Bryan and Christina's wedding

I arrived in Front Royal about 12:45 PM, 15 minutes after when I meant to get there. The wedding was supposed to begin at 1:00 PM, so I was cutting it really close. However, it didn't actually begin until about 1:40 PM, so I actually had plenty of time. I was singing with Alaina and Kathy R. (formerly, Z.) for the wedding with Jacinta W. on the organ. I think it went over pretty well.

Rumor has it that Bryan and Christina missed the wedding rehearsal -- if that was the case, that would explain a few things, like why, at the presentation of the flowers to Our Lady, Christina went to Our Lady, but Bryan went to St. Joseph.

I booked it out of the church after Mass to get to the reception hall. As I passed the church, I saw the General Lee, which Mr. S. had rented for his son's wedding. It looked really sweet. I didn't see what happened, so I won't say for sure, but rumor has it that it didn't perform really well.

When I got to the reception hall, MikeE and Carissa helped me carry in all the equipment -- which I really appreciated, because otherwise I would have had to make multiple trips and it was raining outside, so if you guys are reading, Thank You!. We were some of the first people there. There was a CD going with some older swing. I fired up the computers, got them working with the sound system, and and began playing music

• Otis Redding - Sitting On The Dock of A Bay (2:45)
• Bing Crosby - True Love (3:03)
• Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody (3:36)
• Roger Williams - Autumn Leaves (3:03)
• Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair/Canticle (3:10)
• Turtles - So Happy Together (2:55)
• Frankie Valli - You're Just Too Good To Be True (3:19)
• Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer (5:10)
• Mamas & Papas - California Dreaming (2:41)
• Eagles - Hotel California (6:31)
• Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (5:56)

By this point, the bridal party was there, and I was to announce them. I had prepared clips from songs that they wanted to enter. In order, the bridal party and their entrance themes:

• Geoffrey S. and Anna C. - Tim McGraw - Last Dollar (Fly Away) (3:33)
• Grant C. and Olivia S. - Strawberry Shortcake - Cuppycake (0:42)
• Jamie S. and Logan H. - Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water (2:41)
• Alex S. and Beth T. - Frank Miller's 300 - Returns A King, composed by Tyler Bates (0:54)
• Nate S. and Angela H. - Kenny Chesney - She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy (3:21)
• Ben S. and Erin M.E. - Vanilla Ice - Ice, Ice Baby (4:18)
• Robert T. and Holly K. - Carl Orff - Camina Burana Cantiones Profane: O Fortuna (2:34)
• Alex K. and Melissa M. - Shakira - La Tortura (ft. Alejandro Sanz) (3:36)
• The best man, Richard S. and the maid of honor, Jessica R. - Will Smith - Miami (2:24)
• The groom, Bryan Thomas Anthony S. and his new bride Christina Maria S. - Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child o' Mine (5:56)

I let their entrance theme play all the way through, and then launched into the dinner music.

• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's Gone (7:29)
• Metallica - Turn The Page (6:06)
• Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride (4:28)
• Dropkick Murphys - The Gang's All Here (2:06)
• Hank Snow - I've Been Everywhere (2:47)
• Johnny Cash - Ring Of Fire (2:37)
• Alabama - Five O'clock 500 (3:38)
• Montgomery Gentry - Speed (4:01)
• Asleep At The Wheel - Hot Rod Lincoln (2:55)
• John Denver - Country Roads (3:09)
• Billy Dean - Thank God I'm A Country Boy (2:55)
• John Michael Montgomery - Letters From Home (4:29)
• Montgomery Gentry - I Ain't Got It All That Bad (f. Hank Williams, Jr.) (3:23)

The bride and her father's dance was to Es Mi Niña Bonita, and the bride and groom's first dance was Walt Disney's So This Is Love, from Cinderella. I followed that up with Walt Disney's Once Upon A Dream from Sleeping Beauty. At this point, DJ Insomniak from Miami took over and DJ'ed the rest of the dance, so in transition from me to him, I played Jennifer Lopez's If You Had My Love. Judging by the dancing, the people loved the music assortment -- DJ Insomniak played a lot of their requests and mixed in current Latino hits. It made for one heck of a party.

After the reception, I helped clean up, and then a few of us went to Ken and Alaina's house to sit around and talk. When I left there, it was close to midnight, and it was time to go to bed...

Katie's wedding

I flew out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport at 5:30 AM, landed in Charlotte NC, 1 hour layover, landed in Kansas City International Airport. When I landed, I met Dorothy and Wesley who took me to Katie's house, where I met Katie's parents, siblings, fiancee, Sarah A., and Beth E. It felt like a lot of them were sizing me up. I hope that it's not the case, but it felt like I received an extra dose of suspicion from the groom. I can understand why, if it was the case: he had heard about this "Anthony" character who Katie had spoken about, but had never met him. Was I there to steal her from him? Was I going to mess things up? Was I just a normal guy who was only there to see them wed? I guess it's a fairly reasonable thing to wonder. Hopefully, I'm just being overly-suspicious about our introduction...

