Pete's Wedding

Getting Dressed
The afternoon of the wedding rolled around and after my son and I returned from getting manicures and haircuts, we proceeded to take showers and get ready for the wedding by dressing in our suits.  Actually, my son took all of his stuff and drove to his girlfriend's in Huntington Beach, where he proceeded to get dressed over there and brought her to the wedding later.

Getting ready was really stress free and much better than I expected, because I suspected that something (something missing, ill-fitting, etc.) was *bound* to happen.  Nothing did and that was great.  Having previously agreed with my wife that I would get ready and go on my own, I did just that.

Getting There
Nary a problem.  I took off by myself and arrived there about 20 minutes later.  I was very early and I seemed to be the 1st of the guests to arrive. I arrived early enough that set-up of the tables and everything else was still taking place. 

Camera Setup
Seeing as to how I arrived extra early, I took the time to set up my Nikon D40 and tripod in different places around the area where the wedding was going to take place.  I took a few reference images and just waited for my brother to arrive.

Seeing Family
Eventually, my son and his girlfriend arrived (after being lost for a good 1/2 an hour) and the rest of the invited family showed up as well.  It was good to see a lot of people that I don't see every day, including my cousin Perla and her mom my Aunt Romelia.

The Wedding
Eventually, 6:30 P.M rolled around and the wedding itself started.  The priest was a little long-winded but I thought he officiated a very beautiful ceremony.  My brother and my new sister-in-law Patricia looked great together and it was very touching to se how emotional Patricia got when it was her turn to recite her Wedding Vows.

The ceremony itself proceeded perfectly and was great.  My niece Tori behaved great and did an awesome job as a ring girl.  Yay Tori!

The "Toast"
As is routine in my life now-a-days, I was caught completely unprepared to offer a toast (100% my fault, I just flaked and never got around to preparing notes for it) to my brother and his wife.  I had to wing and I think I did a reasonable job.  At least no one has said anything rude about my performance. So Far. That has gotten back to me.  I wonder what they *really* think?  Hmm.

The Reception
After the ceremony and the toast, We all got seated and proceeded to eat, dance and listen to some great music.  The Italian food was great  and the music was excellent.  It was combination of Jazz, Pop and Opera selected by my brother Peter.  It included Frank Sinatra, Andrea Bochelli, Placido Domingo, and the Buena Vista Social Club. 

It was truly an awesome reception and I had a really relaxing and just overall fabulous time.

Going Home
At around 11:00  P.M., when it was decided that no trip to  club down the street for further dancing was going to happen, the wife and I walked out to our cars and headed home without any problems, taking Ocean to 3rd Street to the 710 Long Beach Freeway to the 405 San Diego Freeway.

All in all it was a very nice wedding that was remarkably drama-free.  I am very happy for my brother and his new bride.   I hope this works out for both of them and that they spend the rest of ther lives together.