the wedding rehearsal crashers

Yesterday, we went to the wedding rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner for my cousin Josh and his lovely intended, Andera. This was my first wedding rehearsal, but I didn't have to do much for it, except meet people and watch. It was a little strange because the guests were a mixture of the Perkins side of the family (whom I see very infrequently), the bride's side of the family (whom I'd never met before), and Josh and Andera's friends. It was fun though, to sit a few pews back and be spectators and commentators, whispering back and forth between Saori and Taylor. The ceremony seemed highly scripted. Turn this way and that, place your daughters hand in his hand like so, enter from this door and stop at this step. I would imagine that directing a wedding could be a lot of fun.

You have a cast of actors, two leads, the minister, and the audience, who can also be commanded to basic actions en masse (stand, sit, turn). The chapel is a really a stage set, with a variety of doors for entrances and exits, aisles for processions, stairs, balconies, spotlights, and a dramatic backdrop. The only real requirements for the scenario is that the bride and groom meet at some point with the minister and exchange vows. And the vows can also be rewritten as well. People seem to have a certain expectation of how it all is generally supposed to go, and expect it to be relatively quick. With very little experience with how weddings are supposed to work, I think it would be a lot of fun to make one up from scratch.

Anyway, the practice wedding was fine except one of the groomsmen apparently thought the rehearsal was only dinner so we only met him at the restaurant.

Josh, Andera, and the family were really very accommodating for us, with our very late intention for going to the wedding. Tay RSVP'd early, but Saori and I only let the family know a few days before. I wasn't even expecting to be invited to the rehearsal dinner, but we were all invited along, and I'm really happy we were.