The Mini-mony

Plans change, and our ceremony plans changed, too.  The initial plans were for Aubrey Ramsey to be the Maid-of-Honor, and Tia Butler and Liz Hollingsworth were to be the bridesmaids; Rick Hasner was to be the Best Man, and Andrew Kinkler was to be a groomsman.  Because Aubrey, Liz, and Andrew would have had to fly to be in attendance, the two attendants who were closest to Austin were Tia and Rick . . . so they were the two involved in the ceremony.

We were to have about 125 people in the peanut gallery . . . instead there were 6 of us!  And we were socially distanced and masked.

But that was ok . . . When it was time, Father Billy, Andrew, and Rick walked to the front of the wedding area, and it was time for Di and Don to make their entrance.  And we waited and waited . . . and I turned around to see Don taking a selfie before he started walking Di down the aisle.

Di was radiant as she walked down the aisle.  and even sans music, it was thrilling to watch her and her dad.  I thought he might cry, but he didn't - perhaps only having a short way to walk and no music made it possible for us to keep things together!

Father Billy's casual style worked really well in the atmosphere where we were.  It was quite hot, so he wasted no time with idle chatter.  The service from the Episcopal New Zealand Prayer Book was very pretty, and I especially liked that rather than "Who gives this woman . . . " the parents were asked to bless the couple.  It included both Daniel's parents and us - and I loved that.

The good news is Rick did not lose the rings, and within about 20 minutes, Di and Daniel were pronounced man and wife.  They walked down the aisle to applause from the 6 of us . . . and it was over.

A few fun points:

Rick did not know Daniel had forgotten his suit, but if the suit had not arrived, Rick had brought a second suit, just in case.  Daniel and Rick are the same size, and the suits they wore were the same ones they wore for Rick's wedding 18 months ago . . . so it would have worked.  Isn't that a great best man?

We zoomed the event for a number of people, but Don and I did not know how to keep the picture large, so those in "attendance" could not really see everything!  But they were there, and they even were asked to chime in a "We will" during the ceremony.

After the ceremony, we toasted the couple with some champagne provided by Aubrey, and then we headed back to the condo.  Not exactly what we had planned, but Di said it was perfect, which is really what counts!!