Aikiwaza

So as many of you know, the wedding has a little story behind it. Here is the story.

My day started off a little earlier then I like to get up.  No, it wasn't pre-wedding jitters, or anything like that.  I was just helping setup the area for the wedding.   We were to have an outdoor wedding, and the only thing I was nervous about, were the dark clouds over head.  I was told to be there at 7 in the morning.  The wedding was to start at 10 am.  My brothers and I got up, brought our wedding clothes, and arrived at the wedding place (the Moss Mansion) at 6:55 am.  We waited there for the others to show up for an hour and 45 minutes.  We helped put up the tables, and then got ourselves ready for the wedding.  At this point the guests started to arrive.  My brothers helped usher them in, and I greeted them like a good host should.  That is when things started to slide downhill.

9:45 am or so.  Most of our guest have arrived, and are seated.  It starts to drizzle.  Not much to speak of, but enough that I was getting worried.  Five minutes later... a downpour.  The torrential type.  Most of our guests were prepared (we forewarned them that this could happen) and had umbrellas.   To all of their credit, even the ones that didn't sat out in the rain for a bit.  We all thought that it would stop just as suddenly as it started.  Nope.  It continued to rain, and even seemed to get harder.  At this point we had guests going into the Moss Mansion's exhibit room in the basement to stay dry.

At this point, let me interrupt myself to let you know what the Moss Mansion is.  The Moss Mansion is a historical landmark in Billings, Montana.  It is well known for it's beautiful gardens and landscaping.  It is basically a museum of the family that used to live there.  There are little to no pictures of the inside, because photography inside isn't allowed.  The staff makes certain that tours are conducted with minimal contact to the house, with the guests walking on carpet runners, and blocked off entirely from certain rooms. The basement is a gift shop, and viewing area, and is basically the only area in the house that you can roam around in.  If you want to read more you can go here.

Back to the story...

So the guests are slowly cramming into this small area.  Most are sopping wet, and if they weren't they soon became wet by bumping into someone who was.  Many were wondering if the wedding would be cancelled (fat chance!) Meanwhile my brothers, Heather's brother, and I are doing our best to direct late comers into the basement, and the four of us were thoroughly soaked.  While the guests were patiently waiting, sopping wet, and slowly getting restless, my wife's parents talked to the curator of the Mansion.  They agreed to let us have the ceremony inside.  The curator laid down some simple rules for us to follow, including (jokingly) if possible to levitate so we didn't scuff the floors up.  We all filed in upstairs to the main level, where I waited for my bride to come down the steps to be given away to me.  Our pastor then did a splendid job of preforming the ceremony, with an occasional joke thrown in.

By the time the ceremony was completed, the sun was shining bright outside.  Most of the water on the tables had dried, and what wasn't dry, shortly became so as my brothers and new brother in law, walked around and dried seats.  The candy and party favors (which never were brought in) were overflowing with what was now a pink hued water.  The rest of the day, however, went off without a problem.

Overall the day wasn't bad, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  While Heather and I both wanted an outdoor wedding, the inside of the Moss Mansion was a special treat.  It later was brought to my attention that no one has actually gotten married inside the mansion.  I don't know whether this is true or not, but I do know that it is an extremely rare event if someone else did.  In the end, she and I ended up just as married, and just as happy.