underdogishere

This weekend I met, for the first time, my younger niece, Evelyn Grace:



The occasion was the wedding of my elder niece, Karen:



It was a Catholic wedding. I have to say that Catholics know how to do a wedding right. Protestant weddings seem to last less than ten minutes: The party processes in, the bride and groom recite their custom-written vows, and the party recesses out. You, the wedding guest, end up thinking "I spent all that time getting dressed up just for this? If I had blinked I'd have missed it."

Karen's Catholic wedding featured two readings from Scripture, a very brief reading from the Gospel, and a lovely sermon which the priest leavened with humor. Then the vows, which were the traditional "have and to hold... in sickness and in health... 'til death do us part," which I find moving, although it rubbed me the wrong way that her vows included a promise to raise the children well, while the raising of children wasn't even mentioned in his. And then there were many blessings and prayers, including laying-of-hands on the heads of the bride and groom. Overall, I guess it took about forty minutes -- I wasn't checking my watch -- and I was left with the feeling that, indeed, there was enough pomp and ceremony here to make it worth getting dressed up for.

At my nephew's wedding, a year and a half ago, I saw something one doesn't often see at a wedding: The bride giving herself an insulin injection at the main table. The something-you-don't-see-very-often at Karen's wedding: The bride and groom standing facing the cake, getting ready to cut it, when the groom suddenly reaches into the pocket of his tuxedo pants, pulls out his cell phone, and takes a picture of the cake, and then returns the phone to his pocket. You know, like there weren't already a gazillion people (including the professional photographer) standing around with cameras taking pictures. Mr. Groom, taking photos wasn't your responsibility on this one day.

Finally, I'd like to know why it's so very common, at any wedding or formal gathering, to see ladies wearing nice dresses and shoes, escorted by men who looks like they're dressed for a day of fishing on the lake. You know, guys, it makes your dates look like they couldn't manage to hook up with anyone but a loser. For example, these two came to the wedding together (in case it's hard to tell, he's wearing ill-fitting and dirty jeans):



Anyway, it was a beautiful wedding, a beautiful day, Karen wore a beautiful dress, and Evelyn is a beautiful child.

Labels: My Family, Seen