In any case, everyone continued going about their business. Beth and Sarah took off, the rest of the family went about their business, and soon it was Katie, Wesley, Dorothy, and myself. I felt a little more comfortable, since I was with fewer people whom I didn't know. I asked how I could help out, and I began assisting with wrapping the presents for the bridal party. There wasn't much else I could do. The rest of it involved dresses for the wedding, and if these dresses were going to live to see the next day, I couldn't touch them. Iron burns and other forms total ruin awaited them if I were to even look at them...

That evening, we went to the church. It was at the Basilica of St. John in Des Moines, IA -- a very nice church, nice and large. I walked around and found where Our Lord was kept, although it took a while...

The rehearsal went well, at least from my perspective. Everything went smoothly, and Matt and Katie learned how to get married. It's usually a good idea when two people are faced with the fact of marrying each other on the next day.

Beth and I discussed the music for the wedding. Katie had sent us both Charles Gounod's Ave Maria and César Franck's Panis Angelicus. I had reviewed and practiced both of them, but I did not have a high enough voice to do that Ave Maria well. Essentially, I would only be singing the Panis Angelicus. I offered to get a harmony for it, so I went online that night and found one.

The rehearsal dinner was good, and when we left it was about -2 degrees. When I left BWI at 5:30 that morning, it was about 40 degrees. This was ridiculous.

Late that evening, Katie and Beth were discussing music for her wedding. I sat in and listened, but didn't really contribute much. I was more of a backup singer than anything, so I didn't really need to say anything.

The next morning, I got up, had breakfast, and went to the church with the family. While at the church, I said some prayers, and I was then summoned up to practice with Beth and the pianist. The Mass that Katie wanted was Mass XII, Pater Cuncta. I've never actually heard it, but it was very simple, and quite nice.

Mass went very well, or at least I thought it did. If Katie and/or Beth read this, I'm sure that they'll have their own things to say. Beth was freaking out about not sounding good, but I assure you, she sounded quite good. Katie looked like she was freaking out on the altar. During the readings, it looked like she was bracing herself to jump up and take care of any problems. I tried not to laugh, and I mostly succeeded. I couldn't help but grin at Katie and mouth the words, "Calm down." I think that I would have had to try to cover up a laugh if I hadn't.

After Mass came the reception. We drove a few miles to the reception location, and I found my table. I was half-worried that I wouldn't find it, but it always happens when I go to a reception. In any case, I found my table, and I found that I was the only Christendom person at the table -- in the entire room -- heck, the entire weekend.

The reception and the dinner was very nice. The food was great, and the music was loads of fun. The music opened with Frank Sinatra, continued with Kenny G, and the evening kept picking up to all sorts of dance numbers, ranging everywhere from Michael Jackson, to Glenn Miller, to Vanilla Ice. It was pretty wild.

When Katie and Matt came into the room, everyone began dinging glasses. Shortly after this, the DJ announced that the bride and groom would not kiss just for glass clinking. If you wanted to see them kiss, you had to get up and sing a song. I was extremely nervous about doing it, and I certainly did not want to be the first person up. However, after about half-an-hour to forty-five minutes, no one has sung anything, which meant that there had been practically no kissing. Considering this, it made for a somewhat disappointing wedding reception, from my humble opinion. I had to rectify the situation. So, I made up my mind to sing Shipoopi from the Music Man, convinced myself that it was a good idea, and then got up and did it. Well, only one verse and the refrain, but hey, it was good enough. Besides that, I was nervous as all heck. I did get to see a good kiss, though, so I was happy...

Following that, I went up and chatted with the bride and groom for a few seconds. The rest of the evening was spent listening to fun music, doing a little bit of dancing (the dollar dance, the train, and the chicken dance) and other such stuff. I didn't do any freestyling, or swing, or anything else. This was part of the beginning of my resolution to learn how to dance.

On the other hand, I got through a few questions of the Summa Theologica. Why would I be reading the Summa at a wedding reception? I don't know. Call me a reclusive jerk if you will, but it was entertaining for me. When I wasn't reading, I got to see some fun dancing. it only furthered my resolve to learn how to do it.

The next morning, I went to Mass with Katie's mother and siblings. After Mass, I had a rather large breakfast, said my goodbyes, and Dorothy and Wesley picked me up and drove me back to the airport. In the airport, I read more of the Summa, and even called Ken to ask him some questions about it.

I landed at BWI and was back at my apartment by about midnight. Am I ready to go to back to work? Not really...

Colin & Sarah's wedding and the rest of the weekend

This has the potential to be a massive post, just so you know. I'll try to keep it entertaining...

Colin and Sarah got married this weekend. I drove to Front Royal straight from work, getting stuck in traffic as I was leaving Manassas, of course. I made it to the church to catch the last few minutes of the rehearsal. From there, I drove to St. John's in town and joined everyone for the rehearsal dinner.

