The Married Man!

We're back!

And yes, DG, we know we haven't posted anything since before the wedding. We've been a bit busy; little things like a wedding and a honeymoon you know. Deepest apologies and all that. Yeah, right.

Everything was fantastic!!! We prayed for a wedding time that would be filled with joy and peace, and it was! Both the photographer and videographer both said that this was the calmest and happiest wedding they had seen! Everything went smoothly. A resewn button, a quick Internet printout, and bridesmaids bouquets coming in a second trip were the biggest "issues". For me? I stressed when my sensei - one of my groomsmen - wasn't several hours early; he showed up only forty-five minutes early. Woe is me and all my stress! :^D RM, my bro-in-law, was there and helped with the boutonniere, gave me a shoulder rub, and helped keep me relaxed.

So what does a groom do for a couple hours before the ceremony if he doesn't stress? Well I danced silly dances with J and DM (my best man and best bro), I listened to my bride laugh and get ready in the room next to me, I burned the music CD for the reception, played bro DM's playlist of music and much to my chagrin actually liked it (yes, even Bumblebees), admired how very cute my son, J, looked in his tux, hunted for and found a cuff link he lost while playing, chilled with my very cool bro-in-law RM, kept for committing GBH (grievous bodily harm) on my now bro-in-law StG, had fun taking pictures with DM (we looked GOOOOOD!), practiced kata, practiced clogging steps, prayed with the pastor, prayed with the videographer, prayed, and had a good and relaxing morning!

Then the big event! I hate to disillusion all you poor guys out there who think your bride was the most beautiful, but you're wrong - Charlessa could have had an incredible career as a supermodel! I had the traditional deer-in-the-headlights feeling as I saw her walk down the aisle in her wedding dress. I don't know how to even begin describing everything. These pictures don't do her justice, but since I'm horrible at descriptive prose here's a link to some pictures the cloggers took. http://web.mac.com/rightathome/iWeb/BRTC/Gates-McC.html We're getting ready to put the wedding pictures on the web ourselves. Drop one of us a line if you want to see them too. Everything went off without a hitch and we had some laughs along the way! Hey Luc, :^P

We took more pictures after the ceremony, and the clogging group did a performance at the reception. They surprised and shocked us by having tuxedo outfits and a new clogging routine! (All You Really Need Is Love) We pulled on our clogging shoes and got to dance some! I'm not sure that receptions are always such fun for the bride and groom, but this one was! People usually described to me receptions as barely remembered blurs, and there was a bit of that, but not much. We had a completely and utterly fantastic time!

Then came the obligatory drive off and of course the totally decked out car! DM, DG, SG, and the cloggers all conspired to send us off in fine fashion! The car was festooned with purple paintings, a "Just Married" sign, tin cans on the back, streamers covering bumper to bumper, CD's stuck into every conceivable crack and crevice, and the grand topper? The car was totally filled, and I mean TOTALLY filled, with white, silver and purple balloons!

We made a loop out, cleaned up the car just a little (a couple boys near where we pulled off got all the balloons they wanted!) and went back to change and open gifts. I hate to start mentioning individual gifts and stuff, so I'll just say we have a lot of very generous friends. Clocks, crocks and picture frames - Cookware, plateware, tupperware, silverware - and the list goes on and on. Now it's time to start writing thank you cards! Whee fun. Two special thanks though: to Charlessa's sisters for the welcome-to-the-family marriage diploma and to the Thunder Cloggers for the wonderful quilt that everyone helped to make!

Then it was off on the honeymoon. Suffice it to say we had an unbelievably wonderful time from the very beginning. God has SO blessed us!

Many times the dream wedding is caricatured as a lavish affair - gorgeously decorated church, tons of flowers, rose petals, adorable flower girl, live band, and a catered reception at the country club. But there's also the Bridezilla, behind-the-scenes stuff. Arguments over decorations, yelling at the caterers, long waits, screaming that wedding flowers are late/wrong, groomsmen coming in hungover, missing limo, photographer canceling, live band problems, and all of it coming in at a cost of $50,000, minimum.

But God laid His hand on us and blessed us with peace, joy, happiness and love. Both of our families were able to make it out and even quite a few of our extended families were able to make it and help in the church decoration! We had friends galore to share our time and who did so much for us that at times we were almost at loose ends! The entire time was as far from the hectic, stressed wedding scene as could possibly be imagined!

So, thank you to friends, family and God from a VERY happily married man!