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The Wedding of Drew and Machell
Last night I had the great pleasure of partaking in the wedding of one of my oldest friends and his new wife. I’ve known Drew for around 20 years and while we don’t see each other as much as we used to (likely due to him moving to Belgium with his new wife), we’re still good friends. I know that he’s been looking for someone to share his life with for many years now and to see him finally accomplish something he’s wanted for so long makes me tremendously happy. I know that Machell makes him tremendously happy too!
The wedding itself was a somewhat formal affair, as it took place at the Rose Garden at the Woodland Park Zoo. The weather was rather off and on yesterday, so everyone was glad that a tent was acquired for the ceremony to take place under. The rain was coming down rather hard at times and I talked with Drew’s aunt (the violinist for the ceremony) about it, and she told me how much the weather was messing with the horsehair on her bow. I did hear her skid a little bit a couple times, so that was the reason why. I did enjoy listening to her and her old college roommate (the cellist) play, which is why I sat right by them.
Drew’s dad presided over the ceremony and he did a really good job. He must have been very proud to do this for his son and his new daughter-in-law, though I know he was a little nervous about not doing a good enough job. The ceremony went off with a little humor here and there, and it was very nice and to see Drew that happy after all the emotional pain I’ve seen him go through over the years was outstanding.
As you know from the last time I wrote about a wedding, I’m all about the post-wedding hijinks and the reception. While the hijinks level was low, a group of us did walk through the zoo after hours to get to the Rainforest Cafe where the reception was held. It was Darin (who I’ve known almost as long as Drew – the three of us went to private school together), his wife Maria, Trippett (who I’ve known for about 10 years now), and his wife Jasmine.
As I’m a member of the zoo and have been there quite a few times, I guided us through the African Savannah exhibit to the reception. Everything was sleeping at that point, so it was a little eerie. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t see anything, so we made it a point to at least find one of the animals. Luckily, there was a penguin up on the rocks of the penguin exhibit next to the Rainforest Cafe, so we didn’t have to go too far to find something. We hung around there until the penguin decided to take a nap on its belly while Maria told us about her up-close encounters with penguins and how they really are as cute and adorable as they are portrayed.
With our mission completed, we made our way to the Rainforest Cafe. I’ve been in there during zoo hours and it’s a nice enough food court, but they really fancied it up for the reception. They put drapes up over all the food counters and hung them from the rafters, they had nice floral arrangements out, and the place was low-lit for a more intimate celebration. There were likely close to 100 folks there, so it wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t too small either.
There was lots of food, free beer (which I didn’t partake nearly enough in), and a DJ playing lots of hits from the 80s – a perfect triumvirate for dancing it off with ferocity. Before dancing it off, there were some touching toasts and the happy couple were really playing the audience during the cake-sharing portion of the night. They were obviously having a great time and their happy and positive demeanor certainly matched the demeanor of all of the guests and helped keep the spirits high.
Then came the dancing! Things kicked off a little slow with some song that was mildly danceable, but then the DJ kicked it into overdrive by dropping a back-to-back megabomb of Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin’ Something. There were intervals of slower music where I caught up with folks and talked with some of Drew’s relatives which I’d never met before (like his aunt and uncle), but once the dance hits came back on, I jumped back on the floor with haste. I was asked to dance by Drew’s mom a couple of times and I happily obliged.
I’m surely feeling the dancing today, as my quads, hams, and abductors are lit up on both of my legs. This would be my leg workout day, but I already took care of it last night! Even with getting up at 3:30 AM yesterday, doing my usual routine and going to work for 6.5 hours, I was able to keep it going until midnight when the DJ went home. Drew’s folks were kind enough to give me a ride home (as I had taken the bus there) and I got in the door at 12:45 AM. I certainly didn’t get up early this morning, except when Barclay decided to get adventurous and knock a bunch of stuff off a shelf onto my feet while I was asleep. That cat, I’ll tell ya.
All in all, I had a great time and I know everyone else did as well! I know that Drew and Machell will have an amazing life together, and I’m so happy for the both of them.
Discuss this post at the For the Love of Creativity Forum!
Posted on July 3rd, 2010.
External Links
• Woodland Park Zoo – Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA – Home
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