The food was prepared mostly by Mrs. M. (Colin's mother), but she did have some help. At this point, I would normally go on a rampage about how wonderful the food was and how much of it I ate, and how when I was done I was happy, and how I need to get her to teach me how to cook, because I'd be a world-class chef, and all of that. However, in the interest of time, let's not and say I did. Why not? Words can't do it justice. In short, the food was excellent, and thank you to Mrs. M. and Helpers for making my tummy happy.

After the rehearsal dinner, we had a choir practice. Lizzie was conducting the wedding choir, which consisted of her, Emma, Sylvia, Anna, Draper, Paul E. and me. Francis ended up joining us as well, but he had already made a commitment to work as a waiter at the reception, so he could only sing through about half of the wedding.

On the day of the wedding, we had choir practice, and the wedding then began at 1:00 PM. Not quite on the dot, but within 15 minutes. Colin wanted to hear Dr. P.'s self-composed Mass in Honor of St. Anthony, or, commonly known as Missa Smitha, considering the mad cool bass line. Emma soloed the Ave Maria while Lizzie played it on the organ. It was very beautiful, if I may say without making either of them blush. And if either of them is blushing, well, I'm sorry for causing the blush, but I have to stand by my statement.

From my end, the reception was a bit stressful. I got there and found that the system did not like my laptop. I didn't know why, but it didn't. It was particularly frustrating, as I'm sure you can imagine. Whenever I plugged my system into their receiver, it would buzz. This was most certainly not the intended effect. However, there was a gentleman there who helped me get it all fixed. We discovered the problem was the microphone. While the microphone was turned on, the sound would not work properly. This would be a problem, and was going to be annoying, but at least I knew what the problem was and how to deal with it.

I began playing general music: soft Celtic, Irish, a couple ballads, just something to keep the sound going. When the bridal party came, Ryan loaned me his laptop, and I began the task of switching machines, going from my slower computer to his faster one. The bridal party's official entrance came about 15 minutes later. Most of the bridal party entered to Battle Without Honor Or Humanity, by Tomoyasu Hotei, from the Kill Bill: Volume 1 soundtrack. Colin and Sarah entered to Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti, on the Original Rocky Soundtrack.

During dinner, I played a lot of classical (Mozart and Chopin), as well as a couple other random pieces, two of which were from video games. One was an orchestrated version of the Super Mario themes, and the other was a Final Fantasy mix.

Come What May, sung by Ewan MacGregor & Nicole Kidman, from Moulin Rouge was the first dance of the bride and groom. It was very fitting. Your Song, sung by Ewan MacGregor from the same movie, was Sarah's dance with her father. Colin danced to Swinging on a Star by Bing Crosby with his mother.

The rest dances consisted of a lot of swing, some ballroom, and a lot of otherwise freestyle dances. The wedding ended on a remarkable note, with Switchfoot's This Is Your Life. During this dance, Colin and Sarah were surrounded by all the guys carrying the lights from the tables. They started to walk in time to the music, counter-clockwise around them. All the girls joined hands outside of them and walked around them in the opposite direction of the guys. It looked both odd and really cool at the same time.

The pictures from the wedding are also up. Check them out on Snapfish.

After the reception, Lizzie, Emma, Laurel, Krystle, Claire, Sylvia, M.C., Mike P., Draper and I went to a local Exxon station to grab some ice cream. I was, for some oddball reason, rather tired. I didn't get any ice cream because I was afraid that it would put me on a very short-lived sugar high, and then drop me lower than I was then. In any case, just sitting down and relaxing was enough. I drove Draper to his house, and then I drove back to Herndon.

On Sunday, I went to Old St. Mary's for the Solemn High Tridentine Latin Mass in the evening, and sang with the schola out there. Thus began a new-yet-same-old week for me.

Colin and Sarah, on the other hand, began a whole new life with each other. Congrats to them both, and I expect to still see them on at least a semi-regular basis? Hopefully they won't become hermits?

Josh and Leslie's wedding, and a busy weekend...

Friday evening, Josh and Leslie had their wedding rehearsal. I was late in arriving, because I didn't leave work as early as I would have liked to, and, on top of that, I still hadn't picked up the tuxes...

Anyway, after I got it all picked up and I arrived at the church, I soon discovered that I was not the last person to arrive -- Josh, Leslie, and her family were also not there. They were about five minutes behind me.

The rehearsal lasted all of about 30 minutes -- it was very quick for two run-through's. After that, we headed over to Old Town Winchester and had dinner at one of the restaurants there. I forget the name of the place, but it was a very nice place. Dinner was good, and the place was crowded -- recipe for fun times. :)

After dinner, Josh and Leslie gave the bridesmaids and the groomsmen their gifts, as well as gave little speeches about them. My gift was a set of virtual fighting gloves. These will come in handy when I get the urge to beat up someone...

On Saturday, I went to confession at St. Veronica's. After that, I went back to the apartment, and found Josh trying to get the printer to print the wedding programs properly. After trying on his computer as well as mine, we eventually gave up and decided to take it to a place and have it done professionally. Josh told me to go to the UPS store near our place.

