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Rehearsal Dinner

The last post was getting kinda long, so I thought that any discussion about the rehearsal dinner should get it’s own entry… so, here goes…

Tonight we had a rehearsal dinner at The Veranda in downtown Fort Myers. This was pretty sweet, because it was the location that I had selected for my first prom with Joy. It is also cool, because neither Joy nor I had ever been to The Veranda except for that one time, together, right before our first prom.

So, we arrive… late, and Joy is about ready to cry. She had suprised me with her presence at my house at a quarter to seven when the dinner was at 7PM. (I’ll give more back story about this in the next entry. Reverse chronological order here, people.) I had just finished getting dressed and she knocks on my bedroom door. “Can I come in?” She says sweetly. ‘Actually, move out, because I’m ready to go.’ “OK, I guess that means ‘let’s go, dear. I’m ready.’ ” She pleasantly reinterprets. After this little exchange we walk down the hallway, through the kitchen, and arrive in the front room, but no one is around except Tami and she waiting on Mark and her two boys.

So, Joy let’s me know that she’s going with me. (This is a total shock to me) I let her know that I told Eric that I could give him a ride as I am putting on my shoes. She then tells me to call Eric and ask him if he can drive himself. Uhhh… OK. Anyway, this story is getting way to long. Basically, I am shocked and not feeling so good about the situation, plus I forgot something my mom asked me to bring. So, I was “Quiet” on the car ride to the restaurant. Joy is too, but I know her quiet isn’t as comfortable for her as mine is for me. So, I apologize for the uncomfortable quiet and begin to explain. This only makes her feel sad (she’s incredibly sleep deprived at this point, remember.) I try to fix it some more — marginal success. Finally, we’re walking up to the restaurant… I tell her that I had made a few mistakes, I was unsettled by her presence and the Eric situation, and that I was sorry. Then I kissed her like she likes, until she finally is smiling a little and reminds me that I get away with everything and that its not fair how I just fix stuff with those kisses.

OK, seconds later I look up and see Joy’s older brother. This is odd and very out of place, because he is definately not supposed to be here (in my mind or in Joy’s) Joy figures out what is going on isntantly and begins to cry. This confuses me, because I’m a guy and well… I can only intuit so much, right? Anyway, we’re waved over, so Joy is dealing with the tears situation and we walk into the restaurant trying to find Karl who had completely disappeared. Finally, we get up into this hideaway second floor diningroom area and there are like 30-40 people standing around waiting for us. Also, Jenn Mueller (Karl’s wife) is there. She is eight months pregnant. She wasn’t supposed to come. I guess love and determination can carry people to crazy acts of love though. Joy broke. Tears were streaming. Everyone was happy.
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Yeah, so… we’re back at the dinner. I was hungry — it was 8PM. I went and stood at my plate, and that signaled everyone else, slowly. A few announcements were made about our dinner selection (not vegan friendly at all.) There was this awesome brochure/menu/announcement/evening program thing at each plate. This thing was pretty cool indeed. Michelle and my mom put it together. Each one had these little gold tassels acting as bookmarks to the menu page. Also, every plate had a little table tent with the person’s on it… raised ink, calligraphy… it was tight.

The menu was neat too. Everyone got the same salad and bread, but that was listed on the menu announcement (MA) nonetheless. Then each person could choose one of three entrees, which were completely described in the MA. After that section there was also a listing of the three dessert choices. I had chicken marsala and Joy had the filet mignon. We both got the same dessert, but I already forget what that thing was. All I know is that it was awesome and I hadn’t had anything like it before. (I have the MA thing though… I’ll look it up at some point and fill this in.)

At the end of the dinner, my brother, Toby — who is my best man, got up and made gave toast/speech/story thing. It was pretty cool. Everyone liked it a lot, and it made me nervous as anything. The whole thing was about this running family joke that started when I was roughly eight. The joke was something I said to Toby that my mom and Toby thought was cute so they’d just say it to each other for a few years. Finally, I started to join in too. Anyway, Toby presented me with a box of Dots (Tootsie Roll’s product) and he had made sure that all the Dots in the box were red… to go with the running joke, but turn it on its head. The joke had been “Toby gets all the red dots!” meaning Toby is one lucky SOB. However, Toby proceeded to make a few points. 1) Now look who is the lucky one. 2) A lot of times you have to work at things to make your own luck and stack the deck in your favor. 3) That work can pay off, but people will still say you just got lucky.

My Dad, Joy’s Dad, and the Matron of Honor, Joy’s ’sister’ also gave toasts. I don’t really remember the Dad’s toasts, perhaps because they didn’t have stong thematic messages. Paulette’s toast was really touching though. She fought off tears (which I like) and managed to say good things about Joy and that she was really happy that I was marrying her. (After all, Paulette had talked Joy into “keeping this one” early on in the relationship — when I was going off to college.)

After all this I presented the groomsmen with their gifts, which were these aluminum cases that held 300 poker 11.5g poker chips, two decks of cards, a dealer chip, and five red dice. They were tight (if I may say so) and each weighed 18.5lbs. (I know this because shipping is annoyingly expensive.) I think that most of them were happy with it. My brother, Steve, even smiled (this is rare) and asked if there was a pair of handguns in the cases. So, he was a little disappointed, but everyone else was happy — especially CJ’s wife (she’s into poker and really good. Joy and I had played with CJ and her on a double date/weekender in Naples and in Gainesville.)

Yeah, so that sums up the Rehearsal dinner. I had happened upon this spot just outside the door of our private dining area and was getting hugs and handshakes from all the guests for a while. Then Joy caught my act and thought it was a good idea, so she stood next to me and we got well wishes from everyone and thanked them all for coming. All in all it was a really great night. Oh, and at the end, Mere (Joy’s mom) drove back to my house with Joy and I to get Joy’s car (because Joy was really tired and sleep-deprived) and that was fun for her and us because it was, as Mere had excitedly called it, our last night of being chaperoned. (sp?)

Posted by David under Personal News |