It was finally time for the main event, the wedding. This was the reason (excuse) I had to visit home, and I wanted to help it go as smoothly as I could. From my perspective, I think it was a fantastic day, and it was lovely to watch two very good friends celebrate their love. 

I showed up to the venue at around 8 in the morning to help with set up. It was a bit of a chaotic start as people slowly trickled in. We didn’t actually get inside the venue until about 15 minutes later. Once we got inside, we tried to carry everything in as the bride and groom scrambled to find things and start setting up.

This seems like the usual wedding chaos, missing things, a bit of a disorganized start, but everyone was there to support the bride and groom, and the energy was good. Slowly things started to come together as people were assigned various tasks. I mostly helped to help layout the different tables decorations and cutlery. 

Before long, it was time for the wedding party to head to the hotel with the bride to start getting ready. It was a rather large wedding party, so we had to split off into a series of Ubers to get there. My group arrived last, and we got a little lost searching for the hotel room. 

Once there, everyone started getting ready, doing their makeup, fixing their hair, and just having a good time. I was with the bridesmaids, and it felt a little special to be sitting around with a bunch of women, just chatting and getting ready. There was some champagne available, so I had a few sips as I got ready. 

Now, this was the time we were supposed to order some lunch to eat as we got ready. Tragically, that never came to pass. While I had time to kill after I finished getting ready, the bride seemed to be getting ready right up until the buzzer. Things started to feel more and more rushed towards the end as we hurried to get the bride ready and get back to the venue. 

I did my best to be helpful, but most of that just came in the form of offering help rather than being able to do anything. I went down to the front desk to try and facilitate ordering transportation back to the venue, but if we wanted to take Ubers we had to do it ourselves. 

Once again, we piled into a series of Ubers and tried to make it back to the venue. By the time I arrived, we were about 10 minutes behind the scheduled time. By no means dramatically late by wedding standards, but apparently the officiant had another wedding after and would leave if they had to in order to make their next booking. 

There were a few anxious minutes as we waited for the last group to arrive, then everyone hurried into place as we got ready to make our entrance. First were the “beer boys” followed by the groomsman, the groom, the bridesmaids, and finally the bride. 

The rest of the setup must have gone smoothly, because the venue looked great, and I hope it lived up to the expectations of the bride and groom. The ceremony itself was rather short, taking no more than 20 minutes. As someone used to Chrsitian weddings, I’m always caught off guard by how quickly non-denominational weddings go. 

Before long, the wedding party started filling down the aisles behind the newly married couple. We were directed to a party bus that loaded up with the wedding party and family as we headed out to take photos at the UBC gardens. It was quite the mix of people, and there were drinks being handed around with high spirits all around. 

When we got to the gardens we shuffled off the bus, and the bride and groom disappeared with the photographer to take the first round of photos. Now, left with nothing but some time to kill, the hunger really started to set in. 

Adding insult to injury, the groomsmen had time to eat and had gotten some pizza. So only the bridesmaids were beginning to crash, as it was now early afternoon and most of us hadn’t eaten since breakfast. If I had any complaint about the wedding, it would be not getting lunch, but I’m sure that won’t be what I remember from that day in the long run. 

Eventually the bride and groom returned, and we started taking some group photos. Compared to being in my sister’s wedding party, I felt like I took a lot less pictures this time around. I haven’t seen any of the photos yet, but I hope that they got everything they wanted. 

After about an hour of taking photos we once again loaded up on the party bus, and returned to the venue. I found my assigned table and greeted everyone as we settled in. There was no head table, the wedding party was scattered around at different tables. Once they started serving food though, my spirits fell once again. 

They would be calling each table up to fill their plates, and naturally, they started with table 1. I was seated at table 10. So for about 30 minutes I waited hangrily in my seat as other groups went up and got their food. I suppose this would be complaint number 2, but if I had gotten any lunch it definitely would have been a non-issue. 

After a small eternity, our table was called up, and I eagerly filled up my plate. Perhaps because it had been around 10 hours since I’d gotten to eat anything, but the food was delicious. Once I started eating I was happy as a clam. I enjoyed my meal, had a glass of wine with dinner, and was ready to just settle in and enjoy. 

Next came a few rounds of speeches, and once those were finished, the dance floor opened. Dancing at a wedding can be tricky given the wide variety of people and generations that might be attending, but I think it was fairly successful. It was mostly the younger crowd that was on the dance floor, but hopefully it was inviting to all who wanted to join. 

The revelry continued for several hours, with lively drinking, dancing, and chatting. We had the venue until midnight, and the party continued right up until the buzzer. The bride and groom stayed even passed midnight, forgoing the grand exit. 

I did my best to help clean up, but my energy at this point was all but gone. I had asked my dad to come give me a lift, so I was mostly standing around. I would be leaving in just a few days, and so this was my last chance to see people. Everytime I said goodbye to someone it almost brought me to tears. 

Eventually I had to say goodbye to the bride and groom, and wished them all the best, while trying to avoid collapsing into tears. While this wedding was a fantastic affair, I was also sad that it was over, because it meant it was time for me to leave again. 

I hope it was a special day for everyone who attended, because it almost certainly was for me. I can’t think of a more joyous occasion to reunite with people that I haven’t seen in months. I was able to celebrate the love between two very dear friends, and I hope it was everything they dreamed.