I got there, and we had a problem: they didn't have the font that Josh used. That turned out to be not such a big problem: we found one that was extremely close to it in style, and I changed the program so that it would all work. Josh had also made a PDF of the program, but we discovered that Adobe was having a problem printing these in booklet format, double-sided. After spending about 30 minutes re-formatting it with the new font, the UPS assistant and I discovered that the printer wasn't going to print double-sided and in booklet format, no matter what setting we used. With only 45 minutes to spare before I had to put on my tux and get to Josh's wedding, I got directions to the place and booked it over to Kinko's...

At Kinko's, I had 30 minutes to explain to them what needed it get done, as well as do it. Explaining took a while, but the printing began rather quickly and everything was OK. In that time, Josh had gotten ready for the wedding, and he was on his way to the store. When he got there, I went back to the apartment, got cleaned up, put on my tux, and called him to see if he needed help. Turns out he was finished and on his way out. He took 50, because he was already on it -- I took the tollway, because he had a head start on me and we were already late. The wedding was supposed to start at 1:45 PM with the Litany of the Saints. It was 1:30 and I had about an hour's drive ahead of me. I got to the church in about 45 minutes. No, I wasn't speeding! (...much...) Josh was about 20 minutes behind me. The tollway saved me a lot of time.

Did I get flak? Of course. I will gladly take the blame for it, because on the wedding day, the blame rests solely upon the shoulders of the best man (he's the best man for the job!), and the praise rests upon the newly married couple. Not that I subscribe to that policy myself, but in this case, it's for Josh...

Anyway, the wedding was fairly normal. Aside from the groom and his best man being one-and-a-half hours late (because we should have been there at about 1 PM), everything else went fine.

The reception went over pretty well. I hadn't written the speech, but I'd been thinking a whole lot about it, so when it was time to give the speech, I felt semi-ready, but it seemed to be received rather well. There were a lot of other speeches after mine, so any flubs that I made were graciously covered up by the Maid of Honor, the parents of the bride, the brother of the bride, and two of her bridesmaids. At least I felt better about it, anyway.

The dancing was fun. I proved to myself, once again, that I´m not good at it. I hadn't practiced swing in so long that it wasn't even funny. I felt like a lump of clay trying to be graceful and not succeeding...

After the reception, I helped Ken, Alaina, and the family of the bride take all the wedding presents to Josh and Leslie's new townhouse. After that, there was a small party at Sarah's house.

The rest of the weekend was fairly standard: singing at Christendom on Sunday, practicing with the Palestrina choir, and then heading back -- that about sums it up...

Jake's wedding and Chorus Premiere

What else is new?

Saturday was Jake's wedding. I went down to Front Royal late on Friday night, and hung out with Sarah, Ken, and Alaina. I spent the night at Ken's house, and at 4 AM, we got up. We arrived at the parking area just after 5 AM, where Bob T. and Sam P. were waiting for us. We drove out of Front Royal just after we loaded up our stuff, and then got on the road. We got to Asheville, NC, at 10:30 AM, three hours ahead of schedule. Traffic on good days rocks...

The wedding was awesome. Jake and Laura were married in the same church where Mike and Liz were married last year. It was cool going back in there and sitting downstairs instead of singing.

All the Christendom guys were in one pew, and all of us were in suits. We were all on Jake's side of the church. In the first two pews, there was the family. From the beginning, it was obvious who were Catholics. The entire first two rows, with the exception of Jake's father and the groomsmen, were all seated throughout almost the entire Mass. Before Mass began, they were turning around and chatting with each other.

Third pew from the front, right in front of the Christendom guys, was Therese O. and her family. Obviously good Catholics, so I don't need to say that the difference between the second and third pews was monstrous. Behind them, to quote Ken, "was a wall of suits." And it's true. Every Christendom guy was dressed in a suit. And we were studly...

When the wedding began, Jake and the groomsmen came out from the front of the church. The wedding procession began, and everything got underway.

The music wasn't so great, I'm sorry to say. The organist sounded nervous -- I know he's really good, so I really noticed his little slips. When he stopped and the violins started, from the first note, I could tell that they were amateurs, so giving them credit for their level of experience, they were really good.

Further on in the wedding, Jake had me cracking up in my pew. When he and Laura were listening to the sermon, they looked at each other and grinned a couple times. It got me laughing, just seeing how happy they were. Shortly after that, at the presentation of the gifts, Jake and Laura were standing at the front of the church, waiting to receive the gifts, and then, in turn, hand them to the priests. While they were standing there, Jake was singing along with the Offertory hymn. That got a big smile out of me, and then Sam started cracking up next to me. I looked up, and Laura, who had been quietly singing along, had stopped and turned a little red. Jake turned to her and smiled (while continuing to sing). She tried to continue singing, but couldn't. I about died laughing.

