A Family Wedding

Just got back in town from another family wedding. This one was on my fathers side of the family. The father of the groom is my first cousin, an orthopedic surgeon, his wife is a Psychiatrist. The groom is an orthopedic surgeon himself, following in his fathers footsteps. The new bride is an RN. The guest numbered over 350, it was possibly the biggest wedding I have been to in a long while. The wedding it self was a catholic mass at 10 am, the bride and groom are catholic, she is from El Salvador and her family came up for the wedding, he is from the DC area. Following the ceremony there were lots of picture taking and chatting in front of the church as we waited for the bride and groom to make their appearance. We finally proceeded to the Mayflower Hotel in downtown DC, a walking distance from the Church. They had planned a reception that included a one hour open bar with horderves, ( or as Fred Sanford us to say horse divers) . The bar included any kind of branded drink you could name including Champagne. The "horse divers", included jumbo spiced shrimp, crab puffs and baby lamb riblets all finger foods. After an hour of drinking , snacking, picture taking ,glad handing and catching up we headed across the hall for the actual reception. There were round tables of 10 set with all the necessary table ware. The chairs were ones I was familiar with, because we and to hunt for them here in AR. Dinner consisted of your choice ( made in advance) seafood brochette of shrimp/scallops or a small cut of prime rib. The vegetables were baby green beans wrapped in a bundle, bok choi, 4 strips of baked new potatoes and a small summer "hat" squash. The bread was the usual affair a variety of specialty types and those yummy crackers that and long and loaded with seeds. The best part was the butter was shaped like a heart blended with strawberry jam and it was soft. We got our choice of red or white wine. Tea or coffee and water. We toasted the bride and groom with Champagne. Finally after much dancing and shaking our booty to a live band, the bride and groom cut the cake , it was white with marzipan icing and fresh raspberries in the cake. When you thought you could eat no more they opened a curtain and there were 2 chocolate fountains, one dark chocolate and one milk chocolate and a variety of fruits , cookies and angel food cake you could dip in the fountain. The decorations were fresh Flowers on the tables and the dance floor had a spot light with the bride and grooms name spotlighted on the dance floor.