After the wedding
Last Friday, one of my older son John’s best friends from high school in Madison got married to John’s girlfriend’s best friend from high school in Iowa.
It was a lovely wedding, all in one place, the old Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee.
My son had this gang of guys who all ate lunch at my house all through high school, and crashed on my basement floor to sober up before driving home on Saturday night. So there were a ton of these all grown up kids there. Covid be damned, there was a lot of hugging going on.
They did just enough traditional stuff, and it was nice blend of dressed up and dressed down.
When we got there, you could see all the round dining tables pushed together at the front of the room, and there was a long table that I thought might be a buffet, but turned out to the head table, and folding chairs in rows for the service.
They were smart about the timing – on the wedding website it simply said 5:00 PM, but the service didn’t actually start until 5:30. It was a little nerve wracking driving down over from Madison, but we made it.
After the service they shooed everyone out to reset the room for the dinner. You could go downstairs, where there was a warren of little rooms and a bar and of course a cooler full of PBR, or you could go out in the street.
I was determined to stick to 3 glasses of wine and had my first one then, between the service and dinner. I probably shoulda drunk PBR, like everyone else.
Dinner was family style, and vegans (along with Covid) be damned, salad with a creamy dressing, rolls & butter, choice of chicken or short ribs, mashed potatoes with cheese, and roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon. I had my second glass of wine with dinner. I got up to get my third as the dishes were cleared and the speeches began. I put my glass on the bar, and was talking to some of John’s friends, and the bartender just filled it up with the Pinot I was drinking without me telling her – that should have been a warning sign.
There was an empty seat next to Matt, another of John’s friends, at the end of the table, and also next to a bottle of wine. I sat there for speeches and Matt refilled my glass … I don’t know how many times.
They cleared the room again to set up for the dancing and we hung out outside for a bit – and I inflicted some drunken ravings on my not court-sanctioned by in actual fact daughter-in-law, John’s girlfriend, and then we went home.
We had to do the “pull over quick I’m going to throw up” move on the drive back, but I think I actually felt better the next day for puking. I slept on the couch in my bedroom and got our exchange student up and out to catch the bus to her cross country meet at omigod in the morning Saturday, 5:45.
So no real harm done to anyone except me, I didn’t embarrass my kids (at least, I don’t think so) and by Saturday afternoon I’d washed the outfit I was wearing (same as for Al & Emma’s wedding, but different accessories, different earrings and shawl) and put everything away.
But I missed big chunks of an event I’d been looking forward to for a long time, and it’s nobody’s fault but my own.
I did get to see the kids in all their finery, and probably the best part was all the kids saying, “you know I came over to your house and [fill activity name in here, e.g. watched the Packers lose in your basement] and you gave me something really good to eat”. All the stories ended with “something really good to eat”. ♥ I’ll take it.
Here they are, looking sharp.
[portfolio_slideshow pagerpos=disabled size=large]