Hungry Guests At A Three Ring Ceremony

As I mentioned in my previous post (Party Prep) my cousin P. and her husband T. celebrated their 25th anniversary. I was astounded by the amount of food prepared and thought there would be tons left over. Boy, was I wrong.

But let me go back to the beginning. The weather was cloudy and threatened rain, but at least it was cooler than it had been for weeks. The the front and back yards were decorated with tables and balloons and other decorations to add to the festive air. My cousin and her husband stood in a garden arbor complete with trickling fountains. His uncle offered a lovely blessing, and repeated a poem that T. had written for P. after they first married in 1985. What T. didn't know was that P. was going to surprise him with a wedding band. What P. didn't know was that T. had bought her a ring, and himself a wedding band. So his uncle pulls out the box that T. had given him, and explained about the two rings--I could see P.'s shock and knew she was thinking 'so how do I mention the ring I have?" After they exchanged the rings that T. had bought, she whispered to his uncle. He announced a new surprise--another ring! So she slipped that ring on another finger--and it might have been the first ever 25th anniversary vow renewal three-ring ceremony.

We put out food, and more food and more food. I could not believe how much people were eating. Within two hours almost all of the food was gone. I'm not talking food like carrots and potato chips. I'm talking beef, chicken, sausage and saurkraut, lasagna, an array of salads and fruits. And of course lots of sweets--cakes, cookies, and other delights.

This party was an Open House--meaning people were welcome to come and go--from 3-10 p.m.. We put the food out at four. At six my aunt was panicking and sent her granddaughter to the store for more. I felt bad for teasing her about getting too much food. Clearly, I was wrong.

It was a nice gathering. T. also surprised P. with a live band. Guests were fishing, preparing for boat rides, playing yard games like bean bag toss, and the band was setting up when I had to leave. I'm sure the party went on well into the night--since all the neighbors were there I don't think anyone complained!