Back in November of 2018, when I originally planned that I would write this post for this week, something in my brain told me I would be posting it the day after the wedding instead of a week before. So, I will be writing some of the details of what I’m expecting and at some point within the next month I will edit this post to include how things actually went.
I’ve already written about my brother a few times in the past, including the weekend we spent in Montreal this summer. What I don’t think I’ve written yet is that we aren’t brothers. We met at some point in high school and started hanging out in college. Other than my wife, he’s the one person I can trust more than anyone else. That’s why I usually call him my brother when I talk about him.
Hopefully the explanation of how we aren’t actually related will make it sound better when I say he is marrying my sister (in-law) this weekend. It’s something my wife and I have been looking forward to for a long time, even before they were together. We could tell for years it was going to happen but didn’t interfere because we wanted them both to be ready for each other.
Around the time of my own wedding I was walking with my brother along one of the rivers in the city we lived in at the time. He told me he was going to be going on a date with her and my heart leapt for joy. I don’t remember the exact conversation we had about it but I can picture in my mind exactly where I was standing when he said it.
A few years later he was asking me to drop off a ring to a restaurant on my way home from work so it would be there for him that night. It was risky, and I did get in trouble when my wife found out I knew before the proposal but I kept it a secret from everyone who wasn’t involved in it. Now, after months of planning the wedding weekend is upon us.
The event will be about two hours from our house so we have our dogs all set to be boarded for two nights. We would normally ask one of my sisters if she is able to take care of them but she just moved into a new house. We’ve also already been asking her to take care of them on show days for marching band.
Edit: The dogs ended up having a great time being boarded. Though they did end up with a pretty bad cough, they are doing fine now.
The reason it is two hours away is because there is a castle on a lake that is important to both of them. My brother’s family has a get-together there every year and for the past few years he’s been bringing my sister with him. I think they may have also had their own trips there as well, as the castle also has a winery. That’s one of the things they love doing together is going on wine tours. Any time they go on a vacation they come back and tell us about a winery they went to while they were gone.
After the rehearsal dinner on Saturday, my wife and I each have a hotel room we’ll be taking our respective person to so they don’t see each other again until the ceremony. I don’t know where they will be but we will be 10 minutes from the castle. It looked like it would be a good area to be able to walk around and get some fresh air when we can’t sleep at midnight. And it seems like a good distance so when I let the Maid of Honor know we are on our way we can adjust as needed to keep the two apart still.
Edit: Both of our hotels ended up sharing a parking lot which worked out with figuring out vehicles. Most of the bridal party ended up being within walking distance of each other’s hotels. And we were also right across the street from the rehearsal dinner location.
At the end of the rehearsal dinner, we had a hard time getting the bride and groom to leave. They kept wanting to help clean up. The brides ride actually left without her because they needed to get to her dad’s hotel room and steal his tie. She had a piece of fabric she wanted to put on the inside of it as a gift.
We finally got them out and I got to drive my brother’s spaceship (Prius) out to the bar to meet some of his friends from work. We ended up walking past an Irish pub and going to a sports bar next door. I didn’t understand the initial reasoning but it kept us from being hung over the next day.
We ended up getting a table in the back room because we had so many. After about a half hour another group showed up. I could tell it was a cast party for a small theatre production because most of them were semi-casual and there was a kid with them. And as always there was one guy in a suit bragging about all the roles he’s played in the past.
I don’t remember the context but at one point in the night someone called me a Ginger. I was confused so I looked around the table after he said it to see who he was talking about. I’m not a red-head.
The ceremony and reception will be Tim Burton themed which I am really looking forward to. My sisters and I have always loved Tim Burton films and Halloween type things so I’m expecting it to be fun. I don’t know yet what has been decided in terms of decorations. The only thing I know so far is the groomsmen all have striped ties.
I’ve made a list of things to bring in case of emergency and hopefully I decided on the correct things. There is a chance of rain in the late afternoon but it should be during the end of the reception if at all. I don’t know what will be inside or outside. The castle is beautiful inside and out so I can’t even make a guess of which they would prefer.
Edit: It did end up raining during the ceremony. The Maid of Honor and I were given large golf umbrellas to hold. When it came time for the rings I had the umbrella in one hand and a handkerchief in the other.
The rings were inside a pouch inside my pocket and the pouch itself was split into two compartments. I was holding the umbrella and getting one ring at a time out of the pouch when they asked if I needed help. I said, “No. I’m the Best Man,” with the emphasis on “best” and everyone started laughing. I didn’t realize the microphone was going to pick me up where I was standing.
I do know that I will have plenty of extra tissues. If he doesn’t use them I know I will. I still haven’t practiced reading my Best Man’s speech out loud yet because I can’t read through it.
Edit: The Maid of Honer did her speech before me. She had it typed out on her phone and her date had left the phone in their car thinking she wouldn’t need it. We had to wait awkwardly for about 10 minutes while he ran to get it because the emcee said I couldn’t go first.
I cried just about as much as I thought I would. but I also roasted the groom as much as possible. There was a long stretch with no jokes where I got really sentimental. My other brother-in-law yelled, “Go back to being funny,” to help me get through it. It helped and I made it through.
People kept complimenting me for the rest of the night on my speech. My one aunt-in-law told my wife she didn’t know I was that funny because I never talk.
A Life, Ensnared 