What I was responsible for was the music, and I kept putting that off, and I wish I had not. Trying to do it two days before the wedding: bad idea. I just started putting CD's on Lynette's computer and the iTouch that we borrowed from my students.
So Friday I decided to go to work, just because there was so much drama in my classroom, that I did not want to take this paranoid chance that I would get in trouble for skipping out on work. So I walk into my inservice meeting half an hour late, and everybody apparently had assumed I would take the day off because they started yelling at me and laughing at me for being there.
Then I went to work and talked to my principal who gave me a wedding gift and then I put my students grades in the computer, and then bounced out of the school. OH, and my paras hugged me and congratulated me, but none of them were going to be able to make it.
So then I raced home and got Lynette's work laptop, the iTouch, some clothes for the honeymoon, and all the stereo equipment. One of the speakers, which all used to belong to Lynette's brother Danny, had a wasp nest inside the cover. Gotta love the country...
So I go swoop by the LaFollette residence and get Greg and he drives us to Manhattan. He has to drive because I procrastinated writing "Thank You" cards for all the guys in the wedding (the ones that you give with the Wedding Party gifts...1/4 of which I bought that Friday morning...ah procrastination you tyrant of time). Needless to say, I didn't get done.
Then comes the unraveling of how many small details I had not thought about at all.
- First, the wiring I thought was usable, because IT WAS USED IN A BARN, was totally not up to par for Greg. Plus it was gaudy pastel green with touches of rust all along its length. Luckily we had enough actual speaker wire to make it all work out.
- Second, who was gonna run sound during the wedding. That person was gonna have to sit in the baptistry and take cues from somebody to play songs at the right time. That person was Zach, and BUDDY I appreciate it more than I will ever be able to tell you. Thanks for taking one for the Drogemueller Team.
- Third, I had not even looked at the back of the sound system to look for a microphone jack. I just assumed it would have one. FALSE. Luckily my friends (Abe and Ben - Thanks) scrambled and found a microphone and way to get it hooked up to my sound system.
- Fourth, I still needed to finish downloading music for the wedding.
- Fifth, this is an afterthought, but I did not listen to my wife-to-be when she told me she wanted a lot of slow dance music so we could just dance slow and so that other people could dance slow. Listening to what your woman says is over-rated. Can I get an AMEN...no...eh...got any gum? (That's a Letterman reference, just in case you do not know comedy.)
Our wedding went off without a hitch. It was a surreal blur. I hardly remember the fine details. However all the worries I had about the fine details evaporated on my big day. On the day I have dreamed of and desired since I was 13 years old. And it was perfect for Lynette and I - a little dazzling chaos for the dazzlingly chaotic couple.
Lynette looked more beautiful than I have ever seen her. When I first saw her, I about melted, but I was outside taking pictures in that bitter Alma cold, so no fear of that. (Those pictures I hope turn out okay because I bet it was hard to capture smiles on popsicles. The poor women in their shoulderless dresses...at least us men had suit coats. But the Filipino Bombshell (best/most awkward way to describe someone's woman...oh, Manley...) - Sionnie LaFollette will capture your best side, if it can be done. So talented that lass.
The reception and dinner - were fun. Food was delicious, cake was delicious. Sad I did not get a taste of the coconut layer. My favorite dance besides the First Dance was the Dollar Dance. Fun awkwardly dancing with people just to get money.
Dean: you took care of me better than a brother. I love you so much. Thanks for everything you did at our wedding. EVERYTHING (wink-wink). I did not have to worry about anything thanks to your God-given ability to orchestrate things (or as Glenn says - boss people around).
Greg: Thanks for getting the sound up and running. It was beautiful. Thank you for the very unique tracks that you mixed up for us (the mixing of the Candle-lighting song and the Bride's song were his handywork, if you are curious). Love you too bro, and thanks for being a substitute Best Man, I thought that was super classy, loving and selfless to do.
Zach: Thanks for taking one for the team. My wedding would have been colorless without the music, and it could not have gotten played without you being in that Baptistry. A Catholic in a Baptistry...oh giggle giggle.
Everybody else: Thanks for allowing me to just bark orders at you, particularly during rehearsal when I was super nervous and afraid that things were not going to work out perfectly.
My favorite part of the wedding was the music: It was the most intimate part to me. I love music. By far the superior art form. I would rather listen to music than see any play or movie; look at any statue, painting or picture; read any work of literature. The song we departed to was particularly special and significant. It was so fitting for us, because we both like Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20's yourselforsomeonelikeyou was one of the first CDs I owned) and the lyrics could most definitely be speaking of the momentuous event that is a wedding. I only wish we had a longer aisle to walk down, so we could have heard more of it.
So for your reading pleasure (but definitely look it up on YouTube or Grooveshark and listen to it its melancholy goodness...fittingly it comes from a cartoon Disney's Pixarless Meet the Robinson's). I could write a whole blog on the significance of this song and its lyrics on a deeply personal level to me, but I will spare you. I have always liked it, but when I thought about the words and my relationship with Lynette and the stress of our wedding planning and the shit we have been through together and stepping into this penultimate stage of our lives together becoming one, it chokes me up. I get a little verklempt.
LITTLE WONDERS (Emphasis added for poetic necessity):
Let it go,
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know
The HARDEST PART is over
Let it in,
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will ONLY JUST REMEMBER HOW IT FEELS
Our lives are MADE
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain
Let it slide,
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Until you feel it all around you
And I DON'T MIND
IF IT'S ME YOU NEED TO TURN TO
We'll get by,
It's the HEART THAT REALLY MATTERS in the end
Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain
ALL OF MY REGRET
WILL WASH AWAY SOME HOW
BUT I CANNOT FORGET
THE WAY I FEEL RIGHT NOW
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
(the ever important crescendo...)
These TWISTS AND TURNS OF FATE
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours, still remain,
Still remain
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But THESE SMALL HOURS
THESE LITTLE WONDERS still remain...
*(may they always remain for me and my baby...)
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