boyziggy.We had a beautiful ceremony. I selected and reviewed with Ziggy several readings from my collection of Buddhist books that reflected our shared values of honoring the Earth and promoting peace. We wrote our own vows, and chose to exchange bracelets rather than the traditional rings. I wore a red dress and wide-brimmed hat, and Ziggy wore a purple toga-style dress and wreath of flowers.
zyxwvut was a fabulous officiant (or "rent-a-holy-man" as he quipped) who went far beyond the call of duty for that role. He worked with us on carefully crafting a ceremony that reflected the importance of our shared values. He also served as MC for our "semi-open mic" at the post-wedding party, and helped with transportation logistics and cleanup (along with zahraa and a couple of other friends.).The weather did not cooperate, so we were shivering in Shakespeare Garden as the fog rolled in, and still shivering later at the Mime Troupe headquarters where the food was served outdoors. We thought considering the time of year and the Mission District location of the Troupe, that we could get away with an indoor-outdoor reception - oh well!
I felt guilty for badgering Ziggy in the weeks and months leading up to the wedding for how much time, effort, and expense he was putting into what I considered non-essential preparations (lighting, decorations, etc.). But when we arrived at the Troupe and I saw what used to be a driveway tented off with tables set and draped in beautiful red cloth and lit with festive lighting, my heart skipped a beat. He worked so hard to make our wedding party a fabulous success.
The food, provided by Daily Harvest Catering, was exquisite. I wish Ziggy and I had been hungrier and less distracted as we hardly ate any of it. I don't think the top layer of the cake (lemon with vegan buttercream frosting) is going to last until our first anniversary!
The semi-open mic was a lot of fun, with musical, dance, and even comedy performances by my entire family and several of our friends including
zyxwvut and zahraa. Both of my songs had minor glitches due to lack of sufficient rehearsal, but I think I sang pretty well. Ziggy's piano performance was spectacular; I wish more people had been able to stay to the end as he didn't end up playing until after 11 p.m. And our headline act, Bekka's Frogland Orchestra, was a delight. Ziggy saved the entire party portion of the webcast on his laptop, so I was able to watch it from beginning to end during our honeymoon. The quality isn't good enough to post now, but when we get the raw footage from the videographer I'll segment and upload it to the wedding web site as soon as possible. Ziggy also surprised me with a wonderful slideshow of childhood photos of both of us, contributed by our mothers and assembled in iMovie by Ziggy's sister Signy. Signy definitely wins the sister-in-law of a lifetime award, for besides the slideshow she also designed and printed our invitations right before she gave birth to her first child, and earlier created a beautiful timeline for us, which she also had printed on a huge scroll. At the party she told me "I would do anything for my little brother."
Of course there were some problems: the ceremony and party both started late, the webcast didn't work out very well, transportation was a bigger problem than we had hoped, and Ziggy lost his wallet between the ceremony and party (thankfully he found it before we got home). But overall I was very happy with our special day. I look forward to getting the photos and video back soon after we return from our honeymoon and will put them up on my web site as soon as I can.
I know that I have made the right choice this time, and I look forward to a lifetime of memories with my beloved.
