Ready....set....

...let the wedding season begin! We have a least one wedding a month from June-October, which isn't a huge number, but because most of them are Big Deal Events, it feels like a 5-month-long party with wedding favors.

Starting us in style was my classmate, Tracy. She met her now-husband at Fuller and it was neat to see so many classmates join in on the celebration. I really love my cohort - every one's so supportive of each other. The wedding was held at the church that her husband pastors, followed by a casual church reception. A few hours later, we all reconvened at a nearby restaurant for the TEN COURSE banquet reception (not that I was impressed or anything). Since both Tracy and Cyrus are from China, many guests at the wedding were from there, as well, and the wedding was conducted in both English and Cantonese. They incorporated both Western and Eastern traditions into the ceremony and reception, which was a treat for this small town white girl from the Midwest. Luckily, I had some good friends with me who were much more familiar with the culture than I was, so they explained things to me throughout the festivities and made the whole experience that much richer.

Singing their vows to one another. Yep. Singing. How cool is that?!

Cohort picture after the ceremony. I knew when the picture was being taken that I would look kind of goofy, but who wants to say, "Excuse me, but I don't have a good angle."? Not me.

The new Mr. and Mrs!

Wait...am I in Missouri?

Emily and me. She was my date since Ben pretty much only goes to weddings if he's in them.

Liz and Robert, a fellow Missourian - we bonded over our dislike of seafood, which is unfortunate, since a Chinese banquet is all about seafood.

Cheers from the other cohort table!

So, one interesting thing I learned was that it is common to include the head of whatever animal you are eating on the plate so that you can eat in good confidence, knowing that it is, indeed, lobster that you are ingesting, and not, say, pieces of crawdads molded together to look like lobster. Another thing I learned: I prefer not to stare at an animals' eyeballs when I chew its flesh. And a side note of that, perhaps things are easier to ingest if you don't know what they are...such as braised sea cucumber. I also tried scallops, shark's fin soup, and crab for the first time. And let me tell you, it's not the taste, it's the texture. I admit I'm a wimp, but I still claim victory over the fact that my diet is no longer 75% peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Although, I was really craving one of those when I finished this meal...

Lobster with Supreme Sauce

Empress Roasted Chicken.

And Steamed Fresh Lived Fish. With teeth.

Throughout dinner there were speeches, cake cutting, a first dance, and toasts. Plus wardrobe changes! Dress #2. HOT!

And finally, the receiving line (with dress #3!).

Congratulations, Tracy and Cyrus: beautiful couple, beautiful wedding, and here's to a beautiful life!