This past Sunday, my longest-suffering friend got married to his partner of 13 years. And they did it for that most American of reasons — health insurance.
Being the wonderful friend that I am, I agreed to do two things at the wedding: provide the music and host (and write) a trivia quiz for the guests.
The wedding was at 2 p.m. in Buffalo, an hour and change from our house in Rochester. We packed the kids and all the music gear into the car and headed to Ellicott Creek Park, arriving at about 1:40.
As we drove up to the building where the wedding would be held, Jen noticed the brother of the bride walking up the sidewalk. She also noticed people eating inside the building. We’d been told by the bride and groom that the ceremony would be short (under 3 minutes) and very informal, so we weren’t too suspicious. As the bride’s brother approached, Jen asked about the ceremony, and when it would take place.
“It was at noon,” he replied.
That’s right. The wedding of my friend of 19 years was at noon, and I arrived at 1:40. Within minutes of our arrival, 90% of the guests went home, leaving about 15 people. I couldn’t believe it.
Shall we say I was embarrassed? Yes, let’s say that. As it turned out, though, our late arrival was probably the best thing that could have happened. When the majority of the guests left, those who remained were all pretty good friends, several of whom also had small kids. Everybody had a fun time hanging out and chatting. The kids played. About 10 people did the trivia quiz. And a wonderful time was had by all. Congrats to Jenn and Kevin!
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