Honey Sweets, So Fall Asleep

The weekend after Allison and Aaron's wedding, their best man, Jordan, got married to the ever lovely Alisha.  We did not take nearly as many photos as a group, but it was still a fun day to catch up with some of the same, some different people.

Pastor Trachte, who was head pastor at Wartburg either all four or the first three years we were there (I can't exactly remember) came out of retirement to officiate, and Tim Maybee, who lived with Jordan senior year, and just completed his second year of seminary, and got married himself last year, helped by giving the message.  It was kind of cool how informal the message was; kind of more in the vein of a dinner toast.  Usually, wedding messages fight dullness pretty poorly (seriously, we are familiar with the concept of marriage.  This seems to be the gist of most wedding messages/homilies, just pondering what marriage/a wedding means.)  Instead, Tim shared a story from the first time Jordan confided in him that he was pretty sure Alisha was different than other girls he had dated.  He had them physically look around the room to look at all the people who had come to celebrate with them.  He shared in a way that actually made sense for this specific couple in this specific moment, as opposed to trying to teach some sort of lesson or offer some insight that no one actually cares about.

I also really like that the first thing after the exchange of vows, after Jordan and Alisha officially became a married couple, they served us all communion, so their first act together was to serve the people they love the most.  Pastor Trachte made an effort in advance to make sure that no one who doesn't actively practice Christianity felt as included as possible in this part of the ceremony, including making the same joke he makes literally every time he gives communion (if you forget and eat the wafer before dipping it, you can always get another one!  don't worry if it doesn't sound funny, it takes a few dozen times hearing it).  I feel like communion can be a tricky thing to include in a wedding unless literally everyone you've ever met is not only actively Christian but also believes all the same things, so I thought the now-Wildermuths handled it in a way that respected their guests, demonstrated the importance of their faith on the most important day of their lives, and paid tribute to their dedication to serving others (he's a social worker, she's a teacher).

After the ceremony, they ran through a line up of us with a paper sign reading "Just Married" at the end.The wedding and reception were both at a winery on the Mississippi River in Dubuque, but they still managed to find a way to ride off into the sunset (or, rainy evening) together between ceremony and reception.  Alisha was quite a sport in that dress, which apparently had an especially uncomfortable corset and collected a lot of (heavy!) rainwater at the bottom.  As the evening progressed, the grey line at the bottom creeped pretty far up, but she still walked with us all after the reception ended to celebrate downtown.

I stayed with my cousin, Abby, who went to school in Dubuque and has lived there since graduation.  I never got a chance to visit her, so it was nice to make it before she starts her new, post-grad school job (today, actually).  I got to eat at L. May, the restaurant she's worked at for years and hang out with her boyfriend Corey who I had just met once. (that's not them, I just don't have any pictures of hanging around in Abby's apartment.)

I actually missed this part, but I love how Laura looks like she's levitating in this picture.

Another lovely weekend celebrating the new life of a great couple with the coolest kids ever.

title from  Backdrifts. (Honeymoon is over) by Radiohead