My brother and I can’t be trusted at weddings. Even our own. We have a lot of the same friends, so between them all getting married and wanting us there, and family weddings, we’ve managed to end up being the goofy, loud, hilarious table that you are simultaneously embarrassed for yet also really kind of want to be sitting at because obviously we are the most fun people there.
There was the time David managed to knock over a significantly full water glass and baptize our entire table. Then the time our friends had old fashioned soda bottles as beverages and David made a row of them with differing amounts of water in each and played rock ballads on them (think Miss Congeniality talent), then proceeded to break the top of one clean off (no jagged edges, just a smooth, cut, beheaded soda bottle) trying to open it without a bottle opener.
More recently, I managed to make my husband roll his eyes at me as our good friends from church and I, who were at separate tables, kept tossing larger and larger items at each other’s heads throughout the reception, trying to be as casual and low key about it as possible (and of course never during speeches or any time when our attention should be elsewhere, we aren’t COMPLETE savages). It descended into chucking pinecones (not loudly or obviously enough to disturb anyone but those who had the misfortune to sit very near us, but still…) and since the same whole crew will be in attendance today, we will probably find even more creative ways to be subtly obnoxious. Heaven help our table mates.
I do love weddings, despite the necessary application of eye shadow and spanx. There’s something about witnessing the fresh start of a couple so full of hope, and so surrounded by cheerleaders for this new venture. Of recognizing these moments as holy ground that God is exuberant about and revels in seeing. Of course we all think of our own marriages in that moment, mine will be fifteen years old this October, and our own journeys.
It makes us stop and think about where we have come from and where we are headed in a way that we don’t often intentionally do in our relationships save for these special occasions. It’s yet another way to pull out those “Ebenezer stones” that are visual reminders of things we are supposed to remember, for our good and for the good of others.
So I’m looking forward to tearing up, laughing, and getting all sentimental and reminiscent today. And also to perfecting my ninja ice cube tossing moves.