How a wedding was saved from ninjas

So I promised you a follow-up to this weekend's wedding, no?

Let me prelude this with a bit of brain ramblings. However similar, no two weddings are alike. I mean, there are the typical things: ceremony, "you may kiss the bride," subsequent photos, photos, photos, introduction of Mr. and Mrs., first dance and husband and wife, "At Last" playing while people eat, dancing, throwing of the bouquet/garter, cutting of the cake, more dancing, then the sendoff to the honeymoon.

But there are variables. Bizarro scenarios, if you will. For instance, every group has their unique dynamic. Some weddings are more natural than others. Some weddings are tense: you know which ones I'm talking about -- the ones that give you the sick feeling that they just wasted $25,000 only to get divorced within two years. Some have shitty music that totally ruin your night, while others have amazing food that have the power to change your opinion of the bride and groom.

This wedding, was to say the least, different. For one thing, this was 100% no question, the bride's father's wedding. Not my friends'. Mind you, they are adults with their own careers, mortgage, pets, etc. But I suppose they went the traditional route, letting the bride's family pay for most, half, whatever. So naturally, the one with the funds gets the upper hand in what goes down.

The bride's father is a Baptist minister. And a very gregarious and vocal person to boot. It became very clear to me during the rehearsal dinner who was in charge.

He shared some very touching stories, which both impressed and didn't surprise me because he is a public speaker by trade. I also got the impresson that the bride's family is a genuinely NICE group of people. Not fake nice, but really, truly nice. A rarity, methinks.

AND they were Canadian. Always a plus in my book. I met real-live mounties, ya'll -- one of which was the mother of the two very lovely and charming flower girls.

As I expressed before, I was very much looking forward to the ninjas. Let me explain.

In what I think is a sort of rebellion on my dear college friend's part (due to not having much control on how things were going to go down at his wedding and all), that there will be ninjas at his wedding. He asked a couple of old high school buddies to play the part and purchased some ridiculously awesome costumes on ninja.com.

While the bride was getting ready, the groomsmen took pictures. First, the serious pictures with all the dashing penguin suits. Then, individual photos with the groom -- very important, as this is a close-knit group. And then...

The ninjas arrived to fuck some shit up.

Die, ninja!

Victory!

In the end, my friends, the ninja attack was thwarted by the dashing men in penguin suits, and a wedding was saved. This is, of course, thanks to the guys' collective years of theater training and improvisational blocking skills.

And needless to say, I was overjoyed with the whole scene. This blows away any wedding I've ever attended, simply for the kitsch factor. At the end of the night, I didn't care that there was no alcohol, or much dancing because though this wedding lacked in the traditional pleasures, we found our own joys in spending time with some truly great friends with bitchin' dark/silly/ridiculous senses of humor and of course, witnessing the official union of two people who love each other.

And, don't forget, ninjas.