The Lodge at Concord Wedding
T he wedding ceremony. Typically a celebratory, but solemn time. Maybe a few nerves, sometimes a couple of tears, often a calm before the party. Not the case for Adam and Rachael. There were no (visible) nerves, no obligatory solemnity, nothing but unbridled excitement.
In fact, as the groomsmen were given the cue to make their way to where the guests were assembled to witness the ceremony, there arose from the groom”s cottage such a war whoop of glee. All ten men (plus the groom, and likely a few willing extras) erupted with what can only be described as a real man’s celebration: a rousing crescendo of excitement and a bevy of yells.
The party had begun.
Nay, the party had begun hours ago. Sometime between opening her eyes to greet the day and grabbing a coffee on the way to The Lodge (the Barista even wrote “bride” on the cup), Rachael had started her celebration. Somewhere between opening her wedding day letter to him (and its accompanying box of relationship mementos) and relishing her walk down the aisle (real men DO cry, as his father reported), Adam had started his celebration.
The party began long before the reception even started.
Their paper chain countdown had shrunk as the wedding day drew near. Their happy could not be masked by even a torrential summertime downpour that lasted until mere minutes before the ceremony was slated to start. Their friends had gathered from far and near (California, anyone?) to rejoice with them.
Oh, and see that dress? It’s Rachael’s wedding dress, of course, but it was also worn by her mother and was worn by her Aunt (identical twin sisters, to boot). The original dress was masterfully created by Rachael’s grandmother — the very same grandmother who altered the dress to become uniquely Rachael. If that’s not a legacy, I don’t know what is.
As a side note: the only other time I spent time with Rachael, I was sitting in front of a Skype feed with her parents, brother, and sister-in-law. It was Christmas morning in North Carolina where she was celebrating with her sister, brother, and grandparents. We had just finished celebrating Ben & Hien’s wedding celebration in Vietnam. We in Asia watched them enjoying Christmas in America. Hows that for a beautiful, full-circle, beauty-of-technology moment? Their wedding day was like one big family reunion (the good kind, not the awkward kind) . . . all the vendors were friends or family, all the friends and family were helping the bride and groom in any way possible, and no one was “just” a vendor. Everyone was there to celebrate the marriage of their friends Adam and Rachael. It’s a beautiful thing.
