recap

i'm now somebody's husband.

ok, pics to come, of course. what a great weekend. we started with mendhi on thursday night for the ladies. brief description (taken from the web):

• Mehndi is the Hindi word used to describe the art form of painting henna designs on the body. Mehndi is practiced in many parts of the world. Traditionally, it is associated with romantic love and the ritual of marriage. Henna designs are integral part of bridal adornment in Hindu, Moslem, and Sephardic traditions. It is also used for everyday adornment. In India, North Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, henna is seen as a talisman, a blessing upon the skin with the power to bring the wearer happiness and wealth.
• Design details vary from culture to culture. Generally, Indian designs are made of finely drawn floral and paisley patterns. Arabic designs concentrate on larger floral motifs on the hands and feet and African designs include bold geometric shapes.
• Traditionally, Mehndi is practiced exclusively by women, and taught in the oral tradition, with recipes and patterns passed from one generation to the next.
• While Mehndi retains an aura of Festivity, it remains a sacred practice intended not just to beautify the body, but to invite good fortune into one's home, one's marriage, and one's family. Henna is still used throughout the world today as part of the marriage ritual. It is said a good dark design, applied to the bride's hands and feet, is a sign of good luck for the married couple.

then we had the rehearsal on friday, which was achingly long but really created the image of what this thing was going to look like. fuckface and the chief were only an hour late--not bad. the rest of our attendents were on time.

the rehearsal dinner at frateli di napoli rocked. wonderful food and service and a kick ass slide show by fuckface. also, some great toasts. i gave one for my brother...an emotionally overwhelming event, in a good way. then we hit manuel's for some late night. have the eagle's nest reserved for ourselves worked out brilliantly.

woke up the morning of the big day pretty nervous, but i forced myself to sleep until 10. ran a few errands (had to get cash for those tips!) and met up with the family (all 40 of them) for a "small" brunch. then headed back to my place to relax. went swimming and lay by the pool for an hour. the g-men and ushers were there by 4 to suit up. unsurprisingly, fuckface and the chief showed up three hours late (i asked the guys to be there at 1). while my brother is rehearsing his toast with the ompg on the balcony, cherie and will (who drop by on a pleasant surprise) are writing last minute table cards and the photo list on index cards. i pull the dudes together for a toast and then we are off. three glasses of champagne plus a few pulls from the bottle and i'm feeling nice and calm.

hometown advantage lets us bypass all the traffic from gay pride weekend (350,000 in town to celebrate at piedmont park...which adjuts the botanical garden) on the way to midtown. funny store: a couple of the g-men keep commenting on how the "dyke parade" starts at six and may be noisy while we're doing the ceremony. after a few times, i say, "uh guys, you know, some folks around may not like you calling it the dyke parade." turns out that the official name of the event is actually the dyke parade.

and then it's time to start the the three ring circus. amazingly, my ENTIRE family (who normally consider one hour late to be on time) show up EARLY for pictures!

i'm not going to go the entire evening minute by minute, but it went exceedingly well. i've been told that the bride and groom are the most critical of their own wedding b/c they're the only ones who are aware of every detail. well, we were and we really had nothing to critique. everything actually worked out like it was supposed to. events not only ran on time, but a little bit ahead of time. the vendors delivered beautifully. we could not have asked for better weather. the rain held off and the cloud cover moderated the georgia humidity, saving all of my yankee family from melting. katie and i relaxed the entire evening and then retired to the ritz-carlton.

and so it's done.