Wedding With A Perfect Ending

The North Bay has been in a heat wave. The days are in the 90’s (F) and the nights are in the 70’s. At Noon, the wedding party began the caravan to San Francisco City Hall. There were about 20 of us. That is too many to allow into the City Hall building, so the bride opted for a City Hall Garden Wedding. San Francisco is having its own heat wave. We stepped out of the parking garage into a 74-degree day, blue sky, and a light breeze. The ways we suffer for our loved ones, right?

The day had started with an exhausted bride who had planned every detail of this day because she knew exactly how and what she wanted. The rest of us were on hand to serve in the roles she delegated or to just stand by and tell her she was beautiful. That was easy because Rosa was, and is, beautiful; exhausted, edgy, and beautiful. As queen for the day she also showed herself to be a master organizer because, as far as I could tell, everything went according to plan; Check, Check, and Check! I started to take pictures, lots of them. Then the professional photographer showed up and I, gratefully, stood down. When you are the stepmother-of-the-bride you have two functions: Stand Ready and be ready to Stand Down. I have had a lot of practice and pride myself on being good at them both.

And, so, we witnessed Rosa and Kyle, our beautiful bride and handsome groom, tying the knot and becoming husband and wife.

After more pictures, and a few more pictures on the side, we caravaned back over the Golden Gate Bridge and to a restaurant overlooking the San Francisco Bay from the North. We entered the restaurant while the summer sun still held light for us. The sailboats were finishing up their individual parades on the water as if to say “Congratulations” to the Newlyweds. The restaurant was high-end but also comfortable, and they were ready for us. As the dinner progressed, and the wine flowed, voices in the small venue became, shall we say, happier in volume. No one became too much to handle but I wondered at the other diners who had probably come for a quiet evening. Ha-Ha! Finally, we ate and drank and toasted the couple to our fill.

We filed out one by one into the night air, still and calm and comfortably cool. The moon was there, having waited patiently for the couple. I think, it wanted to give them just one last toast, and to help light their new path, together.

This, then, is the end of our fairytale. A fairytale that came true.

We all went home and slept for ten hours.