Some friends got married a week ago, and they had a wedding different from any other I've attended. The bride wore a black and white wedding dress that she made herself. The fabric on the skirt had a tattered appearance. Her purple hair was curled beautifully on her head, and she wore a red lace veil pinned on top. She carried dried out flowers down the aisle, and the bridesmaids carried black roses. It was cool to be able to attend the wedding. I loved it.
The wedding took place in a church that was brick inside and out and had stunning stained glass windows. It fit the gothic feel, and the church allowed the couple to use another mutual friend as the minister. After the bride walked down the aisle, the minister gave a quick speech saying that if the bride's severely autistic brother should have an outburst, that is his way of being there and being present for his sister. He worded it sweeter than I am now, but it was a gentle reminder to those who may not know why someone might yell during the ceremony.
The couple rented the upstairs area of a local bar out for the reception. The reception is where I found a few things that bothered me. For one, none of the children that attended the wedding could be there. The bride and groom provided food and most of the drinks. I know cash bars are bad, but I don't drink, so it didn't hurt me at all.
What bothered me most was that a certain room, not a table, was reserved for the bridal party only. The bridal party consisted of many close friends of mine. Whenever they were in the room, which was most of the time, my husband and I would just be sitting outside together. Thank God my husband had been able to go after he got off work, or it would have been lonely and boring. The sign on the door, meant to be funny, said, "Bridal party only. All others can fuck off." I may have found the humor in the sign if this were just a changing room for the bridal party. Since they kept their own alcohol in there and stayed in there the majority of the time, the humor didn't appeal to me. I felt more insulted that there was this room only for special people, and it sucked that the bride and groom were in there instead of interacting with guests most of the night. (The bride did get sick and stay in the room at the end of the night, but that is not at all a problem. Her epilepsy was triggered by the stress and cameras.)