Wedding for a Friend

We attended a wedding for a long-time friend of ours, Brenda Sawyer (now Adamson) yesterday in the scorching 90+ degree heat in Yelm, Washington. It was held at the Plantation and while nice, it lacked an important feature considering it's location and the weather yesterday; air conditioning.

We'd never been to a Buddhist wedding before, though we have been to a couple Buddhist ceremonies previously. Instead of psalms and readings from the bible, which we're well used to, there was chanting and drinking of sake by the bride and groom, Tamaz Adamson. They exchanged vows, tossed the bouquet and garter, cut the cake, all the usual wedding stuffs.

We had the fortune of sitting next to an older Japanese woman who talked our ear off throughout the day. Due to the noise, I could only make out every 5th word or so. I followed my wife's cue, who heard more than I did, and nodded along when appropriate. She is a sweet lady and I think she enjoyed having a young couple to talk to.

In-between the service and the bride and groom's initial going through the buffet line, I overheard the officiator telling some people the buffet line was open. I thought it was odd, but I was hungry, so I told my wife and we followed the small crowd. Just as I was about to dish up, they told everyone that went early that the bride and groom needed to go first. I was so embarrassed and found myself glaring at the officiator on occasion throughout the rest of the time we were there, though I suppose I should have remembered from my own wedding.

After the couple lit a memorial candle for Brenda's parents, both of whom passed away - her Mom two years ago, and Tamaz' mother, who passed away just the day before, we had a moment of silence and then it was off to the buffet line. The food was pretty darn good. I won't bore you with the details, but it was good enough to warrant a second pass through for some of the more delectable treats. The wedding cake was yummy too.

After the money dance, we made our way home, thankful for a beautiful day for our friends new life together and that the Kia Rondo comes standard with air conditioning.