The Wedding

"They start to move across the floor, the room is frozen wanting more. The happy couple on display, with nothing standing in their way. It's so romantic I could die, right here and now!"
- The Wedding Singer musical, Someday

Yesterday Wrecking Ball drove us to Charlottetown for my cousin's wedding. We showed up just in time for the ceremony - only minutes to spare. We tried to leave early, but Wrecking Ball needed to talk to Cat before we got going, and then I realised I'd forgotten the dress I wanted to wear to the reception, and then the roads were awful for most of the drive.

The ceremony was lovely. It was in a basilica that still had red velvet ribbons and white fairy lights everywhere from Christmas. The bride was crying with happiness as she walked up the aisle and it made my day. The only unenjoyable thing for me was that we had jogged from the hotel to the church and I had a mild asthma attack through three quarters of the ceremony. It was all I could do to hold my coughs until times when we were all moving or otherwise making noise.

At the reception, my aunts kept coming to talk to us. Many wanted to talk to me about going to Katimavik, but what they all really wanted was to be introduced to Wrecking Ball. They had almost all met Acadia once upon a time, if only through Facebook, but I had never brought him to a wedding and if I'm not mistaken there were two on this side of the family (my mother's) during the time frame of our relationship. It seemed to be a major thing for them; my favourite aunt and my second cousin were particularly interested in asking me about him.

Around 10:30, it was time for the bride to toss the bouquet. I had had a decent amount to drink by that time - sake with the sushi we grabbed pre-reception, two glasses of wine (mine and my cousin's with dinner, as she didn't want hers), and a rum and coke. That's over about 4 hours, but it is a lot for lightweight me, especially with my newly lowered tolerance (the anti-depressants still work really well) and the fact that I hadn't eaten much all day. I was feeling giddy and a little less coordinated than usual. My aunts wouldn't even let me choose whether or not to get the bouquet. I don't know if they sincerely wanted me to be next in line (there are only two cousins older than I am who are not married) or if they just wanted someone from the groom's party to catch it (because the other women were all from the bride's family and friends). Whichever it was, I was being told to go up there before I could think.

So there we were, standing in line a few metres behind my new cousin-in-law. She tossed the bouquet over her shoulder and I watched it sail almost slowly towards us. It looked like it was going to hit the girl beside me in the face. She didn't even seem to be starting to raise her arms. So I just reached over and plucked it out of the air. I had caught the bouquet! I caught it! I looked at it in surprise. I can't catch things even when I'm completely sober, and here I was, having ninja'd this prize out from under some other girl's nose. I was more than a little pleased with myself, can you tell?

We all counted down to the new year together, which was very cool. I've never been around more than a few people during a NYE countdown, and there was something so magical about the energy in the air. The alcohol was probably contributing to that, but it gave me the same feeling I get when I watch fireworks, which is something I can't describe without getting really cheesy but in short it is wonderful.

Wrecking Ball and I went back to the hotel before the party was over. I drunkenly told him we should get married and have six babies. This morning I awkwardly told him I remembered saying it but didn't actually want to have six kids. "I don't think I could handle more than three," I said, which was an attempt at a joke but the whole thing was just too strange and he didn't really say anything to that. I don't think he could have.

We went to Cora's for breakfast at noon and he couldn't decide between two things that sounded very tasty. I had already made up my mind (mostly) but changed it and we ordered both of the things he was debating and shared them both. I think it was actually the best breakfast I have ever had, no exaggerations.

I felt really bad during the drive back because I was able to nap and Wrecking Ball was clearly getting tired. I had already been pretty sure that I'd like to get my driver's license when I get back from Katimavik, but now I'm sure. Because I'd really like to go back to Charlottetown to revisit Ta-Ke Sushi and see Anne & Gilbert: The Musical (it will take me a lot of convincing to get WB to agree to that one) but I don't want to make him drive that far again. It feels quite unfair.