A Red Hat Wedding

My Father, divorced for almost 20 years from my mother, got married today. I still am trying to fathom that he's an old married fart, as I had told him earlier. He actually married one of my mom's best friends from high school. It does sound awkward, doesn't it? However, it seemed more comforting really, since we all knew each other, even if it was from a long time ago.

As a kid I remember playing with Anita's sons when she and my dad were married to their X's. Our family would visit Anita and her family often when we came to see my grandparents and other relatives. It is really wonderful they found each other in this way and catching up with old friends turned step brothers was a thrill, especially with meeting their wives and kids. Even Colin enjoyed hanging out with his new cousins, despite them being girls.

The wedding was quite different, but sweet. Anita is a member of the Red Hat Society, so the colors were red and purple, with the wedding party wearing purple. It was a challenge to find a purple matron of honor dress for me and a purple shirt and tie for Colin who was the ring bearer. Not really knowing what exact shade of purple they had picked, Colin and I did pretty well with matching everyone else. Colin's tie coordinated wonderfully with the girls' flower girl dresses.

I was a little nervous before the ceremony, as I have never been a matron of honor. And, if I wasn't worried enough about tripping head over heals down the aisle, I came to find out the local newspaper was there to do a feature on the wedding because it was a red hatter's production. I kid you not... there was a reporter and a photographer at my dad's wedding! Fortunately the reporter never cornered me for an interview, but I caught sight of her asking Steph and Sophie how they felt about their grandma getting married. I'll be really curious to see how the article turns out when it appears in Monday's paper.

The ceremony itself went off without a hitch. No one tripped, passed out, or otherwise got cold feet and Colin did a fabulous job at the ring bearer position, with a little help from Matt in the first pew. The nuptuals were quite speedy thankfully, and by 5:45 we were all feasting on a huge buffet spread complete with yummmy punch that the kids couldn't get enough of. In between cake cutting, toasting, and certificate signing, we got to catch up with friends and family that we hadn't seen in ahwile and meet oodles of people on the brides side of the family. Even a cousin and aunt of my mom's came although not too surprising since they stayed close with my dad.

Once everyone left the reception and the red hat ladies started cleaning up, a bunch of us headed to my dad's house for the after party at their new house. The adults drank beer and shot the poop, while the kids had a good time "relaxing" in my dad's hot tub. A good time everyone was having, however by midnight most of us started to hit the wall, mostly Colin, so we called it a night. And, now I can add three stepbrothers, three stepsisters-in-law, and three step neices and one stepmom to my ever growing immediate family. Mazeltov!