fleeting moments don't have the power to over-shadow the events of the previous week.
Right now my wife is asleep upstairs, recovering from jet-lag while I, who apparently has lost all ability to sleep, have been awake since 5:30... the good news is: The airline dropped off my luggage about 20 minutes ago... so I'm pretty excited.
so, for now, I'm going to hop across the street, buy us some coffee and come home and make my wife breakfast!
I hope you are all well!!
-Ben