Homegrown Wedding

I've had several blog readers tell me Dave and I sure do go to alot of weddings. When picking which weddings to attend, I think you need to remember three things: Were they a bridesmaid/groomsman/honor party in your wedding? If they were, you have to go. Did they travel a considerable distance to your wedding? If they did, you have to go. And, are they really special to you? If they are, you have to go.

This past weekend a wedding in Delight met all of those requirements. My childhood best friend, Karen, married the boy who grew up next door, Jason, in an outdoor ceremony and reception that all wrapped up before the Razorback football game started. These things are important in the South, you know.

Karen is one of those friends I don't remember meeting. We have pictures together as toddlers at the same church. We both started kindergarten in the same class on the same day. (Except she was on the purple table with all the cool kids and I was on the yellow table with a boy who cried under the table.) We ran bleachers together in basketball. We played softball together all over the state, for our team and a few tournament teams. We were both bookworms. We roomed together at college and went to our first frat party together. She was my maid of honor, and I was honored to be hers.

As with most small town weddings, this one was alot of work. So I flew in a week early to help the bride and her family prepare favors, run errands, and basically do whatever was required. In this case, it also required getting a cow pasture ready for the ceremony by levelling holes, covering cow piles, and spreading fire ant poison. Typical bridesmaid stuff, right?! No really, it is refreshing on a level to see friends and family just come to pitch in, help out, and make the event happen. (And clean up fast afterwards so everyone could go see the Razorback game--one we had a decent chance of winning)

My favorite wedding moment had to be when I spied the 3-year-old ring bearer getting a bit antsy. After he turned around and told a groomsman, 'this is taking too long,' he amused himself with the ring on the pillow. At one point he actually was sticking his tongue through it and running his tongue around the ring. Then, another bridesmaid nudged me and said 'it's gone'... the ring had fallen into the grass. Before the big moment, another groomsman found it and kept it until the groom placed it on the bride's finger.

And that ring sure was shiny.