The First Wedding from Texas

 

Student Essay by Sofie Worker

Cleaning. I hate cleaning. But I had to if I wanted my second cousins to have somewhere to sleep. See, the oldest of the girls from my Texas family was having a wedding at the end of May.  Let me tell you a bit about my family. My grandmother on my mom’s side has a brother, Pops, aka. Randy, and he and my great aunt, Nana, had four kids, my mom’s cousins. Each of them got married and produced a total of twelve kids, my beloved second cousins. Of those twelve kids, four are girls, all older than me, and one, Elizabeth, recently got married. Elizabeth is the third oldest of everyone and the oldest of the girls. Only two of the boys are younger than me. 

Back on topic, the first to arrive was Clay and Darina, with Lydia (21), one of their two kids, but they only spent the night with us before they got a hotel. The next to arrive at our house was John and Jessica, with two of their three kids, Nolan (22) and Aubrey (17). Nolan slept in the basement, and Aubrey slept in my room. Their parents slept in the room next to mine. Then Jeff and Amy arrived with Will (19), Paige (17), and Ben (14). The boys also slept downstairs as did their parents, and Paige joined me and Aubrey in my room. My grandmother, Hema, hosted Pops, Nana, and Nana’s sister, Sue, as well as the family of the bride, Allison (mom), Elizabeth (22), Caleb (20), Evan (16), and Daniel (13). 

The day before the wedding, when everyone who wasn’t busy came to our house, the boys and I (the girls were all off doing wedding stuff) tried to see who was fastest, the boys were all at one end of the yard and I was at the other, I was the finish line, and most of the time either Noah, my brother, or Evan won. After that some of them wanted to see the chickens, and Daniel and I swung on the swings. Later after Will and Ben got there, they climbed the tree in our backyard. I was amazed they got up there, because the first branch is at least twenty feet up, but they hoisted Will up to the branch and then Ben too. But those two do gymnastics, so I wasn’t surprised it was them who made it. 

The day of the wedding dawned bright and cloudy. The wedding wasn’t until four in the evening, but almost everyone but us was at the venue, setting up for the wedding, which was at the Monte Sano lodge. We went to church that morning with Clay, and then I spent most of the day either socializing with those who were still at our house or playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild. After I got ready, we drove to the venue, and went inside, at first, we didn’t recognize anyone, then Nana came over to us and told us that everyone was still running around, slightly frantic, because it was raining. I wandered around giving everyone a hug and then we found our seats. After a while Uncle Andrew, and Aunt Jesse showed up with my cousins, Keira (11), Eartha (9) and Mason (6) in tow. We reintroduced everyone and talked for a while until the ceremony was about to start. 

The ceremony took place outside, and at the beginning it was still raining, so we had to squeeze under small umbrellas and a few towels. The bridesmaids and groomsmen walked arm in arm down the aisle. Then came Elizabeth, arm in arm with Allison, her mother. Her fiancé, Hudson, stood, smiling, under the small covered area, so they could stay dry. The ceremony was short and sweet, with a bridesmaid and a groomsman each making a speech. The meal after the ceremony was Italian pasta dishes, and was served by Elizabeth and Hudson, the bride and groom. 

After the ceremony, the reception was mostly one great big, crazy dance party. Elizabeth and Hudson danced with nearly everyone who was on the dance floor. I mostly danced with my cousins and occasionally with my Texas family. After the dancing ended everyone went outside and got a pouch of flower petals and some sparklers. The newlyweds ran down the path as we tossed the flower petals and cheered. Then most everyone left except us and the Texas family. We were tasked with cleaning up. After a bit, Daniel noticed I was walking oddly and asked what was wrong. I told him that my feet hurt from wearing heels for almost six hours straight. He suggested I sit down, but I said that if I sat down, someone would have to carry me to the car, because I wouldn’t want to get back up and walk all the way to the car. He said he would carry me, and then told me to sit down. So, I went around and told everyone bye then went and sat down and watched people finish cleaning. Daniel showed up later to carry me to the car. 

The next morning, bright and early, Paige and her family had to leave. A few hours later, we went to Hema’s house to tell Elizabeth’s family goodbye. We sat around talking until Allison and Caleb got back from getting donuts. They finished loading their car and left shortly after. Nolan got a plane home that afternoon too, Aubrey and her parents were staying a few more days so they could celebrate my birthday with us. They left at about noon on my birthday, as we had celebrated my birthday on the twenty sixth rather than the twenty seventh.

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