I should point out that as much as I laughed in the church, it was all under my breath. As difficult as it was sometimes, I kept it as quiet as I could...

Now, for the priests: Father Buddy, from Florida, gave the sermon. His first words were, "I can feel the presence of the Lord rockin' and rollin' in this room!" My jaw hit the floor. But his sermon only got better. It ended up being a very good sermon, considering the poor start...

The sign of peace was also interesting. I should insert a comment before continuing that there was a little Asian woman in the congregation. I didn't see her, but Ken watched her. You know how some people are very active with their hands during Mass, i.e., raising them during the Our Father, doing other interesting things when they say, "And also with you," etc. Here's what happened:

Father Buddy was the concelebrant. The primary celebrant announced the sign of peace with the words, "The peace of the Lord be with you all." She responded with the usual, "And also with you," but she made a motion with her hands that looked like she was pushing the "peace" back to Father. Or throwing it back. I didn't see it, but that's as well as I can describe it here without the motions. This was followed up immediately by, "Let us offer each other the sign of peace." At this point, Father Buddy raised his right hand in the air with the "V for Victory" peace sign to the congregation. That was the second time my jaw hit the floor...

After the wedding, several of us went to Wal-Mart to pick up supplies for Jake's car. We arrived at the reception, and at a good distance away, we prettied up his car. When we were done, there was shaving cream all over it, as well as white soap/paint all over it.

When we were finally done, we caught the tail-end of the toasts, just before the dancing. The reception was a lot of fun. I danced to the Electric Slide, and that's about it. I was having too much fun chatting with everyone else.

We managed to pull Jake off the main floor, and got him outside with all the Christendom guys. We had some pictures taken with him, and then Sam and I carried him back inside on our shoulders to the dance floor. As we were passing people, I heard the question, "Where is Jake, anyway?" And people looked around, and laughed. I hope it was as fun for Jake as it was for all of us...

Ken told me that Jake wanted to have the guys sing Red is the Rose for him and Laura as they left, so we rounded up all the guys who knew the song. We ended up with a group of about ten guys, and it sounded really good -- at least to me, it did. Jake said it sounded good, but I think he was just saying that...

The drive back to Front Royal was uneventful -- we got back about 1 AM. This time we had Bob and Michael C. with us. We dropped Bob off at his car, and drove Michael back to campus. We almost hit a deer about ten miles from Ken's house...

Today was the day for the premiere of Chorus, the film by Mirandum Pictures. I sang at Christendom on Sunday morning, had the select choir practice, and then hung out at Eric's for a while. Colin O. was there, and we signed into X-Box Live, and got whaled on in Halo 2. After this, I helped out Catherine B. by setting up speakers for the reception following the premiere. I put on my tux and drove to the theatre for the showing. After Chorus, went to the after-party, where I got a lot of, "Hey, aren't you that driver? What happened to you? Are you OK?" At about 11 PM, I decided it was time to go. I changed at Dane's, and went home.

Third wedding & weekend stuff

On Friday afternoon, Ken, Alaina, Mike P. and I drove out to Delaware for the wedding of Mike (not P.) and Maria B. The drive was about two hours, and we were there in time for choir practice.

Christine C. directed the choir. Christine, Jacinta S., and Alaina F. were the soprano section, Christina D., Lydia T., and Clare F. were the alto section, Mike P. and David R. were the tenor section, and Tom C., Chris L. and I were the basses. We practiced before the reception dinner, and then again after that. The dinner was great. I wish I could cook like that.

After the second practice, Grant F., Mike P., and I had a couple beers with the soon-to-be groom around midnight. It was fun. I didn't ever drink with Grant while he was at Christendom, and I hadn't really met Mike (not P.), so this was a first for me, pretty much all around.

The next day, Saturday, the wedding took place at St. Thomas Church in Wilmington, DE. It was an awesome wedding, followed by a really fun reception. At the reception, there was a lot of singing and dancing, including the Virginia Reel (of course). When the songs began, Grant, Brendan M., Chris, Mike P., and a crowd of people joined in. Good old Irish songs -- everyone knows them all. Well, almost everyone. I don't... :)

After the reception, Ken, Alaina, Mike and I drove back to Virginia. I fixed dinner for them when they dropped me off at the apartment.

On Sunday, I went to Holy Transfiguration. This was the first time that I sang with their choir. I had a lot of fun singing -- who wouldn't? After Divine Liturgy, I headed back to the apartment, and from there, I drove to Front Royal.

On the way to Ken and Alaina's house, I got into a small wreck. When I was driving along 55, the car two cars in front of me stopped to turn left -- he had to wait for oncoming traffic. I didn't see him stop, nor the guy in front of me. In an instant, I weighed all my options: slamming on the brakes didn't work, because the wheels just locked, and since I was going downhill, I skidded. My other options were to turn left or right. Left led me into oncoming traffic -- equally as bad as slamming into the guy in front of me. Rigth led me into a mountain. Right was the safest option. The mountain tore up my bumper and threw off my car's alignment, but that's about it.

