Anniversary

Well, it's been a year since the FP Gal and I tied the knot. The year has had some ups and some downs but on balance it's been pretty good. I wrote about the wedding briefly last year but since we've been remembering the whole experience I thought I'd write something more complete. FP Gal, you can correct me if I've got any of the details wrong.
You may recall an engagement in April 05. What followed was a discussion of wedding details. I've long loved the idea of a Hawaii wedding. To be married while barefoot in the surf and throw leis in the ocean afterword. The idea is nice but not always practical. We couldn't be certain that family would be able to afford to go. The timing was tricky too. My brother was due to ship off to Japan in August.
So what to do? Well, an October wedding could be nice. There are nice parks around that could be used. It'd mean that my brother and his family would miss out. Which would suck. I threw an idea off (mostly) in jest, let's piggyback my sister's reception and do it that weekend. After brief discussion we decided that we didn't want to steal her thunder. Soon after, I talked with her and told her that we'd thought about that weekend but decided against. She said it would have been ok but we assured her that we'd figure something else out.
But there really wasn't another good option. So how could we use that weekend and not take the spotlight? Well...what if we didn't tell people ahead of time? What if we surprised them that morning? Could we pull it off? More importantly, could we plan a wedding in less than two months? The FP Gal thought she could. And we were off. (Details of dress, food, flowers, etc. can be found here.)
On Friday June 10th (T minus 48hrs), I called in late to work. This was so we could pick up my tuxedo. Houseguests would get in the way of picking it up any later. It was spirited off to my friend Maureen's house. Later that same night (midnightish?) I picked up my brother at the airport. His wife and son had arrived in MN earlier in the week.
The next day we went off to Hudson for Heidi's reception. The weather alternated between beautiful and stormy with the occasional tornado warning (seriously). All of my family was there. We were absolutely peppered with questions about the wedding. We tried to be vague and talked about maybe in October. During the reception, my brother casually dropped his own bombshell. They were expecting again. Needless to say, my parents were both thrilled. Their kids all together and another loved one on the way.
On the ride home, the FP Gal and I joked that we could top that excitement. But we got some bad news too. Her brother called to say that he didn't think he could make it to the brunch we had planned for the next morning. We had to break cover and tell him the surprise. Tragedy would be averted.
The next morning we got up early. Around 8a we said that we were going out for groceries. She drove me to my car and we went our separate ways. My way led to Maureen's where I got all gussied up. After dressing, it was off to the park to help set up. By the time I got there it was mostly ready. It became just a matter of waiting for people to show up. And ignoring my cell phone as people back at the house wondered where we'd gotten to.
My friend Jodi showed up at our house with the invitations. They told everyone directions to the park and prompted them to hurry on down. I can only imagine the scene that took place. Soon, the cars started showing up at the park. Everyone except my dear Father. He'd decided to try out a new church that morning. Not realizing it wouldn't be done in time. He got back to the house to find his phone (and invitation) hanging on the door. I called him just about the time that he arrived and gave him directions. He didn't have time to read the invitation. He didn't realize he was going to a wedding until he showed up and saw us in dress and tux.
Everything else went off without a hitch. The weather was perfect. The ceremony was brief, but meaningful. We walked to the river and threw flowers in. (We'd since learned that this wasn't a Polynesian tradition. I'd made that part up apparently. Anyway, it was nice and I recommend it.) Pictures followed and that went smoothly too. Then on to brunch and a life together.
FP Gal, it's been great and I couldn't be happier that we did it!