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Wedding in Wyoming

11.16.02

So I've got a bunch of cousins on my dad's side who live in Wyoming. On a November weekend, one of them, Jeremy, was getting married so I flew to Colorado and met up with my brother and parents to drive up to Wyoming. It was actually not as cold as I feared it would be. Only saw a sprinkling of snow, but the wind was something fierce.

We arrived just in time for the wedding rehersal so even though we weren't actually in the wedding, we went to the church with everyone else for the run through. It turned out a lot of people did this. Pretty much everyone who was a relative showed up for the rehersal. My cousins have a lot of other cousins. There were about 20 people there who I will never sort out. After the rehersal, we went back to the groom's parents' house for dinner. Man, can my aunt cook. I stuff myself on some childhood favorites - including Pink Stuff, a concoction of whipped cream, fruit, and other mysterious ingredients that's simply delicious. 

Since it was the night before the wedding, we (of course) had to go out drinking with the groom. Everyone in his generation would was over 21 came along, male and female. I was reluctant and almost bowed out (due to long plane flight followed by a long drive, not to mention getting up a 4am after going to the Garbage/No Doubt concert, but that's another story), but then my dad said he'd come along for one drink so I caved in. Our first stop was the local liquor store, where everyone hangs out and drinks. They've got some chairs. It was the weirdest thing I've seen in quite some time. Did I mention that Douglas, Wyoming is a pretty small town? After having a beer at the liquor store, the youngsters went off a bar, while my dad and uncle went home to bed. Good idea on their part cause we didn't get home till after 2am. The local bar was small, smoky, and had a limited selection of drinks. I stuck to wimpy girly drinks like Mike's Hard Lemonade and so was reasonably sober by the end of the night. We stood/sat around and chatted. My cousins showed us how to do the two step so we wouldn't look like complete city-slickers at the reception. I was really nice just to talk to these relatives that I don't see very often. My cousin even told me how excited he was when he got my acceptance of the wedding invitation. It was very sweet. At last call, they were trying to get us to do shots, but I begged off and said I'd just have a scotch. I have no idea why, but this impressed them no end. Heh. :)

We went home when the bar closed, but the groom apparently hung around in the parking lot talking to friends for a while and my aunt found a bar glass in her sink the next morning so I don't think they were very strick about kicking people out. THe groom was ontime and reasonable aware the next day, so I guess it didn't hurt him too much. Personally, I slept in then ate a nice big breakfast so felt none the worse for wear. 

Bride and groom didn't want to be bothered after the ceremony, so all relatives were ordered to appear at the church for pictures 2 hours before the ceremony. Actually worked out well, except for the horrible lighting in the church. The groom and his men had on their best black jeans, starched to the point where they could stand on their own, with white western shirts and black wool vests. And don't forget black cowboy hats. The bride wore a pretty white wedding dress with a train. Everyone else was dressed in country, not quite casual, i.e. a pretty sweater or blouse with a long skirt for the women and starched jeans, a western shirt and wool vest (I swear they all shopped at the same store) for the men. When we got to the ceremony itself, everything went off without a hitch, but there were a few giggles. The bride and groom, the groomsmen and the bridesmaids made it up to the altar fine, but the ring bearer refused the carry the pillow (flung it across the room actually), and a second flower girl was added. They got up to the altar with the older flower girl standing by the bridesmaids and the ring bearer and the other flower girl standing with the groomsmen. With the way the bride and groom were standing, they couldn't see the flower girl and ring bearer where they faced back toward the congregation so they missed it when the flower girl decided to raise her dress above her head and show us all her knickers. Other than that, the ceremony had no problems and was very sweet. We applauded the happy couple then filed outside to ring bells (nice alternative to bird seed or bubbles) as they left. 

We all drove out to the local country club and partied the night away. Actually, since most of us were out late the night before, we didn't last too long. We danced, ate cake, applauded the toasts, and had a few drinks, then went home to bed by 11pm. It was fun and I was surprised when they sprinkled salt on the floor to improve the surface for dancing. I managed to get in a bit of my new two-step and a little country swing. It was lovely to spend time with relatives and celebrate such a happy occasion.

 
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