Cinnamon cookies shaped like airplanes! |
It was nice having nowhere to have to be in the morning. I slept in as
long as I could and eventually Henry and I got up and walked a block or two to
a charming albeit incredibly overpriced Farmer’s market. We got grapes,
bananas, white bread, cheese spread, and a couple croissants, and then we went
back and ate while half watching Firefly and half doing other things. Very
leisurely.
Eventually I did lie down for a brief nap before we actually got ready
and headed over to the Magnolia House, a large Southern-style house and
backyard that Kale & Fitzy had rented for their wedding. They had actually
rented it for an entire week and their bridal party arrived days earlier for
game nights and other visiting time.
Anyway, we found parking with zero trouble
and then went around the back to an
almost fully shaded yard with a picket fence and stone walkway. There were
maybe a half dozen round top tables with red and blue tablecloths (holiday
themed), citronella candles, and complimentary sunscreen and bug spray (though
I didn’t ultimately really need either). The guests were wearing “garden party”
attire which mostly means the women have colorful printed dresses and fancy
sunhats and then men might be wearing slacks and ties or simply khaki pants and
button up shirts. But it was very colorful and felt like an old fashioned
party.
Kale's mom and her friends |
Eventually the dual officiators—a close college friend of Fitzy’s and
close high school friend of Kale’s—began the ceremony with some sweet and
amusing stories of how they met the bride and groom. Fitzy and Kale walked down
their aisle, as it were, and two more friends read poems about love and
marriage. I know there was one by Neil Gaiman and one by EE Cummings, and both
readers did a great job. Kale and Fitzy shared brief vows and exchanged rings,
and like that it was done. Very sweet and simple.
Shortly after they unveiled the wedding cake, which Kale had created
himself. It was three tiers of chocolate with white icing and red and blue
berries for the 4th of July. It looked great. As people ate cake
Fitzy’s dad and Kale’s mom and dad each made a toast, all of which were also
brief and sweet. And not long after that people started migrating inside the
house for air conditioning and more games.
While the group we had been sitting with played Sorry (which was fun to
listen to), Henry and I chatted with other guests about how our parents came up
with our names, varying standards for driver’s tests around the country, and
other random topics that flowed pretty easily. I really wanted to talk more to
Kale, though, but he of course was busy catching up with all sorts of people.
Eventually when I walked by him he just said “Hey!” and I came over and we
started chatting nonstop, for quite a while actually, and it was great. I love
talking to that guy. He introduced me to his high school friend Becca, who
works in a book shop in Boston and has her first book being sold starting next
year. That was pretty cool. We also caught up a lot about his research and my
kids, etc. We would’ve kept talking longer, as we often do, but someone let us
know it was already 8pm and people we’re going to start leaving to walk to the
riverfront for fireworks.
Henry and I instead drove back to our Air BnB, which was very much in
the same direction as the fireworks launch anyway. We walked from there to the
riverfront and the others were only just arriving. Despite massive crowds we
actually got a pretty good spot, and while we were waiting for it to get dark
enough and for the show to start, Kale told Henry and me about his and Fitzy’s
preparation for marriage: various books they read and advice they got. It was
pretty impressive actually. As an aside Kale’s mom and her friends were there
in blue sparkly hats and gave everyone glow stick bracelets, which I thought
was awesome.
Anyway the fireworks show was great. It went on for a long time which
gave me a chance to kind of zone out and enjoy it. When it was over people cleared
out pretty quickly but our group stayed to light sparklers they had brought,
and that was fun and nostalgic too.
Afterward Henry and I went back to the Air BnB briefly so I could chat with my kids before they went to bed.
Then we drove back over to Magnolia House to enjoy chocolate mousse and fruit and play some games. Henry played Euker at one table and I joined Kale, Fitzy, Ed, and his gf (whose name I've forgotten) to play Mysterium at another. It's basically like Clue plus Dixit. It involves a lot of art interpretation, and it was pretty fun.
By the time we finished the game it was near midnight and Henry and I had to get up pretty early to get to the airport in Raleigh on time. So we said our goodbyes and headed out. But it was a wonderful day.
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