First off, sorry Cheryl, but I think it flows better with Chuck's name in front. That's just me.
Ashley came and picked me up from my mom's and drove us to the hotel downtown. We went to the Imperial Pub across the street from the hotel to wait for the bride and groom. While we waited, we ordered a couple of Mooseheads. Now Moosehead isn't even my favourite Canadian beer--that honour falls to Keith's; but Moosehead is probably a close second. I am not exaggerating when I say that the moment that liquid gold touched my lips, my legs turned to rubber and my body collapsed on the table. My body had gone into shock at the taste of real beer. I forgot how heavenly Canadian beer tastes after months of nothing but Cass and Hite.
Chuck and Cheryl arrived shortly. It felt damn good to be seated in the company of those three amazing people again. It was also great to see the bride and groom to be writing their thank you speeches in a pub the night before their wedding. (At least it wasn't their wedding vows.)
Since Saturday was kind of a big deal, we didn't stay at the Imperial very long, and we quickly headed up to our hotel rooms. I was anxious to try on my suit, as I'd given Cheryl my measurements to give to the tailor, and I was nervous that the suit wouldn't fit. The pants were a bit tight, but otherwise, it was fine. Success!
And with that (and a couple of Keith's), it was off to bed. And what a bed it was! After months of sleeping on my jagged bed cushions in Korea, this bed took my breath away. It was the best night of sleep I'd had in ages, and it had nothing to do with the 30 hours of commuting.
The day of the wedding was, as with most wedding days, not short on stress. On the groom's side, we had to go to Hard Rock Cafe and put up the decorations. There was nothing particularly onerous with the exception of those bloody stars. Cheryl had bought several stars and drowned them in gold sparkles. (Several months later, and surviving gold sparkles can still be found in their apartment, like glitzy cockroaches that just won't die.)
The challenge with the stars lay in hooking them onto long fishing lines and hanging them along the windows in alternating lines of four and five. After several botched strategies, I could tell Chuck was about to lose it with those godforsaken stars. When the fishing line snapped, I could tell it took all of his energy to keep his head from exploding. Finally, we came to the simple conclusion of just taping the damn things to the windows. We laughed at how comically simple the solution was the entire time.
Now on the bride's side, the stress lay in getting everybody dolled up and getting their hair did on time. The stylists were on a tight schedule, and Ashley still had to pick up the cupcakes.
Long story short, everybody was behind schedule. It was okay, though; it just meant lunch was taken out of the day's schedule. Who needs to eat anyway? Certainly not the bride and groom on their wedding day.
Thankfully, the ceremony started on time at St. Michael's, and everything went off without a hitch.
Once the photo shoot was out of the way, it was off to Hard Rock.
The reception was an absolute blast. Chuck and Cheryl went all out. The guestbook was a photo booth session, complete with props and masks; there were crafts and board games (one of my highlights of the night was watching Cheryl's mom and aunt playing Connect Four); tear-jerking speeches (even one of the bartenders got caught up in the feelies during Ashley's speech); a jumpin' dance floor; and an open bar!
The dancing got off to a booming start with the boys of Drunken Lullabies; the feet were a-thumpin'! There was no turning back from there. At one point, I left Ashley in the middle of a conversation to jump onstage and jump into an impromptu performance of "You Give Love A Bad Name" with Chuck as my trusty backup vocals. I was on such a euphoric high that jet lag couldn't touch me. (I'm sure the Jack and Cokes helped with that as well.)
There are few people in this world I would fly over 11, 000 km for, but Chuck and Cheryl are certainly two of those people.
The only downside to the entire weekend was having to say goodbye. I didn't realize until that weekend just how much I missed home. See you in a couple months, Toronto. I love you.
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