When I got to Ken's house, I was the first one there. Brendan and Susan showed up eventually, followed by Dane, Pat, Mike, and basically everyone else. I stayed relatively late, and just before I left, Ken and Alaina had an announcement to make: "Kids, your mother and I have something to tell you. We're pregnant."

Well, to be accurate, Alaina is pregnant. Even though it can be said that "they are pregnant", don't get me wrong: Ken will not show any indication of being pregnant until after nine months, at which point, it will probably be his turn to carry around the little rascal for nine months...

Peter and Rachel's wedding

Peter F. and Rachel P. got married this weekend. That was fun.

Eric W., Ryan O., and I drove out to Kentucky at 11:45 PM on Friday night. The wedding was supposed to begin on Saturday at 11:00 AM Saturday morning. The drive took us about 8 hours, and the most confusing part was after we got into the city. I was later informed by many people that they were all worried that we weren't going to make it. I feel both loved (that we were missed) and slighted (because they didn't trust us)... ;)

I should tell you that, at a request from someone who shall remain anonymous for now, I went out and bought Rachel some ... uh ... lingerie. Yeah. That's a good word for it. It was interesting walking into the women's department of Peebles and Sears, and deciding that what they had was not scandalous enough. My third and final stop was in Victoria's Secret. And let me tell you, I did not know that 90% of the stuff in that store existed. There's a reason that it's called Victoria's Secret...

And, yes, I'm still a man. Trust me, guys, it can be done. If you ever have to do this, play it up. Make the clerks laugh. Be as loud as you can. The ladies in the store all looked at me, this big loud guy, dressed mostly in black, hat on backwards, unshaven, striding around the store, probably with one thought in their minds: "Pervert!" The clerks faces read, "Am I on Candid Camera?" ANYwho, that's a story for a different time. Call me if you want that one. I'll not relate it here. It wouldn't be prudent at this jucture...

The wedding itelf was nice. I think that the priest forgot there was a choir, and recited a lot of the beginning of the Mass. The first thing sung was the Alleluia for the Gospel. Aside from that, the Mass seemed to go very smoothly.

The reception was a lot of fun. Eric let me help him DJ, which was loads of fun for me. I haven't DJ'd anything in some time. I was feeling a bit nostalgic for it...

During the meal and before the dances, I played classical music and soundtracks. I played a few dongs directed at people: the Snowman for TJ, and Aerith's Theme from Final Fantasy VII for Mike Eidem. I figured that the soundtrack themes were perfect for the meal, considering the couple. :)

The first dance was for Peter and Rachel. Joe P., Mike P., Pat S., and I sang Ben E. King's Stand By Me in four-part a cappella. That was a lot of fun for me. I hope that I didn't break eardrums or spirits when I started my little croaking number. Unfortunately, in practicing for this, the four of us missed the garter toss. Oh, well. Eric got it, but he had to fight Ryan for it, just like the girls do for the bouquet.

Mr. and Mrs. F. (Peter's parents) made my day. They were dancing so much and they looked like they were just having so much fun there. They danced the Virgina Reel quite well, but my favorite memory of them dancing was when we played Diamond Rio's version of Kiss the Girl.

Aside from that, there was a lot of swing, slow and fast. We tried throwing in a waltz, but no one danced it at all.

We went to the Sunday Vigil Mass. Attending that reminded me why I don't attend Sunday Vigil Masses. They are filled with people who don't care enough to get up early on Sunday to give God the first part of His day.

Eric, Ryan, and I slept in until about 10AM the next morning, and then we made the eight-and-a-half hour drive back. On the way back, Ryan called his Dad, and then I called my Father to wish him a Happy Father's Day. He didn't sound too great, so I wanted to keep the conversation short, so that I didn't wear him out.

When I got back to Front Royal, I loaded up my car, and TJ and I headed out. Before we left, we paid a visit to Amy G., and Sam P. Sam is a high school summer camp counselor at Christendom this year. I'm really glad for that. They couldn't have picked a better man for the job, especially since I'm not available for that... ;)

TJ and I had a bite to eat in Manassas, and after that, I dropped him off at the Vienna Metro station, and headed back to the apartment.

Ken's wedding, and a busy weekend

Well, this weekend was really busy. On Wednesday, I started work at about 6AM, and finished shortly after 1PM. I went to the cleaners, picked up the morning dress, packed the stuff I would need for a long weekend, and went to Front Royal. In Front Royal, Christine and I had another dancing session. She was helping me to get ready for the wedding this weekend...

Bright and early on Thursday, I got up, and got ready to go. After making all of my final preparations, I went to the Chapel Crypt at Christendom, where I waited for Mass. During this time, I burned two CD's for Christine C. and her drive out with Dr. P. Mass was at 11:30AM. After Mass, I dropped off the CD's for Christine at Seton, and headed over to the girl's house. Sarah H. wasn't packed yet, so we loaded up her car while she packed, and then we got on the road by about 1:30PM.

