STRATFORD, NJ, USA
So, on Saturday, the esteemed Mr. Maiese went to the chapel and got married.
It was at a nice little Catholic church, just over the bridge in New Castle, Delaware.
On the way in, I saw our hero, the groom, getting ready. I wished him luck.
The next time I saw him, he was at the front of the church, exchanging vows with his bride, Chrissy.
It was a Catholic ceremony, and the majority of those in attendance seemed pretty devout. There was lots of interaction, where the priest says something and the congregation responds by rote. (Incidentally, I liked the priest. He started the service off with a traffic report!) I was a little lost, not knowing any of the responses, but it wasn’t a big deal at all.
I actually lucked out a bit because, at one point, I was up at the front of the church reading a prayer, while the response that that the attendees recited wasn’t printed anywhere. I guess that’s one of those things they learned in Catholic school.
I don’t have any pictures, but I think I did a fine job reading.
That’s two weddings I’ve spoken at, and I haven’t screwed up yet! 
Anyway, after the ceremony we drove over to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Select in Claymont.
I’m lucky; I’ve been staying in some NICE hotels lately.
This one was also nice, even if it was a bit overpriced (although, this being Delaware, the room tax was astonishingly low at $8. That made up for the high rate somewhat).
It had a little bit of a view.
After checking in, we took a shuttle van over to the reception (a really good idea, in my opinion).
My friend Tom sat in front of me.
The reception was very nice. Like my friend Dustin’s wedding last spring, it was in an old mill. But unlike Dustin’s, this was a little more formal. It started with a cocktail hour, and then we proceeded upstairs to the main hall where we had assigned seats for dinner.
And that’s where they had the traditional wedding reception events, like cake cutting, and first dances.
The couple’s first dance.
(I wish I got more/better pictures of Dan and Chrissy, but these came out ok.)
They also did the traditional bouquet toss and garter toss.
My competitive side came out, and, surprising no one, yours truly emerged victoriously with the bride’s garter!
However, unbeknownst to us, it had been previously decided upon by the wedding party to buck tradition at this point.
Rather than put the garter on the lady who caught the bouquet (Dan’s sister), we simply went back to our tables so as to not “make anyone uncomfortable.”
Now, I was quite uncomfortable walking around with a lady’s garter, and the lovely Ms. Maiese was absolutely heartbroken that she didn’t get her moment at center-stage with yours truly.
I confronted Dan about it, but he was unrelenting.
I told Maiese I wouldn’t beat him up on his wedding day, but one day, heads will roll.
I also let it be known that I would be continuing my celebrations under protest.
(We bouquet/garter-catchers got a picture together, but that was it. As you can plainly see, we were BOTH heartbroken.)
I also got a picture with the lovely ladies of Table Eleven.
11!
Danny Dean and his lady, Emily.
All said and done, it was a great time.
They threw one hell of a party.
And hopefully Dan and Chrissy are still living up, down on their honeymoon in Florida.
Filed under: friends, Life, Posts with Pictures Tagged: | wedding
I had fun. Damn Trolley Hut….