More About Our Wedding Day
On Saturday at noon, all out-of-town guests
met us for lunch at
Macayo's Mexican Kitchen, which is just down the street from the
Dobson Ranch Inn,
where they were staying. There were 16 people including us, Dave's DC-area
friends Vance and Denny, Mike and Clark, Leo; Jeff's Connecticut friends John
and Chris; and various Californians: Josh from Sacramento, Bill and Eric from
San Diego, and Dave's brother John, sister-in-law Juanita, niece Suzanne and her
boyfriend Bobby, all from Anaheim. We wanted to be able to spend some extra time
with those whom we don't get to enjoy very often, and who had spent a lot of
money to travel here. Unfortunately, Dave's sister Charlotte and brother-in-law
Cole were still en route from Dallas and weren't be able to make it to the
lunch.
Then we went to the
Windemere and checked in. We went to the banquet hall where the wedding and
reception would take place. When we looked in the reception room, we just
couldn't believe how beautiful it looked! Everything was perfect. The displays
they had created for the cake table and the wine and cheese table were stunning.
The wedding room looked great, too.
All of the vendors we chose were great. In all cases, we got the feeling that
they had treated us just a little bit special. Ron, the florist from
B&B
Florist & Design created two spectacular floral displays and beautiful
corsages and boutonnières. He had told us that this is the first gay wedding he
had ever served, and we think we went a little over the top for us because he
was so moved by it. The cake from
Icing on the
Cake was just spectacular, especially with all the flowers that Ron had
provided. And the taste? OMIGOD, we are not exagerating when we say that it is
one of the most delicious things we have ever put in our mouths. We chose a
black forest cake (which was soaked in kirsch after baking) with creamy,
rich buttercream icing. The
photographer
and
videographer captured the entire evening very effectively. And the DJ,
Jeff
Marcus, was great. His sound system and lights were great and he chose the
dance music very well. They all seemed to be having a lot of fun during the
evening.
We chose the music for before the service, the cocktail hour, and the dinner
hour, and we were pleased by how well our choices worked out.
The service went off without a hitch. The three readers, John, Janet, and Scott,
all chose wonderful selections and delivered them well. We got many compliments
on the minister, Rick. And we memorized our vows and delivered them almost
perfectly!
After the service, we had each of the guests pose with us for a portrait shot.
The photographers had brought along professional lighting just for this. It took
a bit longer for people to get through the receiving line, but several people
remarked that this was a great idea. We sent all of the guests a copy of the
picture of them and us.
During the cocktail hour, everyone raved about the Hors D’oeuvres we selected
(Scallops wrapped in Bacon, Crab stuffed Mushrooms, Beef Teriyaki Skewers, and
Imported and Domestic Cheese and Crackers with Lavosh), and our signature drink,
the Prickly Pair ("an electrifying frozen lemonade with a uniquely southwestern
touch"), which Dave had concocted for this occasion. In fact, before the end of
the cocktail hour, the five-gallon slush machine had been depleted, so we
ordered another batch. We also had special souvenir glasses made with our names,
the date, and the two-tuxes logo that had been on the invitations.
We think these three unusual things (the individual guests portraits, the
signature drink, and the souvenir drink glasses) will be among the things that
people will remember the most. They were all big hits. We're glad we chose to
have them. We think it also helped that we specified that the dress should be
"nice casual", in which the men didn't need to wear ties and the women didn't
need to wear gowns and high heels. People felt more comfortable, relaxed, and
open.
Dinner was good (fairly typical banquet quality), and the dancing was good. The
cake was just out of this world, both in appearance and taste. Our friend Shane
surprised and delighted everyone with a couple impromptu fan dances using,
first, white flags and then red and green flags. We never knew he had these
moves in him!
It was not lost on us that for most of the people present (including many of the
gay ones), this was their first gay wedding. Some people have probably never
seen two men kiss or dance together in person before. For a few people, it was a
stretch for them to attend, based on their religious beliefs. While we got
married first and foremost because we love each other and we have committed to
spending the rest of our lives together, just like any other couple, we realized
that we were also making a political statement. And we were, in a sense, being
ambassadors for the whole gay community to some of the straight people in
attendance. It is a mixed blessing that this wedding will always be remembered
by almost everyone as a "gay wedding" rather than simply a "wedding." And we
suspect (and hope) that some of the gay couples there who have been together for
ten or fifteen years but who have never had a wedding will start asking
themselves questions.
We planned this event for ten months, which is
necessary to carry off a successful wedding. All of our planning and
anal-retentive attention to detail paid off handsomely. Everything went off
exactly as planned, without a hitch. In some cases, our expectations were
exceeded. It's hard to imagine how it could have been more ideal.