First - Hawaii
Hawaii was actually really nice, very different than I expected, but quite agreeable all the same. My first mistake in the runup to Hawaii was to watch the entire first season of Magnum PI...nothing like watching a 20 year old tv show to give you an accurate impression of a place. Did help me figure out what to pack though...cutoff jeans and aloha shirts baby.
Waikiki was a rude awakening... a tourist emporium the likes of which I personally have never seen, having never been to Vegas. Resort hotel after resort hotel, and exotic boutiques to fill the spaces in between, with throngs of half dressed people milling about ... put me in mind of Logan's Run, sans dome and palm crystals. Did see some folks in serious need of renewal, though.
The ceremony was full on church style...I kicked off the proceedings by taking the lords name in vain in the middle of the aisle, in front of the priest and my mother. Rock and Roll. We did a quick run through in about 5 minutes, and then it was time for the main event. K was absolutely beautiful...laughing during the dress rehersal and crying during the wedding, and beaming in all the photos. I was my awesome self, wearing a tuxedo that I had to trick her mother into letting me wear (she was pulling for a tux that can only be described as silver lame...I told her my choice was the same as the tuxes Hugh Grant always wears in the movies)...and the attendees were pleased indeed.
The following days played out at a frenetic pace...we had a wonderful afternoon on the beach and bbq with my parents and team america, a fantastic post ceremony dinner at a wine and tapas restaurant...and I got me some shoes. No trip to the US is complete without a shoeshopping junket...size 10.5 is mighty hard to come by here in the LotRS.
Second -- the Japanese Reception
Take every dream, every worry, every hassle, and every joy you can associate with a wedding reception, remove your parents, add a microphone toting play-by-play Master of Ceremonies and a sushi bar, throw in a pre-party earthquake, and you get the general idea. We really did have a rocking little earthquake about thirty minutes prior to the party...came as quite a shock to me, getting dressed as I was. I hiked up my britches and headed outside with the menfolk to scan the bay for tsunamis. No tidal waves were coming, and the party went ahead as scheduled. It was nice...K's grandfather was there...and a little out of it by the time someone passed the mic to him...he sang lullabies to her until someone gently took the mic away. It was very sweet.
The rest of the party was more or less par for the course...everyone ate enough and drank enough and went away happy.
We are finally more or less free of wedding obligations and are trying to settle down and figure out how this married thing is really supposed to work...its a bigger adjustment for us than I think we bargained for, but we're getting through as best we can. She's still adorable.
