I'm Back!

Sorry about the long silence. It's been hard to write anything post election since our marriage may be invalidated by the state. By the way, Attorney General Jerry Brown is urging the CA Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8. THAT, Barack Obama, is being a fierce advocate.

Along with the crappy thing that happened, Mr. MC and East Coast Rebecca got married! The bride and groom look smashing! I had to get them to do my first post-wedding interview.

When we last were talking about actual weddings and actual wedding planning, Mr. MC and East Coast Rebecca were on the cusp of their wedding. Now 52% of people in California say Boo to same-sex marriage, we can go back to frivolous talk about flowers and caterers because seriously after having over half a state tell me my marriage doesn't count, I REALLY want to talk about flowers and caterers. Let's check in with the happy couple post wedding:

From the pictures, you two looked gorgeous and happy. How did the weather hold up? Fall in Washington, DC can be spectacular or it can be a cold rainy mess.

ECR: It was the first really cool day of the season, which was a little colder than we'd hoped. We warned everyone that fall can be unpredictable, though, so all the ladies came prepared with wraps and whatnot.

MMC: Yeah, but we wanted a fall wedding and our day definitely felt autumnal. It was lovely.

Do the day go as planned? Was it comfortably elegant? Did the vendors do what they were supposed to?

ECR: Things went mostly as planned. There were two big sources of pre-wedding panic - my dress wasn't at the drycleaner when we went to pick it up (it arrived within 45 minutes, but that was definitely an "oh shit" moment), and my parents and I got caught in terrible traffic on the way to the venue and arrived an hour after I'd hoped to be there. Turns out it was Howard University's homecoming.

I think it was very comfortably elegant, classy but not stuffy. And the vendors were great.

MMC: I have to admit I was surprised when my expert event planning wife was unaware of the Howard homecoming and then chose a Mapquest route that went ... right past Howard. She was being driven by her dad, who doesn't know DC at all, so that made it interesting. Luckily I was able to look up a Google map and talk them around their traffic jam.

Tell me about the ceremony. Had Mr. MC seen the dress before or was that a surprise? Mr. MC, what were you thinking when you first saw East Coast Rebecca? How were you feeling Rebecca?

ECR: A friend from Philly got ordained so that he could be our celebrant, and he did an absolutely brilliant job. We had trouble finding two appropriately long readings for the ceremony, so we chose an assortment of shorter readings (as well as a couple of longer ones) and assigned them to friends right before the wedding. Each reader just stood up in place to do their bit. It worked really nicely, much to our delight.

As soon as I got to the venue, I felt great - a little wound up, sure, but I was happy and excited and ready to see everyone.

MMC: Basically I was the one human within a 200 mile radius of the bride who had not seen the dress in advance of the day, so yes it was a surprise. Although I don't know if surprise is the right word. It was a beautiful white wedding dress. Surprise! I guess if it had been a hot pink pantsuit, that would have been a surprise. All I know is that she looked beautiful. Like, whoa, beautiful.

What about the reception? What did you serve and how was the vibe?

ECR: We did the heavy hors d'oeuvres thing, and we provided seating for maybe 80% of the attendees. This meant that folks ate when they wanted, talked, danced, ate more, etc. as they saw fit. It made things a bit more casual, which I prefer to a big seated dinner.

The food included beef brisket, roasted chicken with cider jus, New Orleans style shrimp (in a spicy butter sauce), autumn vegetable tarts, and a hot potato-apple salad (with optional bacon). In lieu of a cake, we had a dessert buffet with tiny apple crisps served in shot glasses along with other treats. The caterer also passed mini ice cream cones. They were totally the hit of the party.

MMC: The vibe was indeed chill and yet festive. We didn't do some of the more traditional reception mainstays. No introductions, no toasts, no garter or bouquet toss, no cutting of the cake (no cake!) and we did our "first dance" without announcing it, so for a while it was just the two of us off dancing to Stevie Wonder alone. It was great. We did the music by iPod and it worked well. Only had to attend to it 2 or 3 times all night. Eventually the music got jumping and there was some serious dancing going on; everything from Al Green to Miley Cyrus. Yes, Miley was a hit...

What were the happy surprises? Those moments that everyone remembers but aren't in the script?

ECR: Neal told me he would send a child to fetch me when it was ceremony time, and I was shocked and delighted to see the adorable blonde head of Aidan, a kid I used to babysit, peering around the door at me. That was awesome. Also memorable was our celebrant's welcoming family, friends, and "Rebecca's gays." People are still laughing about that.

Oh, although it wasn't part of the wedding, my friends from home had a big banner printed with Rick Astley's face on it and "Rebecca and Neal - 2-gether 4-ever" and put it on our hotel room door.

MMC: Yeah, Aiden rocked.

Anything you'd do differently?

ECR: Pick up my dress earlier and ask the photographer to do more formal pictures of Neal and me.

MMC: Not wait so long to pop the question.

Finally, how was the Halloween party? Any memorable costumes? Or did people half ass it?

ECR: It was a good time, but I must admit it was tough to get properly enthused coming off of such a monumental event the previous week. No memorable costumes, I don't think.

MMC: I don't even remember what I wore. And yes, we should have skipped the party this year. But next year it can double as our anniversary party!