Wedding Day Highlights

"I'm A Womans' Man, No Time To Talk"
Dressed to the nines in my John Travolta "Saturday Night Fever" sans black shirt, we were off to be wed. We were followed by Aunty Marlette with Julie at the wheel (a very pleasant surprise to have her there with us) and Aunty Susie, driven by Uncle Jesse, happened to appear behind them just as we neared White Plains.

"And Beholdeth a House Shall Appear Before Thee"
Because we had been driving through buildings, we were surprised to find that in turning the corner there were only two acutal houses on that street and one was our destination.

"Still Holden On"
As we parked in the convenient, municipal parking lot, I was worried that the house whose address we were given had a sign that had the names of four generations of Holdens and not one name belonging to our judge. But when we entered the house a woman (the one I spoke to on the phone. I recognized her voice) greeted us and asked if we were all there for the wedding, which put me at ease (any wedding is fine).

"We don't do that here"
After we answered the wedding question, she posed another question: "Who's the bride?" to which I raised my hand and said "I am", proudly and happily. Then she said "Who is the groom?" to which I happily and proudly responded "He is" and pointed to my right, where Julie was standing (I thought Rich was behind me but he was busy holding the door). Then we all laughed it up, the absurdity of my marrying Julienne was just too much. Then the woman responded "we don't do that here." i.e. marry two women.

"While This Was All Going On..."
Uncle Jesse somehow managed to get lost in the thirty feet between the parking lot and the house. Something about a broken meter, the details are sketchy. All I know is that he called telling us that he was in White Plains. huh? How do you park the car, watch us cross the street to the house and then get lost? When he finally did arrive it was in the middle of the opening speech of the judge.

"Can You Make Change?"
Well Dad had given the assistant $80 because we did not have the exact change ($75) but she didn't have change. Luckily we were spared the grief when the judge had five dollars. They couldn't accept the $5 extra (probably for accounting reasons).

"Master of Ceremony"
Then the judge began his speech. It was casual and intimate. All I remember is looking right into his eyes and nodding my head. He may have married us or just taken all of my savings from my bank account. One of the things he said before we really began was:"Can you understand English?" followed by a dirty look from me.
...and...
"Speak now or forever hold your peace" and aside to Rich "This is your last chance" followed by a dirty look from me.

"Three fourths cornerstone of a successful marriage"
Then the judge told us the secret of a successful marriage relied on the four cornerstones which he was about to bestow upon us. Unfortunately, neither of us were listening, just nodding and staring deeply into his eyes, so we came away with only three fourths of the puzzle. We suspect that the fourth is ingesting plenty of fiber.

"Pop quiz"
If you were wondering what the other three cornerstones of a successful marriage were, well so were we. He began his little speech with a pop quiz. "There is a miracle that occurred here, does anyone know what this miracle is?" followed by blank stares and nodding from Rich and I, "anybody? anybody at all?" then Mom shouted out the answer after a brief and uncomfortable pause, "Love!! Amore!" followed by giggles from the crowd. (The other two were 'consideration' and 'communication' to which he gave examples.)

He also added that it was a miracle that Rich and I found one another, after seeing where we each came from (I from the Philippines, he from Massachusetts).

"Question and Answer"
Then came the interactive part of the ceremony where he asked each of us in turn, "Do you take her/him to be your wife/husband? Rich after a comedic pause (just enough time for me to glance anxiously at his direction... hoping he'd answer the question) said, "Yes, I do" after a quip from the judge "I was getting worried there" and laughter from the crowd. I answered "I do" breathlessly just because I couldn't seem to make the words come out any louder than a whisper.

"With this ring, I marry you"
After that prior event the judge then asked if we were giving one another rings. Rich then took my hand, after I slipped my engagement ring off, and slipped on my wedding ring, saying "With this ring, I marry you" and vice versa.

"Take my breath away"
The judge then said to us "If you are not too shy, then you can give eachother a kiss" to which I quickly pecked Rich on the lips and the moment was missed by all, even the groom.

"Off To Thailand"
We went to the restaurant where we had celebrated Mike's graduation, Bangkok Thai Restaurant. It was a tiny, two-table wide room. No other patrons were in the restaurant and as we sat there talking they put up the "Closed" signs, they were about to have lunch themselves.

Thank you all for being there on such a special day. This is a documentation of our wedding day because everyone I've spoken to (just two couples) have forgotten the details and I didn't want to have to look at my daughter(s) blankly when she asked how ours went. Or I could just make it up... I'm pretty good at that.

Remember when Uncle Jesse choked on his shrimp and the woman rushed over to do the Heimlich maneuver on him?
See? Just made that up.

Oh and I'd like to end by saying that the judge made it a point not to say "honor and obey your husband" because men and women were equal and also that he'd be chased out of White Plains for saying it. heehee.

Okay. Thanks for that everyone. Those of you who weren't physically there, you were in our thoughts.
Me.