...Hold Her When I'm Not Around

We flew into Louisville, KY for Brian & Melissa's wedding in New Albany, IN, meeting up with Gina and Andy once we got there. By the time we all got settled, we were starving, and we ended up at TGIFridays for something to eat. Afterwards, we got in some cosmic bowling with the locals.

Ryan was flying in at the last possible moment, so Gina and I arranged with the guys that we would go pick him up while everyone else got ready. It was the only time that we got to spend with him, since he left immediately after the ceremony, and didn't even get to be introduced at the reception.

They had arranged for a party bus to chauffeur everyone around for the day, so we took a ride down to the church, passed the converted movie theater that was their reception hall, with their names up on the marquee. The church was very pretty, with far more colorful architecture than I was used to. Melissa wore a beautiful champagne dress, and looked incredibly thin. All of Brian's brothers were in the bridal party, as well as Melissa's two sisters, and some friends of hers. Brian's niece was adorable as the flower girl, in a dress that matched Melissa's. They had a full Catholic mass, which included incredible singing by a friend of theirs from Clarksville, TN.

Next, everyone loaded back into the party bus to head over to the reception. Everyone but us, that is. Apparently, the bus driver told Dave the everyone else had walked, and the reception was just a few blocks away on a gorgeous day, so we decided to walk, too. Of course, we go lost and ended up wandering around town for 40 minutes, haha. It wouldn't involve Brian if somebody didn't get lost! We finally made it to the reception, and spent the evening eating, drinking, and dancing. They had planned many cute and fun moments, like swing-dancing during their first dance, and tables having to sing songs with the word love in them to get them to kiss.

Afterwards, we jumped back on the party bus for a quick trip back to the hotel to change. Our group loaded back on the bus with the wedding party and some other family members, and headed to a casino for the after-party. There was no cell service there, so when we all split up, it was difficult to find each other again, but eventually we met up at a restaurant for some munchies, and headed back to the hotel together.

As my gift to Brian and Melissa, I bought a bronze wall cross, and brought it with me. After the ceremony, I had the priest that married them bless the cross on the altar of the church. I also bought two copies of a little book with a prayer for each day, and explained to them in a letter that it was for when they were far away from each other, so that they would know that the other was saying the same prayer before bed.

In the morning, we met up with some other friends of Brian's for breakfast at the Waffle House next door, then relaxed in the hotel lobby until it was time to head back to the airport. Andy was on our flight back to Newark, so we had plenty of time to chat with him.