Sarah, Rachel P., and I piled into Sarah's car, and Mike E., Carissa B., Alex S., and Ashley F. piled into Carissa's. The two cars left within five minutes of each other. Our first stop was to pick up some lunch in Winchester. After that, we got on the highway, stopping once for gas.

We got a little separated -- Sarah, Rachel and I took the scenic route; that's the story we're sticking to, anyway. The other car beat us to Youngstown, Ohio by about an hour, but I'll be their drive wasn't as cool. :-P

When we got there, it was overcast with sightings of funnel clouds. Wonderful prequel-to-a-wedding weather, huh? We unloaded our stuff and went to Alaina's house, where everyone was heartily partying. After eating some really good food, a large group of us went for a walk around the neighborhood. By this point, it was dark outside, and sometimes rainy, but while we were walking, it barely sprinkled. We got back to the house, and I got a phone call from Jenny D., who I haven't spoken to in some time. We chatted for a few minutes, and after I got off the phone with her, it was time to head back to the hotel.

The next day being Friday and the day before the wedding, there was the wedding scare. I don't know if this is a tradition at all weddings, but to the best of my knowledge, it isn't, or if it is, it's rarely of this caliber. Father O'K. left Front Royal early on Friday morning, and no one had seen or heard from him since. The party that he was supposed to leave with weren't ready at the appointed time, so he took off without them. I was fairly confident that he was going to show up and everything would be fine, but like everyone else, I also had my doubts. Lots of "what if" scenarios ran through our heads, and we all came up with a number of different options to handle the situation if necessary.

After this, the groomsmen all got together for the groomsmen lunch. There was a large group of us: Ken F. (of course), Peter F. (the best man), Mr. F. (father of the groom), David F., Michael F., Mr. W. (father of the bride), Matt W., Alex S., and Mike E. Lunch was really good, and then Ken gave all the groomsmen their gifts. I did not know that you were supposed to do this. Mike E. got a letter opener from Scandinavia. Talk about nice! Matt W. got miniature sword replicas from the Lord Of The Rings movies. I got a gold pocketwatch. Alex S. got a silver platter and a crystal glass set for his fancier alcohol. All I have to say is, "Wow." Ken knows me pretty well. :-D

We went back to the hotel and chilled for a while, and then drove to the church. Fr. O'K. was there and he was just fine. The run through went over just fine while the choir and the organist practiced. The groomsmen had out own little practice: we practiced coordinating all our actions, so that we would work as one unit. It was hard work!

After all this was said and done, we went to a restaurant and had dinner. After dinner, we all went back to the hotel. I was in a room with Alex and MikeE, and our room was designated the party room. We had a big group of people talking, eating and drinking well into the night.

Saturday morning, I got up at about 7AM to eat, shave, take a shower, and make sure that everything was done with plenty of time to spare before the wedding. (Yes, I'm vain, but it's Ken and Alaina's wedding!) After all this, and everyone was up, dressed and ready to go, complete with watches and pocket squares (thanks, Ken!), we got into our respective vehicles, and headed for the Church. Fr. O'K. and I rode together, and we got to the Church about an hour before the ceremony.

As normal for the groomsmen, we got some pictures taken, and we escorted people to their seats. Some of the bridesmaids got lost coming to the Church -- they were later than intended, but not too late for the wedding. The wedding began fairly promptly, and everything went very well. More photos followed, and then the reception took place.

At the reception, there were a decent number of people who I knew, as well as a lot of family members. The food was excellent, the toast was awesome, and the bride and groom began to mingle. The bridal party took it as their cue to mingle as well. Not too long after this came the cutting of the cake, the first dance, the dance with the parents, and the bridal party's dance. During the first dance, Alaina kept stepping on her long dress, so two bridesmaids attempted to carry it for her, through the dance. Ken and Alaina quickly spun out of their control, and they gave up the cause. However, Peter and I got the bright idea that if we could get the girls to do it again, the two of us would go grab Ken's morning coat tails and "assist" as well. It made a rather humorous picture, which I do hope managed to get snapped before Ken and Alaina started dancing quickly again...

MikeE was the Master of Ceremonies and the DJ. He played Flora's Secret by Enya as the opening dance, What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong for the parent's dance, and With Or Without You by U2 for the bridal party's dance.

The bouquet was tossed (Ashley caught it), and then the general dancing began. MikeE played some waltzes, and I asked for a tango. He put on Hernando's Hideaway which I danced with Christine. I think we both needed a bit of a warmup session, but after we made a couple mistakes, we got the hang of it again...

I tried to dance with most of the girls who I knew or had just met. I still hold to the fact that I'm not that great of a dancer, but I guess I was doing decently well, because I didn't get turned down by anyone...

At about 4:00PM, Alex, Peter and I went to Alaina's car and "decorated" it. By 5:30PM, the party was over. A relatively large group of us went to go see X-Men III: The Last Stand. When that was over, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings, had dinner, and hung out for a while.

