June 18th, 2005

The weather was this wedding’s wildcard. The 16th saw downpours consistently through the day while on the 17th it rained on and off, complemented by a few of Megan’s tears. All the same we didn’t have too much time to worry as we set up the tent decorations. On Friday, while Aunt Binda prepared the barn, Jose, Binda, Mia and Phoebe set up the bag lights, Richard spent some time on the sound system (which he finally cracked on Saturday morning), and Denise with her trusty assistant Adam, set up her beautiful flower arrangements for the dining tables, the ceremony site and the flowers for Megan’s and Mia’s and Phoebe’s ceremonial outfits. John and Peter engineered the parking, while Margaret reminded them of the aesthetic issues of such a job. To stay out of trouble with their big sister both went off to the liquor store for the rehearsal dinner’s beer supplies. The rehearsal dinner turned out to be a blast. Even though our plan on being at a local restaurant fell through we were better off at the Lazy Pond where people could be relaxed. Megan and I hardly had a minute to eat as we spent one moment to the next chatting with all our families and friends, everyone catching up and making new acquaintances. Megan and Ben left before it got too late, leaving Art, Marie, Julian and Eleanor in charge of clean up.
On the big day, the sun rose behind a grey curtain of clouds but the rain was holding off. Clipboards in hand we went through the last minute jobs. Jill, our fabulous caterer showed up at 11am with her crew, as did immediate family. Denise and Adam laid out all the flowers, including the flowers for the cake. The weather felt like it might rain or might not. Either way by this time nothing could bother Ben. With the immediate family we went through a couple of rehearsal runs, Tom’s skills as the Met’s stage manager becoming apparent. Meanwhile Peter and John once again were sent off to pick up booze: this time champagne (thanks mum!).
At around 12:30 Megan went into hiding. Ben enjoyed the food, the company and one glass of champagne while in the house, Megan was getting the jitters. The Brazilian music felt good (even the bartender loved it). Jill’s food was a winner: the baked brie vanished instantly while her crew proved their friendly and easy professionalism.
A little before one Supriya, our officiant, and Tom started shepherding everyone to the blankets and chairs set up on the hill by the little tree under which we would get married. After a moment of silence, Kitty kicked off “Bill” by Tin Hat Trio and Mia and Phoebe, flowers in their hair, approached the ceremony from the house (Art recording the whole thing on his micro-mini-DV), followed by Ben, with Margaret and Jay.
Ben was having trouble not breaking down with emotion as Megan with Tom and Katherine came around the garage. The ceremony was pure magic for us, including Ben being told he helped Megan be her best… and her worst. We both noticed Eloise sitting up the hill on a large rock getting the overview. During the wine ceremony, wine never tasted so good or so literally helped steady the emotions, just in time for our vows.
After the ceremony, we all gathered for the group photo which miraculously (that miracle being James) came out a treat. After that, with our formal duties behind us we could all enjoy the food and drink. Jill’s team started on the RIBS, having used Ben’s recipe for the marinade. Soon the food was ready and people settled down to eat. During this time the weather was clearing and the badminton, soccer and bocce ball games were becoming well used as we had hoped, including Lyda launching the little soccer ball the whole length of the garden. Even the yellow cart made an appearance as a ‘roller coaster’ gone awry: yellow cart full of kids: little phoebe pulling it at full speed… down hill (we watched from the tent)… until it was going faster than she could run. And so Phoebe sensibly jumped out of the way: look of panic in the yellow cart; look of panic everywhere. Never fear, our neighbor Joe was near surveying the scene, sprinting up to save the day. Sigh of relief and on with the party. As people finished their food they fanned out into the garden enjoying the spots of sun. At four it was time for toasts at which point the general good humor was backed up by champagne and full sunshine. Tom recounted ‘Memories of Megan’ as a baby in Hawaii… eating a giant completely organic Hawaiian cockroach; humming Luisa Miller in the bath; being a baby goat, a raven and the daughter of a whore in the Met Opera productions. Shifting to the more recent bio, Adam told us about Megan’s questionable taste in boyfriends and, of course, took credit for breaking this tradition by advising Megan on Ben’s suitability. Ben then thanked everybody for making the party possible, including the sunshine, which on command ducked behind a cloud. And then began the dancing, after which the sun stayed out, the air felt perfect, people wandered and played around the garden… just as we had imagined it. After having spent weeks gathering music that we wanted Kitty to play, her mix was so good that Megan was unable to leave the dance floor. Ben left her every so often to visit in the garden. As the sun went down Adam lit the fire in the fire pit. Thanks to him we also had 100 oil lamps that we had prepared in brown paper bags. The effect was of a glowing path leading from the house to the fire pit. A gathering congregated around the fire roasting marshmallows and leftover ribs and chicken. Let’s not forget the Tequila: cousin Stephen and auntie Annie both brought the finest tequila: so good everyone could drink it straight from the bottle. The ceremonial altar found a new purpose as a little circle formed and everyone got to have a taste or two or three. Tim recorded the evidence on film. Megan’s sore throat was also cured by this miracle drink! Meanwhile on the dance floor Kitty was still holding it down and keeping Megan boogieing as people freely drifted from the dance floor to the fire pit. As the evening progressed we had some memorable moments on the dance floor, including a session with Tom deejaying. We had interpretive dances by Rachel and Mischa; we had little Phoebe doing aeronautic and gymnastic moves with the help of Jose and Ben; we had deep dance expressions by Dorje; we had trusty Robert and the Clarke family holding it down; we had Yara, eyes closed, as salsa queen; we had Jose “More Salsa” Rivera laying down his smooth moves…
All parties wind down and after a long day our guests started retiring, Margaret taking back control of the house, cleaning up the kitchen. Last to leave were Katherine and Tom.
Megan, Ben and Andrew (who only had to stumble into his tent to be home) spent some time around the embers in the fire pit, listening to the frogs and discussing fire flies and glow worms before calling it a night.
We would like to thank everyone who helped make this the best party we ever had or went to. Both Megan and I wish we could live the day all over again. We are both lucky to have such great family and friends who were willing to both make this party happen and have a blast. We would also like to thank those of you who couldn’t make it but were there in spirit.