Congratulations Andrew and Jessica!

This weekend was indeed a packed one, so of course this will be a long post. If you have no interest in long posts that don't mention anything about weird news and/or boobies and if you're a little burnt out hearing about my personal life I suggest you not read this.

Early Friday morning I picked up the Pretty Girl and headed up to the Anacortes ferry. We were there so early we were second in line for the boat so we went and had breakfast at the Cheesecake Cafe. Arriving later was Andrew, Jessica, Holly, Jason, Kyle, Shelby, James, and Barit. After introducing the Pretty Girl to everyone we headed onto the boat and had a pleasant sail out to the San Juan Islands, Lopez Island specifically.

The Pretty Girl and I headed to check into the "resort". Wow did the pictures and description online paint a very different view of the "resort" than the reality. It was an okay place to be sure, but resort was probably too strong a word that the establishment used to describe themselves. Online the place hinted at being right on the water; which the office and restaurant was, but the rooms, well they weren't. It wasn't a bad place, but again a "resort" it was not.

Later we met up with the wedding party and had lunch at the Lopez Village. What's interesting about Lopez island is that every time you pass a local on the road they all wave at you. It was kind of cool at first, but it got creepy fast. I imagine they all got together in some sort of bizarre fraternal ritual involving swords and topless women. They all chant and agree to wave at the tourists or face dire consequences.

The rehearsal took place at the church in the pic above. The church is a historic one being over 100 years old. It was a quaint building with many old tombstones that dated back to the turn of the 20th century. The stress factor of Andrew seemed to be getting to his blood pressure. I felt kind of bad for him, but not really considering I knew everything would go well.

The rehearsal dinner was later held at the Love Dog Cafe. Yes when I heard the name of the place I cringed as well; however it was a great restaurant. They had the best bread I've ever tasted. Bread that will be talked about for quite some time. Papa Sheridan hosted a fine meal and a good time was had by all.

Later that night the wedding party met up at the house Holly and Jason were staying at. The house was a rental that was laid out on a peninsula right up on the water. A gorgeous setting it was and the house came with alcohol. I brought in a few bottles left over from Andrew's bachelor party and we all sat and mingled, mostly telling funny stories at Andrew's expense, but he enjoyed telling them as much as we enjoyed listening to them.

The next day the wedding party and our respective significant others got up and went to the reception site to help set up. I asked the coordinator if there was anything I could do. She had me roll up napkins and tie a pretty bow with ribbon around it. How she thought I would be good at that I don't know, but I stood in the kitchen with the ladies and helped out.

The groomsmen all got together and dressed up in our tuxes. We headed out in a limo to the "yellow bike barn". It was a huge old barn in a nice setting with an old Pee Wee Herman bike mounted on it. We stood around waiting for Andrew and Jessica to show up and drank pretty heavily.

During the pictures the photographer made fun of my stern look which was amusing to everyone. The photographer decided that the groomsmen would hold the pick up the groom and hold him up for a pic. He noticed that I am the heaviest out of the bunch so of course I got the ass end. Yes I got to hold the heaviest part of Andrew while everyone else got to hold his feet and head. Keeping with being the funny picture taker guy he took his sweet time taking the shot.

We did the same thing only with Jessica. Of course after holding Andrew up I was getting to be a little bit sore. Jessica is a small framed girl, but after holding Andrew up for what seemed like forever it got to be a bit of a chore. Poor girl. I hope I didn't offend her, but it still will make a great shot.

Finally the ceremony commenced. I got to walk down the aisle with a 16 year old, which felt kind of creepy which the rest of the groomsmen agreed. She was a sweet girl though who was very happy to be in the ceremony. The wedding was short and sweet complete with a lot of tears and joy, none from me of course cause I'm a man damnit. Dry eyes were held by me and if you believe that I have a bridge...

The reception went underway with much fanfare. The wedding party was sat up on a stage above the congregation, which kind of felt like being in a fishbowl, but after the dinner was served, which included the famous bread I mentioned earlier, the festivities were abound. Many drinks were served and I put on my dancing shoes and partied it up. I got to catch up with a few folk I haven't seen in years. Papa Sheridan and the maid of honor delivered great speeches which again caused a few tears around the place.

After the drinks the Pretty Girl and I sat on the beach with some friends and chatted it up. We went back to the hotel and decided to hit the jacuzzi. Much to my surprise some of the wedding party was there as well and we all had a fun time talking with them.

It was a great weekend overall and I'm honored to be a part of my friend's nuptials. It's one I'll remember for the rest of my days.

"I'm hot, but I have this 'don't talk to me' look." - Shelby