On Sunday, we went to Our Lady of the Rosary, a FSSP parish with Father V., whose previous assignment was in Dallas, TX. He hasn't changed since the last time I saw him. After Mass, we said goodbye to Emma Fr., Sarah Fo., and Lizzie B., and then headed out to brunch.

Brunch was at Tara: A Country Inn. It was a very cool place. It looked like it was taken straight out of Gone With The Wind -- a fact that made it cool because of the period, not because of the movie. A number of rooms were appropriately labeled, such as "Scarlet O'Hare' Room", or "Confederacy Hideaway". Mom and Dad, if you were around here, you would have loved the place and the meal. The food was some of the best that I've had.

We left there at about 2:30PM. Sarah and I drove back together. As we approached Breezewood, PA, her car's alternator went out, and the car died shortly thereafter. Ken and Alaina weren't too far behind us, and Peter and Rachel were not too far behind them. Ken and Alaina pulled off and charged up the car's battery, enough to get the car to a service center. We had to leave it there, because they didn't have the parts on hand.

We loaded up Peter's car with our luggage -- by the grace of God it all fit. Peter and Rachel got cozy in the back. The car was now weighed down with four people and their luggage -- it was not too happy, but it was moving.

A couple minutes later, I noticed a funny sound coming from the car -- an odd buzzing sound. Peter told me that Jonathan had attributed it to pistons knocking. Never a good sign, but one that could be dealt with. All of a sudden, the car lost all power, and the engine would not propel the car anymore. I used the momentum that was left to get us off the highway, and came to a complete stop. I tried driving again, and the car was just fine. Once again, by the Grace of God, we go underway.

About ten minutes into the journey, I had forgotten that the car was an automatic, and attempted to use the clutch. The pedal that I hit was most definitely not the clutch, because the car very suddenly slowed down. Twice. Why twice? Well, I thought that I had simply missed the clutch and had accidentally hit the brake the first time around, so I moved my foot over a bit and hit the pedal again. Needless to say, the pedal did not change from a brake pedal to a clutch pedal. I'm such an idiot sometimes...

Aside from that, the drive back was uneventful. We got to Sarah's house where we ordered pizza. After eating, I went back to the college, and returned the vestments and other things that we borrowed for the wedding. I headed over to Dane's to visit for a bit, and got back to the apartment at about 1:30AM.

Today, being Memorial Day, I had it off work. I slept in until about 11AM, got up, took a shower, and unpacked completely. Since then, I've spent most of the day checking my e-mail, and blogging. It's 5:42PM, and I'm going to go to the gym, now. Wish me luck...

The Schneible Wedding

This weekend was awesome! A large contingent of Virginians traveled to western Ohio for Danny and Michele's wedding. Sarah, Carissa and I rode out there. Sarah rented a car, and she and Carissa took turns chauffeuring me -- I mean, driving.

We left at 6:30AM on Friday morning, arrived at about 2:30-3PM in Versailles, and spent the next couple hours walking around the town, checking out the sights, and just chatting back at the hotel. Dane, Ken and Alaina all showed up in a bit. Ken rushed into the room (in typical Ken style) -- he was supposed to be at the church an hour ago (not in typical Ken style), and was unaware of this until now. We took off to St. Remy in Versailles, about 10 minutes away. The choir then practiced, but the acolytes had, indeed, missed their practice. We had dinner and the choir began to practice.

The choir consisted of 3 basses, 2 tenors (I am honored to say that I was one of them), 4 altos and 2 sopranos. A bit unbalanced, but we sounded good together. After practicing for almost two hours, there was exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and a Holy Hour. After that, we went back to the hotel, and the festivities began. But I was so tired that I crashed within an hour of them started, so I just went to bed.

The wedding was Saturday at 1:30PM. The choir and acolytes arrived at the church at noon to practice. They were married at St. Rose's in Russia, OH. If I had pictures of the church or the wedding, I would post them. It was simply a magnificent church. It proves that not all the beauty has been stripped of the Catholic churches in America -- you just have to travel to find it. I've found few churches of this level of beauty. I was unable to get a good look around the church, but when I walked in, my jaw practically hit the floor. If you've been inside St. Athanasius in Baltimore and liked it, this one is very similar. So glorious.

Danny and Michele got married in the most glorious Latin Novus Ordo nuptial ceremony I've ever seen. The introduction music was unexpected, but so awesome. Scythian played the theme to The Last Of The Mohicans as the entrance music. At first, I questioned the music, why someone would play that, but as the music continued, I understood. I can't explain it, but it fit so very well, and contrary to my first thoughts, it did not diminish from the sacred event at all. It was a perfect choice for these two.

Their reception was held at a golf course not too far away. The food was excellent, the music was excellent, the entire thing was excellent. This was easily one of my favorite weddings to have ever attended.

We left the next morning after Mass. Christine rode back with us. It was a fun trip back. On the way back, when we got to Winchester, we stopped for dinner, and made it back to Front Royal by about 8:30PM.