10 things about Gabe & Yoshi's wedding:
- The bride and groom. Our golden couple. The whole weekend was a perfect reflection of what we all love about them.
- Kalamazoo. Charming and fun. Shady trees, greasy spoons, a surprisingly fancy art museum.
- The winding, tree-lined streets of Kalamazoo. Grid-less! Baffling! London, Boston — those cities have nothing on the complexity of Kalamazoo. If some kids on skateboards hadn't pointed the way, we would have missed the beginning of the wedding. Thanks, kids!
- Fireflies and Christmas lights. The bride's sister's boyfriend (Andrew) hosted a lovely after-party on the night of the rehearsal dinner. Usually these parties are ill-planned and bar-oriented, but this one was well-executed outside on a beautiful back porch lit by Christmas lights and fireflies.
- The Kal-Haven Trail. Nearly a death-by-humidity experience.
- Suite 702. Post-wedding sing-alongs, beer-scrounging and hotel-room-jacuzzi-ing at the Radisson. Classy.
- The excellent, eclectic food. Not that there's anything wrong with the salmon filet/side salad/baked potato thing, but it was pleasantly surprising to get a nourishing, unique meal at a wedding reception. I actually ate this food, and liked it. Nice work, wedding planners and caterers.
- Friends & family representing. While I didn't do such a great job of circulating among those I hadn't known for 15 years, I couldn't help but notice the collective high spirits and festive attire of all in attendance. Plaid pants, flowered dresses, smiles, laughter — all good.
- Louise's toast. I, for one, did not know that the groom's mother met the bride's father during freshman week at Carleton. Amazing. The stars had been spelling it out since day 1, really.
- It must be said: Maggie's boobs.