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Congratulations to Matt and Renee!
My brother and his fiancé are now a married pair. Soon they will take off to North Carolina to begin their new life and new jobs together. Carrie and I wish them nothing but the best! My wife sent me a text this morning saying “listen to 91.9 as you drive!” She had called the station and did a shout out for the wedding. Sadly, my phone was off and I missed the announcement, but my wife was stoked.
Weddings are a great time to catch up with old friends and family. I had Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, and Grandmothers galore to catch up with. Grandma flew in from Nebraska. The Most of the Carolina Crew made it up as well! Also, Matt and I used to run in some of the same circles before he went away for college, so lots of my friends were in attendance.
The wedding was held at a historic mansion in Leesburg. It was a beautiful sight, and apparently right next to the biggest horse grounds in VA. I like being able to see open country, rollings roads, and trees when I drive. Instead of giving my wife directions, I should have said "Next to Morven Park" and she'd have known the way. I missed the setup to visit with MomMom, so everything was looking prepped and ready when I arrived. The chairs and cushions were outside overlooking the rolling hills. Sound equipment was being set up under the open sky.
Too bad the rain clouds didn't get the memo. A low drizzle started and guests were already seated when the coordinator made the call to switch to plan B. Rain wasn't in Matt and Renee's plans, but God's plans are different than ours. I have to say, I think it turned out for the best (Go God!).
I thought the sound of the rain was nice and calming. Plus, Matt and Renee (being very spiritual people) had woven an aspect of worship into their ceremony. The storm wasn't powerful enough to be frightening, but it was powerful enough to serve as a reminder of how small we humans are in the scheme of things. I found it appropriately humbling. Plus, the rain cleared up in time for dancing and the other festivities! Sometimes, the best thing that can happen to a scripted event is for something to go wrong (and not be so bad), so that everyone doesn't spend the whole event hoping nothing goes wrong. I think that Matt and Renee ended up being very happy with how things went despite the rain. They were all smiles and laughter and looked every bit the happy couple.
On a side note, the shoe game was hilarious. At the reception, Matt and Renee had to sit back to back in front of the crowd and hold one of their shoes and one of their new spouses. From there, they were asked all sorts of questions from trivia ("Who's neater?) to embarrassing fun ("Who's going to go to sleep first tonight?") The two were really in synch and if their high score is any indication it's going to be a long and fruitful marriage.
Some takeaways from the wedding:
1) Never wear white pants.
A)Never bend over if I am forced to wear white pants for some reason. (The groomsmen will get this)
2) Don’t eat seafood unless there’s more than one bathroom. The crab cakes killed my guts. I ended up in a port-a-potty in the dark for 10 minutes that may or may not have been open for business. All I knew was it had toilet paper and the seat was clean so I was in business. Apologies to anyone who had to clean up after me.
3) My wife looks great in red. ‘Nuff said.
4) Everyone has Matt stories. My brother is a hoot. I could not help but laugh as the other best man was telling his tale of backpacking through Europe with Matt and a friend. At one point, they ended up in a hostel in Budapest that looked like a dungeon. Matt had to sleep in a room by himself where everyone was afraid he’d get his organs harvested, but he ended up sharing the gospel with someone down on his luck.
5) It's nerve-wracking to give a toast sometimes. I have so many memories of Matt, and we've seen each other through many different phases. I've been a little out of touch since he went to JMU and entered a new chapter of his life. I didn't want to dredge up any stories that were too old or that someone without the appropriate sense of humor could misconstrue into a "Matt's a troublemaker/geek/handful." I also didn't want to talk too much about anything that involved me (like praying for baby Matt to be a boy, or my mistaking him as Chucky from the horror movie Child's Play, etc).
Instead, I settled on something that I felt was appropriate: Matt's an all-in kind of guy. He's loyal, and he doesn't do things halfway. I've seen the man yell, scream, hoot and hollar when playing DOTA! He was also all-in with people. Loyal, compassionate, giving...that's Matt. I brought up how going to Chipotle was an experience with Matt, because all of the ladies behind the counter would remember him. An old feared hall patrol at our school also ran up to me once thinking I was him. I didn't want to bring up that she also helped Matt break into a teacher's room to set up a Prom question (for a girl who was not the bride), or that the secretary gave him free tardy passes, he brought flowers to the detention lady at another high school, and was on a first name "I'll pick you up some Chinese food as I skip classes" basis with a parking lot security guard. Like I said, I wasn't trying to make Matt look like a troublemaker, but he's always had an impact on people. I could tell that at the bachelor party when I heard his JMU friends speaking about him.
I walked away feeling like I gave the worst toast of the group, but when I sat down Alex said "You made me remember that lady at Roy Rogers who adopted [Matt and I]! She was always giving us free food!" It may not have been the best toast, but I think people understood the attribute I was trying to salute. Matt has a heart for people. He's in the right line of work with college ministry.
5) It's nerve-wracking to give a toast sometimes. I have so many memories of Matt, and we've seen each other through many different phases. I've been a little out of touch since he went to JMU and entered a new chapter of his life. I didn't want to dredge up any stories that were too old or that someone without the appropriate sense of humor could misconstrue into a "Matt's a troublemaker/geek/handful." I also didn't want to talk too much about anything that involved me (like praying for baby Matt to be a boy, or my mistaking him as Chucky from the horror movie Child's Play, etc).
Instead, I settled on something that I felt was appropriate: Matt's an all-in kind of guy. He's loyal, and he doesn't do things halfway. I've seen the man yell, scream, hoot and hollar when playing DOTA! He was also all-in with people. Loyal, compassionate, giving...that's Matt. I brought up how going to Chipotle was an experience with Matt, because all of the ladies behind the counter would remember him. An old feared hall patrol at our school also ran up to me once thinking I was him. I didn't want to bring up that she also helped Matt break into a teacher's room to set up a Prom question (for a girl who was not the bride), or that the secretary gave him free tardy passes, he brought flowers to the detention lady at another high school, and was on a first name "I'll pick you up some Chinese food as I skip classes" basis with a parking lot security guard. Like I said, I wasn't trying to make Matt look like a troublemaker, but he's always had an impact on people. I could tell that at the bachelor party when I heard his JMU friends speaking about him.
I walked away feeling like I gave the worst toast of the group, but when I sat down Alex said "You made me remember that lady at Roy Rogers who adopted [Matt and I]! She was always giving us free food!" It may not have been the best toast, but I think people understood the attribute I was trying to salute. Matt has a heart for people. He's in the right line of work with college ministry.
We loved your posting on the wedding! Well done!
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