Ok, now it's been too long and my memory is all fuzzy, but by special request I am going to finish my Boston Gay Wedding Travelogue.
When I left you last, it was the big day. We got up early and I started cooking again, rebby started cleaning again, and the sisters went to their hairdo appointments. Things progressed very well, and although everyone was a little bit nervous, it was mostly a chill morning. We went over the lists again, packed everything up, and headed out to the wedding site.
When we got there, I flew right into wedding coordinator mode. All the vendors had either already been and gone or were just arriving, and everything was incredibly smooth. We got the tables all set up, and the chairs for the string trio, and rebby went to work on the AV stuff. After we had all our duties figured out rebby and I went to work making the centerpieces---big sand buckets with flowers and beach balls and sunglasses and cameras and sunscreen and bugspray. It was all very bustling, but still, really chill. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood. I chatted with the bartender girl about the signature cocktail (champagne with a rose water soaked sugar cube...YUM!) and chatted with the DJ and the trio director and caterer and the officiant. He was super awesome. The sisters got upstairs to get their beautiful dresses on, and we finished all the last minute preparations. The place looked gorgeous, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. Guests started arriving before I knew it, and I almost forgot that I needed to change too! Finally I went upstairs and put on my party dress and fabulous hat and got my important bag all ready...rings, and vows, and my reading, and tissues and sunblock and bugspray. Got back downstairs to greet some of the guests and chat with the family, and then the sisters came down...looking SO LOVELY! They were still a little nervous, but mostly everyone was just all smiles and chatting. Everyone milled around for a bit, sipping on the delicious cocktail while the string trio played special arrangements of Billy Squier, Queen, David Bowie, and some local rock numbers. It was so funny to watch people sort of stop in mid conversation as they sort of recognized a song. Then the time came...I got everyone more or less together and cued the director to play "You Shook Me All Night Long", which was the cue to start moving to the wedding site. People took their places under the tree and I took my place between Matt and Dad, after making sure that the ring bearers got their rings (I think they ended up with the wrong rings despite my best efforts!) and the brides got their vows.
The ceremony itself was very sweet, and also full of laughter. Just like the sisters themselves! There was a kahlil gibran reading, and some reading from a decision about gay marriage that in the context of an actual gay marriage brought tears to everyone's eyes. The officiant managed to get the names of both our parents wrong, which proved to be the source of much in family humor later. The vows were amazing...I was trying really hard not to cry as I still had to read my thing and I didn't want to be all choked up. But everyone was at least a little misty eyed. I did my reading from Mr Rogers and it proved to be a big hit. The ceremony was exactly the right length...a lot of times I think people who have untraditional ceremonies err a little on the side of being TOO short, but this one was perfect. Lots of cheering and hugs and kisses followed, and then we headed to the beverage table to get drinks before the photo shoot. The bridal party people went to the secret back garden where we were photographed in all different configurations, including some really cute group hug pictures that I think brought out the best in everyone. It really was very celebratory. I was extremely impressed that the caterers made sure to come back to the photo area to get us some food...especially since rebby and I had neglected to eat anything but some stale pirate booty all morning! After the photos, it was time to just mingle with guests and eat some delicious food that was displayed oh so attractively. I ended up missing a lot of the things because I never really got a chance to sit down with a plate, but I did get some delicious little spring rolls and some really good cheese and fruit. Tried to encourage people to go to the video message room and leave video messages...I don't know how many they ended up getting. Met some new people, chatted with some old familiar faces. It was such a sweet party! Then it was time to get people gathered in for the cake cutting, and Matt's awesome toast. He is such a funny guy, and he just loves my sissy so much...I was weeping again automatically. After they figured out the cutting, and didn't smear it in each other's faces, it was time for the first dance to "You Shook Me" Some of us joined right in, but we had a hard time getting folks on the dance floor. Eventually the DJ took matters into her own hands with an awesome circle dance to "We Are Family"...it really did get people going and a lot of folks stayed to dance more after that. Sissy and I got down to Shakira, and then Allison requested a special song "I Put A Spell On You" and sissy did an awesome belly dance performance. We tried really hard to find something that all the Johnston kids would dance to, finally settling on the Violent Femmes. Shannon and Staacy went over to dad to complain that the older Johnston girls had gotten all the rhythm in the family. HA! There was more dancing, eating, drinking, and carousing, and then it was cake time. Wow, that cake was good! We didn't act fast enough though and only got one little piece. But, yum.
Rebby ran off to arrange the alcohol transfer, and we started to say goodbye to folks. Then the sisters went out to have their vespa getaway photo op (I was dead set against them actually riding the scooter in their dresses, so we "staged" a ride around the driveway for pictures) It was so cute! The perfect ending to a perfect day.
Afterward we went upstairs to change and then load our stuff back into the car. There was some Johnston family shenanigans and bad ass photo ops with the sunglasses...really fun. Allison and Mandy rode home on the vespa, we followed in the highlander, and the rest of the family followed in the car. There were some tricky twists and turns which resulted in dad actually honking angrily at us, which we joked about. It seemed silly.
We arrived back at the place and I went into tailspin mode getting things ready for the afterparty. It was a wonderful time, lots of people hanging out on the porch chowing down and not drinking nearly enough (there was SO MUCH booze left over!) The vegan red velvet cupcakes were a big hit. I was very happy to wander into the secret Elyria meeting in the living room at one point. We all did a great job of not collapsing after all the excitement, but eventually everyone cleared out and we went to bed without leaving too much of a mess.

Whew! That was exhausting! Tomorrow I will finish up the Boston travelogue with tales of our 1 hour trip to Salem, and the magic that is Kowloon.