Maybe it was because Mairead was right in front of me and she was having a hard time holding it together :), but I started to tear up walking down the aisle. Then I got up to the fountain and got in line, and felt fine, until the band started playing Oh Canada when Dad was walking Gill down the aisle. Oh Canada makes me cry every time I hear it (I know I can't be the only one)! You should see me at hockey games!
Once she got up to the front, the ceremony started, which was great. They had a friend of theirs do the ceremony, and he had just the right amount of official wedding type stuff and personal stuff. I think at one point he compared them to 2 monkeys or something, but it was great:)
At the end of the ceremony, he explained a tradition, of which I really don't remember all the details, but it involved everyone waving a hankerchief in the air:
The hankerchiefs came in handy for what came next: the Second Line! I guess this is a tradition that is done at weddings and at funerals to send the person/people into the next phase of life. The whole wedding party and all the guests file out into the street and, accompanied by a brass band, parade through the streets of the French Quarter. There were police escorts to block the traffic and everything! It felt like something from a movie...people were coming out of houses and restaurants, people were taking our pictures, we kind of felt like celebrities! (the first two pictures are from Brian Sherman - gotta give credit!)
When we got back to the hotel for the reception, everyone was parched (dancing through the streets will do that!), so there was a long line up for the bar :)
After a bit of mingling, the happy couple was announced by Julia, and out they came dressed in swim suits and Grant in a life jacket. The proceeded to get in the pool and do a sychronized swimming routine! Yup, a synchronized swimming routine...it was a bit dark by then, so of course none of my pictures came out :(
The meal was great, and the reception was really relaxed. The courtyard was such a nice setting, there were tables right beside the pool, and the weather was perfect.
The toasts started with the Moms, who both had very nice speeches. Then the Dad enlightened the Americans with some French translations (beau-frere = good looking brother for me!). The best man, Greg Lee, then gave his HI-larious toast, which included a spot-on imitation of Grant on the phone with Gill :) There was a "surprise" from 2 of the groomsmen, which was a very touching rendition of a-song-I-can't-remember-the-name-of :) Mairead then gave her very emotional toast, which brought back some memories of visiting her and Gill in residence at Queens.
I was supposed to give a toast as well, but after Mairead's there really wasn't time. I was just going to talk about the Picnic Cart, the Comical Head, Smedley and the Pussycats and "I'm not Sipowicz", and tell Grant that since he doesn't have any siblings, he's welcome to torture me, especially since he can learn from the best! Oh, and of course welcome him to the family and all that ;)
Some cute pictures from the reception:
Then there was cake, champagne, lots of photo ops, and another cockroach (this one on my shoulder!), then the couple left and the crowd dwindled. I guess it all had to be over by 11, since there were rooms that had windows out onto the courtyard noise was a factor. The Mom and I went up to the suite to get our stuff and tidy up the room (man those bridesmaids made a mess...mostly just underwear and clothes everywhere, including mine:)).
Julia, Brian, Chris and I left to get a bite to eat, then took a cab back to the guest house for some much needed sleep.
Almost done! Part 5 coming up..
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