Sunday, August 31, 2014

Long Live The Princess Bride

We attended the wedding of a couple of friends this weekend. It was an outdoor ceremony on a storybook perfect day.

The bride wore a summer dress, the groom, a white shirt and jeans. Per dress code guidelines, lots of guests wore shorts and flip flops.

The soon-to-be-wed couple mingled and attended to details, and when the ceremony was underway, they walked across the lawn together toward the "altar" .

The altar was a puzzling structure. It seemed a little...awkward, and I though it was a tall stack of hay bales covered by a shiny fringed cloth...until it blew over.

Definitely not hay bales, but...what was it?

Why was it even there?

No matter. The structure was re-erected and the bride and groom approached the altar, where the minister was waiting.

The minister began with a traditional opening, but when he got to the word marriage, we all shook out an ear because we'd distinctly heard, "maawidge."

Then the groom interrupted the barely-begun ceremony, and both he and his bride-to-be skedaddled behind that altar-contraption-not-hay-bales-thingee. After a few minutes of assorted undergarments flying into the air, the two reappeared in Princess Bride attire--she as Buttercup, he as the Dread Pirate Roberts.

All of us burst into whoops and clapter (=happy clapping). They didn't have to announce what characters they were--we knew immediately. And with that change of costume came a fully formed sense of surviving obstacles and misdirection and Fire Swamps and Rodents of Unusual Size to get to each other.

To be together.

It struck me how neat it is--and powerful--that fictional characters can have such a strong and bonding impact on our real lives. How something as simple as a costume change can bring with it such a flood of understanding and happiness and romance.

Long live The Princess Bride!

And may our friends live happily ever after.

5 comments:

Kylie said...

A princess bride wedding! That sounds amazing! When you were describing the bride and grooms attire I was so confused because in the picture the groom had a black shirt, but you said he had a white one. So I first thought you just wrote it wrong, but after I read more I realized that I was the one who was wrong.

I have seen Harry Potter weddings, Disney weddings, yet I think a Princess Bride wedding beats them all.

In other news, I am re-reading the series in preparation for Kiss Goodbye and the only thing it is doing is making me sadder and sadder.

Have a great weekend everyone! Hope you enjoy your Labor Day Holiday!

Kylie

Ryan said...

The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies! =) Best sword fight ever!

-- Ryan

Jessica said...

As you wish! Who does not love that movie? Even after reading the book (which is pretty different), I still love the movie. I've probably seen it at least a hundred times.

Kylie, I'm also re-reading the series, and I'm trying to pay attention to counting all the dead bodies (I forgot about Mr. Murdock, I think, when she gave the number in Night of Skulls) and mentions of the nighty napper. And noticing things like we never found out how the Crocodile discovered Sammy's living situation -- I thought it was from Mrs. Graybill, but Mrs. Graybill hasn't fallen yet when Sammy schedules her appointment with the Croc.

And wondering things like "what is the H. Bizot painting that Wendelin mentions in the acknowledgments of Art of Deception?" (My Google-fu has completely failed me on that; I ironically found some abstract sculptures by a Denise Bizot...)

Unknown said...

I am so blessed to have found him!

Gabrielle said...

That's such a cool wedding! My dad loves that movie.



Gabrielle