What a wedding!

The wedding itself was beautiful. A formal affair - which, I don't think I've ever been invited to such a thing. The bride was stunning, the groom was impeccable, and MY amazing husband was standing there at the chuppah to be a support for the groom and his family.

However, there were many, many dramatic and even entertaining moments that will make this wedding more memorable than most.

Firstly, it was one of those weddings that almost didn't happen. [keeping it intentionally vague here just in case someone knows or doesn't know of the situation]

The in-fighting between the strong personalities of the families of the bride and groom (and amongst themselves) is the stuff legends are made of.

The groom comes from a well-respected highly connected family (who has a jewelry business as one of their endeavors) and the bride is currently working for a different high-profile jewelry store. As we were exiting the hall, I stood in line behind the bride's store-chain owner and heard him introduce himself to others. It was as if he expected to be recognized and commanded respect by his name alone, but I had no idea who this diminutive man was at the time. Good thing I was respectful and didn't have any off-the-cuff remarks to say.

When asking one of the younger rabbis if there was a particular side of the hall to be seated on, he totally misinterpreted and didn't get the bride/groom connotation, but rather commented that it appeared to be mixed (meaning men and women together) seating and so it shouldn't be an issue. That was amusing - only because of his complete innocence in that it wasn't the question that was being asked of him. But, to be fair, he has a brand spanking new baby at home (like less than a few months old) and so his sleep quotient is likely low at this particular moment in time. Added to the fact that this guy is noted as being particularly jovial for the most part, this could have been an ill-received joke on his part. Either way, it was amusing and I managed to smile about it to myself after we took leave of his presence.

The honors at the wedding were also heavily rabbi oriented. 2 rabbis as witness, one rabbi to read out the ketubah in Hebrew while the officiating rabbi re-summarized it in English. Several of the community rabbis were asked to read sheva brachot with the rest of the honors going to the groom's uncles (Were the bride or groom's father or brothers ever an option here?). The bride did her rotations while being helped by her MIL (to be), her mother AND her step-mother. It was quite a sight when she thought she was going to lose her veil because her mother in law inadvertently had grabbed hold of it along with the train of her dress. If looks could kill!

Strong personalities abound in both these families and in the couple. Their honey-moon trip to some exotic locale is postponed because of passport issues and all they really need to do at this point is get away from all family and friends who think they know what is best for them.

They really just need a chance to get used to living with each other's quirks.

UPDATE: My husband spoke to them two days after the wedding and they are "busy" being newlyweds - Thanks G-d and it is all behind them for now.
I hope they take the advice of the rabbis that were present...
We may or may not still host a sheva brachos reception for them if they want it. Where am I gonna find liabtions to do a l'chaim in my tea-totaller house? - we just aren't big drinkers (anymore-in my case) and give away most of the wine we get too.