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22:28 - Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2003 The rehearsal was the first time I saw many of our friends and family members that came to town for the wedding. There was a coating of snow on the ground so I was worried it might keep folks away, but sure enough-- it was just enough to be elegant and pretty without being a major road hazard. All at once, the following people were in the same room: the person I grew up across the street from and her sister who I saw in the hospital the day she was born (she's 20 now); two of our readers: my prom date and another close friend from high school whose mother was our soloist; my friend I went to junior high, high school and college with; my parents and siblings; my aunt and uncle; several friends from DC, including our Wedding Coordinators: RootBeer and Ms. Stitch; quite a few folks from his family; and the badass lefty progressive retired social worker photographer we flew out from California and his very cool wife. Talk about an emotional-interaction roller coaster! So once the rehearsal got under way, we ran through the Quaker portion of the wedding which involved sitting in silence, our vows, etc. (more details to follow). This part was new to most people in the room so it took a handful of questions to help people understand the Quaker traditions. (again, more on this on the ceremony page). We decided not to say our vows in the rehearsal. We had really put a lot of thought and love and energy into them and it really made sense just to speak them when it mattered most. Then it was onto the portion of the ceremony we had programmed (the non-silent portion). It was so cool to get to hear our readings that were read by our friends/family members. This was one of those moments where we could see what had previously been an idea take form and become a real experience. That is so damn cool. Again. we put a lot of thought about our values (community, feminism, social change, gay/queer-positivity, etc.) into the ceremony and I could tell it would really show. Perhaps the most moving moment though was hearing the soloist, a friend of ours and the mother of my high school friend, sing the song we had chosen: "Till There Was You" from The Music Man. She sang with our friend JackSheep (not his real name) who rearranged it to highlight his badass guitar skills. After they performed it the room did the whole extended pause thing and just broke out into applause. It was hard for some people to tell when it was appropriate to do something like applaud as the Quaker tradition is definitely silence-friendly. But it was clear that their performance --his expert guitar playing and her slow, low, laid back, soothing voice was worthy of some noise! After the rehearsal there were some pictures and then it was off to his aunt and uncles' house for the rehearsal dinner. Next stop . . .The Fabulous Rehearsal Dinner!
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