A Sonoran Desert Wedding

Yesterday morning, while Larry was picking up his other son Dan and Dan’s wife, Tori, mom picked Tay and I up from the hotel and drove us back to the house. Mom made the two of us pecan waffles for breakfast. She has been really indulging us while we’ve been here.

After breakfast, I talked about going to get vaccinated for my trip to Mexico. I was anticipating getting quite a few vaccines- including Heptatis A, DTP, and Typhoid. Hep A is really expensive actually, several hundred dollars, so I was actually dreading the pain in my wallet more than the pain in my arm. So, I was very happy when mom pulled out my vaccination records and I realized that I was going to be able to get by without a Hep A booster (although I think I’ll still need a DTP booster).

Around that time, Larry came back with his son Dan and wife Tori and we sat and visited for awhile. Around 1, we all piled into the vehicles and headed back to the hotel to give the groom and his bride time to prepare. Mom dropped Tay and I at Arizona Mills Mall, a low-rent single loop outlet mall. I was looking for walking shoes for Mexico city, but I didn’t see anything I really liked, and I thought it would probably make more sense for me to see what people are wearing around the city.

There are few things that will mark an American tourist more effectively than white tennis shoes. A local once told me that with those white shoes glinting in the sun, you can spot someone wearing them a block away. My goal for this trip is “low profile,” but I also want to be able to fit into the design community- so I guess with the way I look, I’ll probably try to come off as a Spaniard or Argentine. Who knows, maybe I’ll just look stupid.

Anyway, after one mall cycle, I was spent, and we walked out of the mall, across the vast expanse of the parking lot, and across the street back to the hotel. Tay and I washed our faces, and slowly got dressed for the event. I’d been debating buying a new white dress shirt since I vaguely remember some ring around the collar on my favorite JCrew oxford, but I decided against it. Looking at the actual shirt in the light, back at the hotel, I realized the shirt was actually pretty filthy, stained, and lint-covered. Cursing myself as I ironed, I debated running back to the mall and finally consoled myself with the fact that the suit jacket was going to cover most of it, and I’d wait until dark to take off the jacket.

We met downstairs in the Ramada lobby at 5pm, and the grandmothers and Jen immediately started shooting photos. Got a lot of compliments on the tie Saori bought me for Christmas. Tay and I were both wearing Macy’s suits and sunglasses, which I guess looked a little “Men in Black”ish, or at least Blues Brothers-ish, but I guaranteed everyone that we would have plenty of time for photos in much more scenic locations than the cramped Ramada lobby.

Right on schedule, mom drove up wearing her cream wedding dress, and shortly after Larry pulled up in the SUV wearing his suit. They both looked great- Larry had his desert bouitionierre and mom had her giant desert bouquet. Mom was wearing her giant mauve pearl earrings, and wore a comb she’d ordered from Hong Kong in her hair. We split into the two cars and headed for Camelback mountain.

The guest list was very small:
Larry Marsh- the groom
Paul- Larry’s stepson
Jen- Paul’s girlfriend
Daniel- Paul’s son
Tori- Daniel’s wife
Nancy Case- the bride
Alec- Nancy’s son
Taylor- Nancy’s son
Betty Case- the mother of the Bride
Loretta Perkins- Alec and Taylor’s grandmother

And that’s it. The sons acted as the groomsmen and the bridesmen, so when the wedding party assembled, there were only four guests in the audience.

We arrived at the Royal Palms resort in the late afternoon and it looked great in the low-angled sunlight. We paused out front for some photos (I was the photographer for the night) and proceeded around to the wedding site. The little courtyard for the wedding was decorated with tea lights, a few tables out on the lawn for the cocktails, and a large decorated table under a wood trellis.

The minister met us there, and as soon as we were all there, they started arranging us for the wedding ceremony itself. Mom and Larry stood beneath one of the arches that formed the short colonnade, up a few steps, and the children of the bride and groom flanked the steps. I held the groom’s ring, and Tay held the bouquet. The ceremony was quick, perhaps ten minutes. The minister spoke a short bit, and then read a passage mom had adapted. Mom used the sonoran desert as an allegory of their marriage- filled with both beauty and wonderful days of spring, but also the long days of oppressive heat and the violent monsoons which much be weathered together.

The rings were exchanged, and each pledged their lives to each other as they held each other’s hands. The minister concluded, and, vested with the power by the State of Arizona, pronounced them man and wife. Everyone clapped, and then the bride, groom, and minister went to sign the wedding certificate. Larry’s son Paul and I were asked to sign the marriage certificate as witnesses.

Drinks were brought around on trays. I grabbed a white wine. The old waiter affixed a wary eye on Taylor, and as he was reaching for a drink, deftly rotated the tray arround to present the water goblets. Tay, undeterred, reached around to grab a white for himself, as mom explained the wedding hostess that Tay was in fact, well over 21. They didn’t give me any problems. We drank and chatted and took a bunch of photos, and then pulled out the sparklers.

We’d been taking bets on how long before the staff would shut us down, but they were surprisingly cool about the whole thing. Actually, there wasn’t much to protest: the sparklers I got were really short and weak, and they kind of burned out before I really had a chance to pass them around. Next wedding, I’ll buy better sparklers.

We sat down to dinner as the sun was beginning to set and the hostess took our orders. We had the option of chicken or fish and I ordered the chicken. Everyone else ordered the pan-fried salmon. “Didn’t anyone see Airplane?” I asked.

I sat next to Paul’s girlfriend Jen and next to Larry at the head of the table. If I had one complaint about the entire wedding, it would be that the table was just too big. If you wanted to pass something to the person next to you, you had to lean way over and extend your arm to the full length. It was kind of deadening on the conversation being so far apart from each other. Mom and Larry cut the cake and send it to be sliced up for everyone.

The cake was Larry’s favorite, German chocolate with a buttercream icing. Mom passed on a slice. I thought it was pretty good cake. Really rich. They served the cake with decaf coffee and more wine and finally we wrapped up the night and headed back to the where the valets were bringing up the cars.
We were all dropped off at the hotel and Tay and I decided to call it a night.