A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time...isn't that how all fairy tales should start?  Well, I was witness to one of the most beautiful and heart warming fairy tales this past weekend.  I was honored with the privilege to stand up at my cousin's wedding.

Now by standing up, it usually means a best man or one of the groomsmen right?  Well, my cousin being the unique member of the family he is, decided that all seven of the groomsmen had the official title of Best Man or Best Men as it were.  I asked him how he came up with that idea, he told me that everyone of the guys were very important in his life at one point or another.  He couldn't decide.  However, as the one and only family member actually standing up I was put in the position in the ceremony as best man, but we all new that was the only reason.

The wedding weekend had three events, the rehearsal dinner, the actual wedding and Sunday Morning Brunch.  The rehearsal dinner was more of a roasting.  The poor bride got roasted something awful but her friends and family, but she also got a lot of praise.  We started with a quick rehearsal and then got down to business.   I also was privileged to be the MC of the affair which was a pure blast.  I called up the speakers, roasted my cousin a little, told some off the wall jokes while awaiting technical difficulties with a DVD presentation and just plain had a great time.  The food was amazing and everyone was smiling and laughing.  It was held at a place called Pinstripes in Northbrook, Illinois and it had Bocce ball.  Don't ask me what Bocce ball is, we were having too much fun to even think about it.  Basically I found that my Aunt and Uncle know how to pull off a great party.

The next day was the wedding and when I look back at the experience all I can say is WOW!!  As one of the 'Best Men', I arrived a couple hours early for pictures.  (Yes, in a Jewish Wedding, it does not matter that the bride and groom see each other prior.)  The crew at Chicago Botanic Gardens were putting the Chupa together and the bride, Lisa, looked incredible and Eric, the groom, looked as happy as I have ever seen him.  Smiles from ear to ear.  They started taking pictures and a thunderstorm came in and rocked the tent.  The crew had to move all the chairs and the chupa with lightning speed and I saw the wedding planner turn white with worry.  I tried to calm her down by telling her it was actually a good thing that it was raining.  It was luck for the marriage.  Yeah, it didn't help.  It cleared up for a while and we took some amazing shots around the gardens against backdrops of water and different types of foliage.  The two photographers were a lot of fun.  Still, thunderstorms kept passing through and between that and all of the different pictures this was the only time I saw Lisa get a little frazzled, but when it was over and we all went inside for the signing of the Ketubah she was all smiles again.

The Ketubah signing was wonderful with the Rabbi all smiles and educating us on the history of the Jewish marriage contract.  The Bride and Groom sign, of course, the parents and two witnesses.  Then it is framed and put on an asile under the chupa for the ceremony. 

When it was time to line up for the ceremony, we noticed, the wind died down, the sun came out and scene for the wedding was, well....perfect.  The guests were seated on cushioned chairs, the flowers on the chupa were highlighted in sunlight and everyone just looked radiant.  We all walked out so proud and ecstatic Eric and Lisa were joining together that the smiles were involuntary.

Six of the guys were out side of the chupa on stage right and I was underneath along with my aunt and uncle.  Lisa's sisters were underneath stage left with her parents and the other five women just outside the chupa.  Obviously, the Rabbi was center underneath upstage of the alter (table with candles and stuff), and the Bride and Groom were underneath downstage the alter.  The Rabbi did the normal prayers we here at most weddings but he really did a nice job when he went into his speech about what marriage was like and how it should effect the couple.  He used analogies that were personalized to Eric and Lisa.  Eric and Lisa both do marathons and triathlons and travel.  Lisa loves Dancing with the Stars and the Rabbi effectively used all of it., so much that she had a hard time not giggling, but it was very cute.

After the ceremony was complete, we had cocktail hour in one of the gardens which was great.  The bride and groom came out and walked around which took the place of the receiving line.  That....was a great idea.  The wait staff came around with amazing Hors d'ourvers like scallops, crab cakes, sushi, and mini cheeseburgers.  Usually, wedding appetizers are real crap but I swear these were delicious or maybe they were better because there were three full bars around the garden with all the good liquor and wine.   They had Grey Goose, so that's all I needed.

When we finally went back to the tent the tables and the band were setup.  The tables were square which was perfect, and the plates were those beautiful Japanese style square plates.  The food was amazing, prime rib and a blackened salmon with an a gratin potatoes and steamed squash.  It was delicious.  The cake, actually...it wasn’t a wedding cake but a tree of cupcakes from their favorite bakery.  What an awesome idea.  Different kinds too, like banana chocolate chip, chocolate, vanilla, carrot, and a few other frosting and cake mixes.  The whole thing was set-up so the bride and groom could actually enjoy themselves.  We danced a few numbers between each course and after the parents made speeches and the bride and groom said a few words, it turned into just a huge party.  The ten piece band was amazing and we just rocked out.  After a little while of dancing and sweating Kim and I took a little stroll by the water and just listened and out of the corner of my eye I saw the wait staff carrying trays again.  I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it.  They had this miniature ice cream cones with waffle cones and they were good.  I never saw that before and then I was trumped again.  They came around with flutes of milk and warm chocolate chip cookies.  Have you ever even heard of that?

So, as you can tell, it was amazing and it was a fairy tale.  On our way home, it thunder stormed again.  Yeah, that is right...it stopped raining long enough for the wedding and it started as we all were departing.  I think the wedding was made to happen.  Something or someone bigger than all of had this wedding in mind.

The brunch was very sweet.  Grandma Phyllis did a wonderful job and everyone came.  It just was an amazing weekend.

The next episode I hope to put up some photos of the first couple of photo shoots I have done.

Till then.....Love, Life, Happiness and Success!!!

"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom." - Albert Einstein