Watching Bethany and Matt become Mr. and Mrs. Laskey

I really should be packing for the Young Life trip I am leaving for in an hour and a half but instead I am blogging. Oh well.

So, I want to give the low-down on Matt and Bethany's wedding for those of you who did not get to go.

I got into town on the Thursday night before the wedding. Wayne arrived a few hours earlier and apparently went to David's Bridal with Amy, her mom and her fiance. I wish I could have been there for that experience. I am sure it was priceless. They picked me up and we drove from Buffalo into Canada.

In the morning Matt and Bethany picked up Wayne to attend to some wedding biznass. Later that day, Amy, Shawn and I headed to the place where the reception was being held. It was just a boring empty room at that point. No one directly affiliated with the wedding party was there when we got there. One of Bethany's uncles and his wife were there but they were as clueless as we were about how to properly transform this space to the couple's liking. We decided to set up table and put chair covers on the chairs. This took a lot longer than I would have expected. The chair covers were a bit tedious but they made everything look a lot fancier. Luckily the wedding party arrived before we had to make any further uninformed decisions.

After Wayne and I tried (unsuccessfully) to make snow angels, Amy, Shawn and I took off believing that there were clearly enough workers to handle the job. It was Amy's birthday so we went back to her house for a birthday dinner. The food was excellent and I truly enjoy her family. After my big dinner at Amy's, I went to the rehearsal dinner for Matt and Bethany's wedding. It was at this buffet place that put American buffets to shame. It was some sort of Asian restaurant but they had every kind of food you could imagine and some that you didn't want to. Here is a sample of the fare: steak, sushi, fruit tarts, something called cuttle fish that I made Wayne eat, yam flavored ice cream, salad, and raw oysters, which I set a platter of at Matt's plate. You know what they say about raw oysters.

The next morning, Amy woke up sick. This was unfortunate since she and I were the makeshift florists for the wedding later that day. Luckily, Courtney Mowatt and Amy's mom helped out. We managed to put together the bouquets in time for the wedding. Courtney drove me to the wedding and I ran into Esther Brown in front of the church. How wonderful- another Texan feeling equally ill-equipped for this winter weather. We sat together and I gave her the who's who of the guests to the best of my ability.

Bethany and Matt both looked awesome! Matt's face before she came down the aisle was very uncharacteristic. I have known Matt a long time and I have never seen such a mixture of nervousness and excitement on his face. It was very cute. And when Bethany walked down the aisle, he could barely see through his tears. Don't worry- it was a very subtle manly cry not the weeping I have seen at other weddings.

After they got hitched, they walked down the aisle to a Top Gun song- obviously Matt's choice. Then there was a long gap between wedding and reception. We went back to Amy's house to hang out. Then we went to the reception. The reception hall seemed to have magically transformed since we were there earlier that day. There were lots of white lights and some Christmasy decorations as well. When I saw that there were two lighted reindeer, I knew what must be done.

For those of you unaware of my Christmas-time hi-jinks, my friends and I like to put the lighted reindeer on people's lawns into sexual positions. It was great fun! I convinced Wayne to help me arrange them into a more "natural" position. It was pretty funny if you ask me. I also got into more reception hi-jinks with AMy's mom and sister. Someone had spelled out Matt and Bethany's initials on the gift table using fancy stones. We changed it to say, "Sex soon." Matt had waited 27 years for this. It deserved to be mentioned, right?

The food was good and I was seated with my fellow YWAMers. Bethany's brother sang a song about Bethany's food allergy. It was hilarious. It was called, "I hope they have gluten-free in Georgia." Bethany's dad told the story of Matt accidentally calling his brother, Amy's dad, to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage. So funny!

I was leaving as the bouquet was being tossed. I ran back just in time to see Courtney catch it. I was bummed that I missed out. I love going after those things for the pure competition factor.

That's most of the wedding, I think. I am sure I left out some interesting parts but this is already ridiculously long. After the wedding, Matt left his backpack of important items at his new in-laws' house. Luckily Amy, Shawn and I were on our way to the airport to drop me off. So, we met them at the airport. I ended up hanging out with them a bit before our flights. That just adds another airport to the long list I have been in with Matt. I am really excited for him. He is truly like a brother to me. I am hoping to visit the happy couple in Georgia for a few days when I go to Young Life camp there. Speaking of Young Life camp, I better get packing!