More Wedding Craziness!

September 4, 2003

This Sunday marked the third time in as many weeks that I’ve left Los Angeles to attend some kind of family celebration. To recap, two weeks ago was Grandmar’s 80th birthday (still “to be continued…”), last weekend was Brian/Josh and Kathy’s wedding, and this weekend was Alyson’s mom’s wedding. Quite a lot of fun for one man, especially with my ridiculous qualifying exam approaching. But, Alyson is a great friend and her family has been wonderful to me over the past few years, so I was nothing but honored to be invited to the wedding. The ceremony and reception took place just down the coast in Malibu at a southwestern-style restaurant which will remain nameless until that information becomes available. In case you are in a rush, the long and short of it is that I had a lot of fun.

We’ll first start things off with the obligatory picture of me (and our friend Vanessa) at Alyson’s house before the wedding.

Next is an action-shot during the middle of the ceremony. Interesting things to note include the groom (Mark, left), the bride (Inga, right), and Alyson’s grandfather Wilmer (middle), who performed the wedding ceremony. In retrospect, I didn’t get to interact too much with Alyson’s grandparents, which was unfortunate because we always have such a good time with them (see, Thanksgiving, Alyson’s 21st birthday, etc). The few minutes that we did spend together confirmed what was previously suspected: Alyson’s grandparents are the coolest human beings on the planet. Also, I wanted to mention the cactus in the background because it reminds of Arizona, and in particular, of our former neighbor across the street whose front yard was filled with cactus. Jen, myself, and various kids on the block used to walk by the house everyday after school and throw rocks at a cactus that looks very similar to the one in this picture. Jen may not be pleased with my decision, but in the name of humor, I simply have to bring up the time Jen was walking by that yard and got a piece of jumping cactus stuck in her foot. That was funny at the time and still damn funny now.

After the ceremony, we socialized outside and ate appetizers like they were going out of fashion. By the way, whoever invented the scallops with bacon combination deserves praise. After the appetizers, it was inside the restaurant for dinner and toasts. My dinner seat was located at the “kids table” that coincidentally included Jen, Vanessa, Alyson, Alyson’s brother and sister, and the rest of the guests in the 18-30 year old range. In the steamy picture below, we have from left to right: Alyson’s sister Denning, Jen, Vanessa, and Alyson. I don’t quite know what to say about Denning’s severely broken neck. What seemed like a good pose at the time has really turned out to be a disaster. Good luck with that, Denning.

Last, I wanted to take a moment to introduce a couple of new friends that Alyson and I made at the wedding reception. Here we see Alyson paying tribute to “Paul”, the deer whose head was removed from its body and mounted in the dining room. It was unclear what happened to Paul’s body, though we hope its innards and flesh were eaten and its hide used for warmth. Behind Alyson is the friendly badger who was stuffed and put on display to keep Paul company and the famous “hoof-lamp” made from Paul’s leg (not pictured).