May the Force be with you

I’ve spent the last three days with my immediate family and I’ve come to the realization that we all have a very unique sense of humor, and it seems that my niece has inherited it.

My very first niece got married this weekend.

It was the first marriage of a niece or nephew from within my family, the first from her mothers side, and from her new grooms family too, so it was very special. But of course all weddings are special.

I really wasn’t sure how I’d feel about her wedding.

I hadn’t mentioned this before but for some reason I really don’t like weddings.

I think that’s probably fairly rare for a woman to feel that way, but I do. I don’t know why I feel this way either, but weddings tend to make me feel sad.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy for Petra and I’m sure she’s going to have a long and happy marriage because her new husband is just the nicest man and head over heals in love with her.

I was also very excited to be going to her wedding, but I think I thought I’d feel sad at her wedding. My parents have both passed away in the last few years and I thought this would contribute to my emotions, because I know they would have loved nothing more than to see our beautiful Petey get married.

But I was wrong! I had the best time.

I was a bit emotional when I first saw her walking down the aisle on my brothers arm, but it was pure happiness for her. She was just gorgeous too! I don’t have any children of my own yet, and due to my illness there is a chance that I never will. So I suppose I feel that all my nephews and nieces are my babies too.

Maybe that’s why this wedding didn’t make me feel sad, and instead made me feel so happy. A very special person within my family was starting life with her new husband.

The wedding took place outside at a lovely Country Club. It was sunny but the wind was a little cool. The bride and groom and wedding party stood on a rocky outcropping near a very large pond or perhaps a small lake. Swans swam in the water nearby, and Canadian geese flew in the background. It was as close to perfect as any wedding can be.

I uploaded several pictures to my flickr account if you’d care to view them.

Regarding that unique sense of humor gene that my niece must have inherited? Guess what music they played at the end of the ceremony as they walked down the aisle as husband and wife? The theme from Star Wars! It was the last thing anyone expected and it was hilarious!

Petra didn’t tell her mother before hand what music was going to be played because she was afraid her mom would try to veto it, and she’s probably right.

She’s been a Star Wars fan since she was a child. I’m not sure how she gained her interest since the first three movies were already several years old by the time she was born. Either way, as odd as the music was to hear at the end of a ceremony – it was fitting in it’s own way.

The reception took place at the same Country Club as the ceremony. We were treated to a huge assortment of hor’dourves while the wedding party had photographs taken. Mussels, squid, pastries, salads and on and on. Then we sat down to a dinner that started with a lovely salad, then an entree of roasted chicken, fillet Mignon and vegetables, followed by French pastries.

Near the end of the evening a small room was set up with several types of deserts, assorted fruit and a chocolate fountain. I never made it into the room so I’m not sure what all the goodies were, but I heard they were delicious.

I danced all night. The music was great. I think everyone except my own husband danced that night.

I also felt pretty good up until just before midnight. By this I mean I didn’t feel totally healthy all day, but I felt well enough to let go and enjoy myself. I’m glad that I was able to enjoy myself for most of the evening because I think I really needed to have some fun.

Then midnight rolled around and my tummy decided it had, had enough, so after some lengthy good-byes we left and got back to our hotel room by about 1 a.m. The reception ended at 1:30 anyway, so we didn’t miss much.

The wedding cake wasn’t really a cake at all. Another twist – It was perhaps a couple hundred cupcakes layered on top of each other to look something like a three or four tiered wedding cake.

The following day, Sunday, the immediate family went to my brother and sister-in-laws home. The new bride and groom joined us for brunch and the opening of the gifts.

If you look at the pictures that I uploaded you’ll see some with the bride and groom surrounded by gifts. Many of the gifts in the background of the picture were from the showers that were held prior to the wedding and were already opened, and then there were the wedding gifts.

One of the best gifts was perhaps from my brother Terry and his wife Rene, who live in Vancouver. They gave the new couple a week from their time-share to use for their honeymoon. I thought that was sweet.

Now for the oddest part. The new couple purchased a house about two years ago. A house that was to be built in a new housing development. The home was supposed to be finished by September 2005, then the closing date was pushed back to December, then I believe May 2006. Well … it’s still not finished. The new completion date is sometime in July!

I suppose it doesn’t make too much sense for the new couple to rent a place for only a couple of months before their home is complete (if it ever is), so they are going to continue on as they have been doing for the last year. By this I mean the groom will continue to live at his parents house, and my niece Petra will continue to live at her parents home.

Petra would occasionally go to Kris’ parents and stay there for a few days each week, and I guess that will continue, but until their home is complete they will not officially be living together as a couple.

This just doesn’t seem right. I can see a delay of perhaps as much as two months for a newly built home, but 10 months or more? No way.

I’ll save my tale of this evenings events for tomorrows posting.