Subject: Weekend Update: Jessica and David's Wedding, June 21, 2003
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 10:59:00 -0400

The short version: Friday was a difficult day; Saturday was perfect.
Now for the account of the wedding.

Jessica came home for the last time as a Metcalfe last Wednesday
to make the final preparations for her wedding.  David's parents
had come into the area late that night and found hotel accommodations
in Merrimack, NH.  We had the Youngs over for dinner on Thursday
evening where I let them preview the wedding slide presentation
that I had prepared. I had only that afternoon figured out how
to synchronize the music with the pictures into one show.  I
made two backup copies of the pictures and presentation on CDs;
one for Lana and Harold, and one for our own archives.  However,
I had to make these in between the times that our flaky and
temperamental computer monitor chose to work.  The monitor
would figure into Friday's woes, as well.

On Friday, the Day of Preparation had arrived. I took the day off
work to help out. I was in the kitchen about to make breakfast
when my father-in-law appeared and said we have a problem.  When
I looked at him, his right cheek had a lemon-sized swelling; an
infection in his gum or tooth.  We called Hope and Tom in
Pennsylvania to get the telephone number of his dentist, whose
name he was unsure of.  When we found it, we called but the=20
answering machine said that the office was not open until 1:30
that day; so we called the dentist's emergency number and got
the dentist to phone in a prescription to our nearby pharmacy.
An hour and a half behind schedule, we were back on track and
headed to the church.  (I was thankful that I didn't have to
spend most of the day with him in an emergency room.)

As we set about decorating the church, I did as much as I
could to set up the sound room, since Steve long couldn't
be there until later that evening.  I discovered that Steve
had been replacing system components and the power was out
to the external speakers.  Pastor White remedied the problem
and soon I was hooked up and ready to go.  Steve reconnected
my wires when he arrived and was nice enough not to tell me
that I had done it wrong.  Joy discovered that one of the two
plant stands was out for refinishing so we improvised with
a couple of matching round tables from somewhere.

By 2:30, we had to return to the house and change for the
rehearsal dinner.  Somewhere between the time we got home
and the time we went back to the church, I lost my van keys.
(After much searching throughout the weekend, I found them on
Monday evening in the living room couch cushion where I was
getting Jessica's processional and recessional music on Friday
afternoon.)  Jessica was having problems with the aforementioned
computer monitor and asked me to help her print out some
important poems for her bridesmaid's gifts, which I did with
the aid of Andrew's laptop.  The groomsmen were expected at
the house at 3:00 but they were nowhere to be found; they would
meet us at the church by 5:00 for the rehearsal.  Joy and I
therefore left early to pick up the tuxedoes, which turned out
to be a big mistake because three of the groomsmen had not
paid for their tuxes yet!  I fronted the money and packed all
nine tuxes in the car.  At the church, one young man said that
he planned on paying by credit card and didn't have cash to
reimburse me.  I thought to myself "when were you planning on
it?" although I kept my thought to myself.   One groomsman=20
reimbursed me on the spot; one promised to send me a check,=20
and I have not spoken yet with the third one.  I'll get my
new son-in-law to speak on my behalf.

By this time in the day, I was getting concerned about all the
details of the wedding coming together.  The rehearsal went fairly
well, although I cannot be sure because I was in and out a few
times attending to some of those details.  I wasn't terribly
concerned about my role in the wedding because I had practiced
my line for months: "Her mother and I" was an easy thing to say...
so I thought.

In Palm Parlor, Harold and Lana Young, parents of the groom
set up a very nice candle-lit buffet of Boston Chicken.  Meanwhile,
Eric and Linda Magnuson and their boys helped to decorate
and set up the reception tables while Joy and I attended the
rehearsal dinner.  They were invaluable to us throughout this
whole process and we are very grateful for all their efforts.
At home, I turned in for the night at the right time, more or
less, but both Joy and I did not sleep well with the many details
still swimming around in our heads.

Throughout the week, the weather forecast was calling for
likely rain on Saturday, and many people were praying and hoping
that we might get by with an overcast but relatively dry morning.
We had hoped to take wedding pictures beforehand at and around
the house. I was prepared for Plan B of moving all the pictures
to the church.  To our delight, the morning was partly cloudy and
perfect for taking pictures outside.  I took a number of stunning
digital photos.  Sue Walker did a fabulous job as our official =
photographer, too.  I walked her around to a few places where
I thought some good pictures might be had, then I stopped and
apologized for being a nervous father-of-the-bride and let her
do her work. She was very good and put us all at ease.

Andrew arranged for and paid a limosine to escort his sister and
her bridesmaids to the church.  Andrew impressed the groomsmen by
asking the driver, who looked to some of as if he had "connections",
to put out his cigarette because his sisters have allergies to the
smoke.  The driver was very nice.  He said he'd take the longer route
to the church to give Joy and me time to drop David and Jessica's car
off at Chris and Nina Chronopoulos' home.  We did that to save them
from having the car despoiled and to let the drive away from the=20
church in my Eclipse instead of Goliath.  It turns out that someone
snitched on the whereabouts of the honeymoon-mobile and the groomsmen
trashed the car anyway.  (Sorry Nina, about the soggy toilet paper!)

