The wedding
So my cousin Judy got married -- that's why Yuko and I went to Atlanta. But we were excited to go for another reason: Yuko and her family lived in Atlanta for 4 years back in the 1980s, and they hadn't been back in almost 20 years, so it was sort of a homecoming for them. After the wedding I drove them around in a crappy Ford Taurus rental car to see the parts of the hot, leafy Atlanta suburbs Yuko and her brother grew up in. But before I get there . . .
. . . at my Dad's insistence, we stayed at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead for the first 2 nights. He just couldn't face spending two nights at the Hilton downtown, where my aunt & uncle had reserved a large block of rooms for guests. So, we ended up paying per night what it would have cost to spend 4 nights at the Hilton. Sigh. The day after the wedding Yuko and I and her family all checked out of the Ritz and checked in to the Hilton!
The wedding ceremony was really nice. Beautiful Catholic church, beautiful bridemaids (including my sister, yeah!) and lots of adoring family and friends. There were some very nice readings by our cousins, Faith & Grace. And a stirring song sung by a woman who must have been 9 months pregnant, but who took the singing just a touch more seriously than made me comfortable. She would raise her hands to the wedding guests when she reached the chorus, which makes it a lot harder for someone like me to not sing - then you have to start mouthing words and pretend your singing. Yuko's brother and mother, whose English is a little more limited, in particular felt a little intimidated by all the wedding guests bursting out into song at the right parts! Anyway, here's KT at the wedding, you look great KT!
And here is my cousin and the groom, with the 2 flower girls:
After the ceremony, we all repaired to the reception at the "trolley barn", a bit of a drive away. Unfortunately the caterer didn't show up, so a bunch of us raced off in shifts to track down drinks, mixers, ice, etc. I brought back a carload with my cousin, Faith. Made me feel less bad about absconding with some of the leftover water, OJ and assorted beverages after the reception was over. Somehow, they were able to find a substitute caterer on an hour's notice, and the food was quite good considering. Apparently we had Hurricane Katrina to thank for the sub-caterer being able to fill in, as they had been volunteering, providing meals for hurricane victims and were just packing up when we called. Talk about luck . . .
As the night wore on, the karaoke became increasingly ear-splitting, but there were some great songs thrown in there. Judy's "Natural Woman" rendition was suitably diva-esque. Obligatory standards were sung, such as "Twist and Shout", "Love Shack", and "Dancing Queen." I sang Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" to an empty room (I think they were all just jonesing for a cigarette at that particular moment), but my sister and cousin kindly square-danced with the flower girls, who were too young to know better, while I crooned. Apparently Aunt Dottie thought I was great, though. Probably the worst of all the songs sung that night, however, was when KT, Grace, Faith, Judy and I sang "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2, not the most propitious song you could sing at your own wedding. But, we talked some other people out of singing songs that would have been much bigger disasters, like the "Kyle's Mom is a Big Fat Bitch" song from Southpark (that would have been ugly).
Mercifully, the guests ran out of songs to sing, and sadly the night came to a close, and we all saw cousin Judy off with her newly minted hubby. You can sort of make them out amongst the bubbles.
Next entry will be about cruising around Atlanta with Yuko and her family after the wedding.
. . . at my Dad's insistence, we stayed at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead for the first 2 nights. He just couldn't face spending two nights at the Hilton downtown, where my aunt & uncle had reserved a large block of rooms for guests. So, we ended up paying per night what it would have cost to spend 4 nights at the Hilton. Sigh. The day after the wedding Yuko and I and her family all checked out of the Ritz and checked in to the Hilton!
The wedding ceremony was really nice. Beautiful Catholic church, beautiful bridemaids (including my sister, yeah!) and lots of adoring family and friends. There were some very nice readings by our cousins, Faith & Grace. And a stirring song sung by a woman who must have been 9 months pregnant, but who took the singing just a touch more seriously than made me comfortable. She would raise her hands to the wedding guests when she reached the chorus, which makes it a lot harder for someone like me to not sing - then you have to start mouthing words and pretend your singing. Yuko's brother and mother, whose English is a little more limited, in particular felt a little intimidated by all the wedding guests bursting out into song at the right parts! Anyway, here's KT at the wedding, you look great KT!
And here is my cousin and the groom, with the 2 flower girls:
After the ceremony, we all repaired to the reception at the "trolley barn", a bit of a drive away. Unfortunately the caterer didn't show up, so a bunch of us raced off in shifts to track down drinks, mixers, ice, etc. I brought back a carload with my cousin, Faith. Made me feel less bad about absconding with some of the leftover water, OJ and assorted beverages after the reception was over. Somehow, they were able to find a substitute caterer on an hour's notice, and the food was quite good considering. Apparently we had Hurricane Katrina to thank for the sub-caterer being able to fill in, as they had been volunteering, providing meals for hurricane victims and were just packing up when we called. Talk about luck . . .
As the night wore on, the karaoke became increasingly ear-splitting, but there were some great songs thrown in there. Judy's "Natural Woman" rendition was suitably diva-esque. Obligatory standards were sung, such as "Twist and Shout", "Love Shack", and "Dancing Queen." I sang Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" to an empty room (I think they were all just jonesing for a cigarette at that particular moment), but my sister and cousin kindly square-danced with the flower girls, who were too young to know better, while I crooned. Apparently Aunt Dottie thought I was great, though. Probably the worst of all the songs sung that night, however, was when KT, Grace, Faith, Judy and I sang "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2, not the most propitious song you could sing at your own wedding. But, we talked some other people out of singing songs that would have been much bigger disasters, like the "Kyle's Mom is a Big Fat Bitch" song from Southpark (that would have been ugly).
Mercifully, the guests ran out of songs to sing, and sadly the night came to a close, and we all saw cousin Judy off with her newly minted hubby. You can sort of make them out amongst the bubbles.
Next entry will be about cruising around Atlanta with Yuko and her family after the wedding.
posted by ERG @ 6:57 AM
1 Comments:
At 11/21/2005 8:26 PM,
Katie Grouse said…
For real though, you nailed Ring of Fire! You should go see the new Johnny Cash movie and stand up and sing when Joaqium Pheonix does (making sure to raise your arm like the Ave Maria girl from Judy's wedding). I suppose singing "Kyle's mom is a bitch" wouldn't have been the classiest move, but I was still disappointed that we didn't do it. Looking forward to the next installment!
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