Reap the Whirlwind

Wedding weekend was a blast - big thanks to everyone who came, and big sads that not everyone we know and like could be there.

Workload was pretty crazy in the lead-up, especially with both of us wrapping up at work at the same time - my estimate that Janine was pulling 10+ hour workdays with 4-6 hours of wedding planning tacked on for the last couple of weeks of work. As usual, I was operating at somewhat less than that on both effort and efficiency metrics, especially on the wedding front - I ended up with about 4% of the to-be-done things on my list, and as far as I can tell those were the only things which came even remotely close to not being finished. She'd obviously thought carefully about how much and which tasks she could safely designate as mine though, as in retrospect none of my tasks would have been show-stoppers had they been incomplete; arriving and leaving the ceremony in a not-cool not-old car would have been a shame, but there were plenty of vehicles around the place had I not managed to arrange something. Likewise, if I'd not actually sorted the music a laptop with a bunch of music on shuffle plugged in to the PA would have done the trick... and it's kind of what I did anyway.

Advice for future getting-married-people:
- Photos suck after about the first three. Make this ordeal less draining by making a list of who you want in each shot, and give that list to a schoolteacher to co-ordinate.
- Have awesome parents and parents-in-law. Make them do stuff.
- Have awesome friends. Make them do stuff too. Between parents, in-laws and friends, there's no reason your designated tasks can't be accomplished regardless of your complete uselessness
- Keep your hands out of your pockets, and don't fidget. Pretend you're the village idiot -
fill your brain with vacant unthinking. This will lend you an air of calm serenity. Try not to drool.
- Buy booze you like, and buy too much of it. Running out would suck, and you'll not have to go booze-shopping again for a while.
- Take all the spirits from your liquor cabinet to the reception - no matter what it is, someone will drink it (I now know that rum + feijoa vodka + elderflower cordial = delicious after 3 or 4 glasses)
- Have an awesome partner. Not just one you think is awesome, but one who actually is awesome, who will plan and execute the wedding with taste and efficiency and minimal input on your part, who will pick your favorite song to walk down the aisle/gravelly path to, who will not only accede to, but who will demand shorts as your wedding attire, who will... you get the picture.
- Don't leave your phone lying around when you're put to bed at 3am. You will acquire dubious contacts and reminders, at best.

I'm glad we did it, and I'd certainly recommend it to others. Opportunities to see that many friends and family in one place at one time for something other than a funeral are few and far between, and Janine now has a suite of memories to savor (I now know that rum + feijoa vodka + elderflower cordial is delicious after 3 or 4 glasses)

Choice!