The wedding party arrived at the church a half hour before
the ceremony was to begin so the bride and groom went to their
separate rooms to await the arrival of the guests.  The guests
flowed into the church and the sanctuary was filled with nearly
200 people by 1 o'clock.  Before the ceremony started, I found
David with my father in the back room and asked to pray with them.
That was it for me.  All the details had been taken care of and
there was nothing else for me to do or think about except walk
my daughter down the aisle and give her to this young man.  I
cried like a baby.  Meanwhile, Jessica's bridesmaid gathered
in a circle, holding hands, to pray for her and David, which
made Jessica cry, too.

As a last minute change, I asked Steve Long to start the ceremony
with the slide presentation that I had prepared.  It was very well =
received and several said that it set the tone for a great wedding.
The presentation was created in three main segments with music by
Amy Grant playing during the picture show.  "Baby Baby" played while
pictures showed David and Jessica in their baby and toddler ages.
"I'm the Lucky One" played as the pictures moved into their=20
adolescent years and the things that were part of their lives.
"Oh How the Years Go By" wrapped things up with family photos
dating back to 1889 ancestors up to recent photos of the=20
families, and photos of Jessica and David together.

When the slide show was over, it was time.  My emotions were
on the surface.  I was happy but teary-eyed, walking Jessica
down the aisle.  My father's emotions were also nearby as we
commenced the ceremony.  The line I had rehearsed for months
came out clearly with some difficulty, but not for lack of
conviction that I was placing my daughter's hand in the hands
of a good man.

Jeffrey Lane sang a song before the proceedings. Jessica's cousin
Charity led the congregational singing.  My brother-in-law,
Tom Scheurmann read the scripture.  My father-in-law, Tom Crawford,=20
offered the prayer of blessing on the marriage. They both served
communion along with John White and Jeff Lane. Joy and I sang
"The Other Side of Me."  It was quite the family affair.

After the pronouncement, Jessica and David Young recessed down
the aisle to Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.  I stood at the head of
the receiving line.  I told Joy that I kissed a lot of women that
day! She responded that all the men had kissed her! :-)  I did not
recognize one couple as they came through the line and asked who
they were.  The woman wasn't sure how to answer so the gentleman
quipped that they came in off the street; they followed the limosine.
I don't know it that was true or not, or if they were college chums
of Dave and Jess, but I told them to enjoy the party.

After some family photos in the Sanctuary we finally made
our way back to the Lunn Recrearium for the reception.  The
catering was well-received from hors d'ouvres to main course
buffet.  We had a glitch on the water but remedied that when
we got back to the reception hall.  Jessica and Dave requested
no toast or garter throw, or things like that; she wanted it
to remain simple.  I played a mix of eccelctic songs from MP3s
I had on my laptop.  Eric Magnuson emceed and announced the
wedding party.  The cake cutting was unsung and without a whole
lot of fanfare.  Jessica threw her bouquet on the count of one
(instead of three) which meant that both I and the photographer
only caught the catch and not the throw.  However, it was a party
of friends and all seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

Joy, of course, was singularly spectacular.  She planned and made
most of the decorations including all six bridesmaids dresses, Kayla
Bickom's flowergirl dress, the picture card of David and Jessica
at each place setting, the flower baskets to cover the basketball
hoops in the gym, the table centerpieces with live ivy, and the
ribbons and poems on the bells (with the help of a few people).
Joy also prepared muffins and other foods for the day of the
wedding.  Miranda made several gorgeous flower arrangements
from flowers in our yard. Krista (White) Casler helped with
the beautiful wedding program.

Jessica and David left the church in my Eclipse.  Most everyone
that was there to the end also left and a few of us stayed behind
to tear down the things that we had planned for months to create.
By that time, the rain had started to pour down in earnest.  We
packed the van with gifts and leftover lasagna.  Eric took me and
Andrew to the Chronopoulos' house to pick up my car because we
couldn't all fit in the van. We went home to a house in total
disarray and plopped down on the couch.  The day was over.

The next day, I arrived at the church early to practice an
unorthodox rendition of "Pass Me Not" with the men's quartet
and Rob Walker who accompanied us on guitar.  It was a good
thing that it was still raining because several families
indicated that they would have come over to swim but postponed
for fairer weather.  Despite the condition of the house, we
still invited the Andrew family over Sunday night for=20
leftovers with strict promises not to tell people how
bad the house had gotten after the wedding.  They promised.
We had a good time and I was glad that we got together.

By the time I got home from work Monday afternoon, Joy had
the place back to normal with a little help from the kids.
(I thought it would take a week!)  So I invited Jan and
Meredith over for cards before they go this week on another
globe-trotting adventure to Switzerland.  Pop Crawford won the
night though we were loath to congratulate him.

Jessica called from her honeymoon in Alton Bay to say that she
and David were fine and having a good time.  We asked if they
wanted us to open their presents, like Christmastime!  They
said, "No!" in unison.  They'd be back on Friday to do that.

So now the "I Dos" are done and the house is just about back to
normal.  Time to focus on the future.  The Magnusons move into
Pepperell this weekend and the Shaws come to visit next week!
Bring it on! Woohoo!

Mark