It all started well. I let Rose stay the night with me, and we had breakfast together. After a while, I went over to Mr. and Mrs. Ginger's apartment (a place which I'm actually a bit jealous of, because it's awesome) and got ready with the other groomsmen. We killed some time playing video games while we waited for the photographer to arrive. Mr. Ginger and my brother are big fans of Call of Duty, which myself and the other groomsman are not so familiar with, so games with all four of us usually end up with ridiculous accidental kills and random things where nobody's quite certain of what happened. It's always fun though, and that's what counts.
Mr. Ginger was very calm, as he usually is. This is good, since Mrs. Ginger is a bit high-strung at times, and I can only imagine what kind of tension my parents were going through with her. We did the photos, and then it was off to the church. This was when things got a little hairy.
As the best man, my younger brother was tasked with holding the rings. Mrs. Ginger's ring was somewhat small, and ended up being lost. This led to a bit of a mass panic where things were seriously not fun for a while. I was semi-neglecting my job of being an usher, rushing around and trying to keep a handle on things. The car was searched top to bottom, and Rose was good enough to drive back to the apartment to help our other groomsman look for it. I found out later that Rose was the one who ended up telling my dad about it. He apparently swore very loudly in front of the reverend, which he immediately apologized for. After about a half hour of panic, things settled when my grandmother graciously offered her ring to be used for the ceremony, and things continued in a normal fashion. I knew losing the ring must have been traumatic for both of them, so I told them if it wasn't found, I would buy them a new one with my own money. Mrs. Ginger was very happy about that.
Later, we would discover that the ring had been in my brother's pocket all along, just in a tiny corner of it that somehow didn't turn out when he turned out his pockets. This was something ridiculously typical of him, and I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Ginger will be riding him about it for years to come.
After the ceremony, we went to a nearby park to take some photos. Unexpectedly, Rose was asked to be in a few shots with me, which was semi-awkward, but made us happy too. After a barrage of photos, we went to the hotel for the reception where there was a second barrage of photos. The hotel staff was very attentive, and came out every now and again to serve us appetizers, which were much appreciated because we were slightly starving. (or at least I was, at any rate)
Soon, we got inside and sat down for dinner. My brother and I went up and made our speech after the salad course. It went well, and I think we hit the right tone for the evening, getting a few laughs, but hitting genuine emotional notes about the couple. Also, for the record, I totally didn't forget the toast to the bridesmaids. Which is to say, I remembered before I nearly left to sit down again.
The meal was excellent, and tasty. There was also a chocolate fountain, which I wish I'd remembered earlier. I may have overindulged in it and got myself dehydrated, which didn't help later (stay tuned for the explanation in part 3!). Mr. Ginger's thoughts on the chocolate fountain: "She didn't even need to show up, as long as the chocolate fountain was here, I'm good."
After the meal, there was some mingling, and I floated over to Rose's table. The first thing I heard was kind of outrageous, but it was a good indicator of how the night was going for Rose, and what my family thought of her. I was greeted by an old lady who was more English than tea and crumpets. (she turned out to be the mother of a friend of my mother's) She started by introducing me to people I already knew in amusing ways, and finally came to Rose, and said "apparently, you two met online." I was a little shocked that Rose had come out with that information, but we laughed about it anyway, and her disarming bluntness helped relax both of us about it. They all seemed to like Rose a lot, as did the rest of my family, and I think it was one of a series of tests to our relationship that we faced that weekend.
Soon, there was dancing, and my dad had a liveliness in him that I hadn't seen in a long while. It made me smile to see him dance with my sister to an old Elvis song that they'd picked out together. A bit later, I was called on to participate in the garter toss. There were only about four of us, which was slightly awkward, but I managed to catch it! Rose didn't want to try for the bouquet, but I didn't hold it against her. She and I danced and talked as the party went on, and we had a very enjoyable night.
After the party started winding down, we said our goodbyes, and got into the car to head to Rose's house. The next morning was when things got very different for us...
To be continued!
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