Here comes the groom

We’re home from the big wedding.

The location was beautiful, on the rooftop of a boutique hotel in the middle of Santa Barbara. Great view, great weather. Kind of breezy at first, but the winds calmed and the wedding was perfect. It got cool while we were eating dinner (in the same location), but they turned on the heaters and everything was AOK.

It’s strange going to these wedding because your friends have a kid getting married. We had met Gayle’s son once before, but in truth I would not have recognized him. The only people we knew were other bridge playing people–Mark and Lynne Humphrey, Pam Edgley and Sue Schlicht. I have no emotional investment in the wedding, and that’s just odd.

The event started right on time and moved swiftly. First came a gaggle of flower girls:

A good way to start

Then some people I don’t know, followed by Gayle, her mother and Groom #1

Grandmother, Andrew and Gayle

The ceremony was delightful. Warm, funny and loving. The ignorant redneck Bible-thumpers who are all up in arms about gay people getting married don’t know what they are missing. This was great.

After the ceremony, there was an hour of socializing while the hotel took down the chairs and set up the dinner tables. Open bar means its’ time to have a Baileys, or two. The kids had fun with the gag mustaches for Instagram photos:

Cuteness multiplied

Gayle looked spectacular. She had a new necklace that hung down her back; I’ve never seen anything like it.

The new jewelry

The front side of Gayle:

Happy day, happy girl

I made a new friend, a co-worker of Groom #2, Jonathan. A very interesting photographer from San Francisco, who was using film cameras and a Polaroid.