Reception Re-do

Dudes. It has been a crazy-ass rollercoaster of a week. First our wedding budget is smashed by a $3,000 site fee we can't afford, which kills any plans for a fall honeymoon because we'd be broke. Then the marina won't shut down to host us. I cried on Friday afternoon. Big, sad tears that my insistience upon having this wedding in Harrison had caused a giant effing mess for 150 of our family and friends to deal with.

I cried Friday morning. DJ was willing to swallow the bitter $3,000 fee and just move on. I was just sad and overwhelmed and frustrated and mad. I cried again. Then I kicked DJ out of my office and got to work. I work best under pressure. I knew the odds of finding all of the parts we'd need for a full-out reception on my parent's lawn would be long.

I called tent rental places and I found a tent. The same company also had enough tables, chairs, table linnens, and dance floor squares. I put down the deposit on a 20 X 50' tent and neccessary sidewalls, 15 8' tables, 110 chairs, and 12 4 X 4' dance floor squares yesterday. It all arrives at 10 am on Wednesday, July 7. I'm paying extra for them to set it up on Wednesday; peace of mind.

I called catering companies, on a Saturday, and contacted two of them. Both gave me very reasonable bids. One of them catered a wedding in Harrison last July. One of them would bring real plates, utensils, napkins, their own tables, a crew, coffee, punch, water pitchers, and cater dinner and cocktail hour for a price we could afford. We hired this caterer.

We're ordering four kegs through the store in town. We're having one or two porta potties set up below the shack. Everyone in my family is dragging out strands of Christmas lights. We're finding DJ equipment.

And suddenly, I'm oh-so-excited about this. I wasn't really before. Excited to be married? Yes! Excited for the wedding... meh. But now, now a party for 140 of our closest friends in a place I love sounds fantastic to me.

Finally, after so many years of saying "things happen for a reason", I truely believe things happened for a reason on this one. Harrison, here we come.

So, wedding guests, prepare yourself for a tented lawn party, with tables under the tent, in the driveway, on the porch of the shack, and on the deck. Prepare for dancing (on a real dance floor!) in the driveway, with strands of lights strung above. Get ready for badmiton and a fire pit with s'mores down by the water.

Prepare yourself for Mikey Kramer, maybe in a wetsuit. A little fuzzy. A little scary. More spandex than necessary, but an enthusiastic, glad to be here, let's have some god damned fun kind of a wedding reception!