Lil' Bro's Wedding Weekend - Saturday

The Groom and his men dealing with all the Chinese Door Games to get the bride.  Oh yeah, we also kidnapped the dog and held him ransom to get a discount of $200.  We only had to spend $60!

It was way too early for a Saturday morning.  Mind you, I'm in PST, so for me to be up at 7:30am was pretty much the time that I would be arriving home after a night of boozing back in LA.  I woke up early because I wanted to stop by Dunkin' Donuts and the Duane Reade around the corner to buy a wedding card.  Yes, I'm aware that I just tried to buy a card on the morning of the wedding.  Needless to say, I failed and couldn't buy one until I got to the best man's apartment to catch the limo.  Apparently, the Duane Reade by my apartment doesn't open until 9:30, which was a problem since my dad was giving me a ride to Astoria at 9:15.

Upon arrival, I saw a Walgreens and I ran in there to buy a card and some black socks.  I only packed blue and red for some reason.  I found a blank card because apparently wedding cards do not exist and diabetes friendly socks which I ended up taking off after the pictures because I was losing all of my blood flow to my toes.  Either that or I just didn't break my new black shoes in.  The dogs were barking!

My brother had his last bachelor breakfast and we quickly worked on the dance routine before getting changed to be picked up.  Putting on a tux is such a production when it involved suspenders and a tie and making sure there are no wrinkles.  We got to the hotel to pick up the bride and we had to play Chinese Door Games and we got a good deal on the bride for $60.  I know, such a steal.  I'm not sure if it was really a steal or if it was the fact that we were in a rush to get to the Queens Botanical Garden to take pictures.  That was kind of an ordeal as we spent about two hours taking shots and candid shots of us walking and making idle conversation.  Oh, by the way, at this point, we're all really hungry and there's no sight of food around.  In fact, we were the food as we were all picked off one by one by mosquitoes. 

We thought we were in the clear when we got back to the hotel, but it turns out, we were in for more work as we had to bring stuff down to the ceremony and reception area to help set up before guests arrived.  Luckily, I was able to sneak in one quick drink to to ease the level of anxiety.  If I was feeling anxious, I can only imagine how the bride and groom felt.  We got everything set up and one by one guests arrived and we ushered them to their seats and I was introduced to family members I have not seen before, or at least haven't seen in 10 plus years.  One by one they made fun of me for letting my younger brother get married before me.  I just smiled and nodded.  I think the story my mom and dad are giving to everyone is that I just don't plan on getting married because it really isn't my thing.  Which, I guess is half true.

Russell, the ring bearer.

The ceremony started with me walking out first.  I'm sure everyone recognized me as the loser older brother that allowed my younger brother to get married before him.  I just smiled gracefully as I walked down the aisle.  I really wanted to get fierce and drag race that shit, but I decided it was my brother's day and not mine.  I can look fierce when I walk from my office to the metro.  I was trying to fight back tears during the ceremony and it really wasn't that hard considering the officiant was the apprentice of the original officiant who called out four hours before the wedding due to a family death.  It's crazy how they have apprentices.  In hind sight, I guess it's a good thing someone showed up to married them even though he wasn't the most amazing.  Let's put it this way, the man did not know how to use a microphone, so I couldn't hear a single word.  Well, I guess the only people that needed to hear words that day were the bride and groom.

There was no rest during cocktail hour either as I had to take family pictures and then quick help set up for the reception.  I eyeballed the cater waiters and all their finger foods they were passing around as my mouth was just salivating at the sight of food.  I went to do a little set up with the candy bar, and well, candy became kind of a meal for me.  Don't judge me...

Finally, the party begins.  I won't bore you with the details of the reception, but there were a couple highlights:
1. Our surprise groomsmen dance to "My Girl."  We all did so well during dress rehearsals and then all of a sudden, when the actual dance came about, all the alcohol consumption was not taken into account during dress rehearsal, but we still rocked it.  I wish I had a link to share.
2. Seeing my mom dance on the dance floor like a school girl gave me mixed emotions.  They involved being really happy and embarrassed at the same time.  More happy than embarrassing only because I haven't seen her smile in a long time.
3. Photobooths are fun.
4. When it comes time to play games for prizes, I don't even care if you're a little kid.  I'm not at a mindset where I let a kid win.  That doesn't teach them any lesson in life.  Sometimes you need to push a couple kids down to win.  I had no clue what I won as I left the gift at the reception.

At midnight, the reception ended and we head over to the after PARTY!!!

Speaking of long wedding weekends, yesterday was the premiere of "How I Met Your Mother", where the whole season is the wedding weekend of Robin and Barney!