This was a very special day. No run for me, I didn't want to tempt fate. I basically chilled around the Airbnb in the morning, reading a little bit and watching YouTube videos about fixing up cars and working on small engines. Joe had invited me to his pre-wedding gathering at Zach's boyfriend Ryan's apartment, so Ann gave me a ride to the nearby BART station, and I took the BART into San Francisco. Got off at 16th and Mission station, and that was definitely a gritty area. Lots of homeless folks on the streets by my bus stop, so that wait for the bus to arrive was unpleasant. The bus ride itself was okay, and the stop was just a couple of minutes from Ryan's building. I walked there and arrived to the gather around 1:15. Was very chill, Joe had bought sandwiches, and I ate most of one while watching some college football (Old Miss vs. Missouri). We will went up to the rooftop patio and toasted Joe, others with scotch but I stuck to beer. I talked to Chris from Stonybrook, Connor (forgot his jacket at Ryan's), Luigi, and Ryan after the toast back in the apartment, then watched a little more football while the young guys and Linda helped Joe get dressed and ready for the wedding. I got myself dressed after that (no deodorant, oops), then Linda, Debi, and I took a Waymo (my first) to the restaurant at the Embarcadero. It was a little unnerving sitting in the front passenger seat with no driver. The driving algorithm was pretty interesting, I was impressed with its ability to navigate some complex city street scenarios. We got to the wedding venue, La Mar Cocina Peruano, a little after 3:30, we were the first to arrive, and Jennie (the wedding planner) set us up in the ready room. Debi's husband Chris showed up shortly after, he had dropped Joe off at the hotel to meet Laura and Sherlynn the photographer for some shots of them by a cable car. Kathy, Heather, Emily, and Caleb showed up around 3:45, Ann had dropped them off before parking the car. We chilled in the ready room, got a little anxious about Ann, who had bad Google Map directions to the parking lot and only showed up after 4:15. David and Christine were some of the early arrivals, others started filtering in. Laura and Joe showed up around 4:45, we were starting to wonder if they were going to make it on time. They were reasonably calm, Laura had gotten upset earlier in the day when the flowers weren't to her specifications. But she got them corrected, and all was good. Zach and Madison showed up around that time as well, and we put the boutonnieres and corsages on and got ready for the procession. The ceremony started a little after 5:00. Madison went in first, as the officiant, then Emily and Caleb, followed by Joe and Linda, with Laura flanked by me and Ann coming in last. Madison had some sweet words of welcome that centered on how she knew Laura and Joe and how special they were to her. Joe and Laura read their vows after that. Both of them mentioned Popsicle as well as Feynman diagrams. I got a little teary when Laura recited the classic vows at the end of her little speech. Then they were pronounced husband and wife, kissed, and recessed to the tune of "Mambo Number 5." We followed soon after and waited in an area set up by the bar for cocktails and conversation. Talked with David, Christine, Kay, Earl, and family (inclusing Parker and Lauren) until the five of us in the wedding party got called to meet Joe and Laura in the ready room. They were relaxed and happy. We all walked over to a nearby pier for photos, not an I ordinate amount of time there, which was good. Then we walked back to the cocktail hour, and everybody applauded the new married couple when they came in. All hung out there as drinks and hors d'oeuvres were passed around. Eventually they opened the area where dinner was to be served, and we all walked there. It had a nice view of the bay and was open-air. By the way, the weather on this day was crystal clear and mild, just about perfect. We were seated at the family table, all family along with Joe's good friend Chris and his wife Debi. I sat by them again. There were three courses in the meal, SO MUCH food! I had a completely separate vegetarian menu, and my portions and dishes were more modest. They were also pretty good, except the main course, which was eggplant-based and a little too sweet for my taste. During the dinner Chris and Emily gave their speeches and toasts, and Emily did a great job. As dinner wound down Zach gave his speech (just very slightly cringey for a moment or two), then I gave my speech (I think it went well) and toasted the newlyweds. Not too long after that, the dancing started. Laura and Joe's first dance was to Heart's
What About Love?, a terrible 80's song that we all had a laugh about (apparently, I had made a comment while the three of us were in the car about what a bad song it was, and they remembered). Ann and I danced for most of the music, although for some of the less danceable tunes we just stood on the dance floor and chatted with others. In one lull I had another nice chat with Parker, and I also talked briefly to Earl about the earlier Cedar Glen players reference (he made the Chewbacca noise at the appropriate time during my speech). I was starting to tire out as well. The party was supposed to end around 10:00, but I think they extended it to 10:30, when the last dance was announced. We hung around as folks started to leave and grabbed all the bags of leftover food from the huge wedding dinner. We put them in the car, with a couple of other items that needed to be transported, then we said our goodbyes and headed back to the Airbnb. Chris and Debi had left earlier, and they gave Linda a ride to her hotel as well. It was a long, successful day, and I was finally glad to lay my head down. Unfortunately, I had a raging headache, I'm guessing from skipping caffeine on this day. That headache made it difficult to get a good night's sleep.
Partial list of wedding attendees that I interacted with at one point or another:
Zach and Ryan
Connor and Sam - very good-looking couple, he forgot his jacket, with his wallet in it, at Ryan's place
Matt and his wife - Scottish, he knew Laura from living near her in Koreatown, works now at SLAC
Brenda and Andy - Zach's parents
Kay and Earl
David and Christine
Chris and Debi - Joe's best friend from WashU, worked in IT, Debi is retired concert timpanist
Chris from Stonybrook - very smart and dry-witted, told good stories
Sonia, Raha, and Jessica - Laura's college roommates
Elbow Emily and Stan - from Girl Scout camp
Logan - friend of Laura's, former student when she was a TA at Cal?
Kathy and Heather
Lauren and Parker
Luigi and Evan - Joe's boss and former chemist co-worker, along with his husband
Cherlyn Wagner - photographer
DJ Christie James and her assistant Paul
Jennie - wedding planner
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