Boj and Jess' Wedding

Well I just got off the plane from Kansas City and now it is time to get ready for an event that was 9 years in the making. Boj and Jess' wedding day.

I have been looking forward to this day for some time now because so many people were going to be there, no one was safe from not having a good time. Plus, I have another adventure in a 12 passenger van ahead of me.

Since my mom picked me up from the airport, she dropped me off at Paul and Katie's so I could get ready for the wedding. And by get ready for the wedding, I mean take a shower, get dressed, and start to drink with some of the people who were going to ride in the van with us.

One thing that I need to mention is that while a group of us were at P & K's house, the owners were not even there. They had to go to the church to take pictures and do a quick run through of the ceremony.

When the whole "Van" group arrived, it was time to pack up the van with the wedding gifts and a cooler of adult beverages for the long, long 30 minute drive to the church in Dallas. Our group consisted of Peter and Jess DeVries, Matt and Gail, J-Mill and Ginny, and Brittany and myself.

On our way to the church, we almost got into a wreck because some douchbag decided to stop in the middle of the highway and change lanes. That guy should have been shot in the face or at least let all of us kick him in the nuts one at a time until he learns how to drive.

We finally arrive at the church just as the last beverage has been consumed. Once we walked in and said our "hellos" to family and rest of the friends that had already arrived, the guys started to make all kinds of bets.

The first bet we made was how long the ceremony was going to last. The bets were a dollar each and the time ran by 5 minute increments starting at 50 minutes to and hour and 35 minutes. Dave won this bet by guessing 50 - 55 minutes long and the ceremony last only 47 minutes. Since he was the closest, he won be default.

Other bets that we played were who was going to cry first (groom or bride and whose mother), what readings were going to be read, and if anyone fainted. Unfortunately, no one cried or fainted and everyone got the readings correct.

After Boj and Jess said their "I Do's" and kissed, it was time for the ceremony to end and get back into the van for the reception portion of the evening.

The reception was held on the top floor of the Bank Of America Tower in Dallas that was not too far away from the church. Probably a 15 minute drive if that.

When the guestbook was signed, the wedding gifts were given, and our seating arrangement were found, it was time to party. And by party, I mean dance and enjoy the fully loaded open bar.

At this point of the evening, the usual reception events started. The mother/son dance, father/daughter dance, tossing the bouquet and guarder, speeches by numerous people in the wedding party, and of course, the dollar dance.

After a couple of hours of dancing and drinking, things started to calm down a little bit. All of the girls were in a corner talking about the wedding, how everyone liked the dress, and how great the ceremony and reception was. The guys on the other hand were either playing Foosball or still at the bar talking and hanging out.

By the time 11 p.m. came, it was time to close down the reception and get ready for the van ride back to P and K's house where the after party was waiting for us.

Everyone from the van along with several other carloads made it to P&K's for the after party. And this party last almost all night. The dust finally cleared and everyone collectively decided to call it quits at 4 a.m.

The next morning, Paul's backyard looked like a war zone. Katie, his wife, passed out on top of
the hot tub cover, beer cans/bottles were scattered all over the place, and signs of people getting sick were in the usual corner of the backyard. One strange that thing about the morning after was that the garage door was jammed with a dominoes case. No one knows how it happened but no one was really surprised by it as well.

I thought the festivities were over, but I was wrong. The only people left at the house were Paul, Katie, JM (Paul's cousin), and myself and it was up to us to keep the party going. And part of that party was returning the van to Denton where it was rented.

Paul and I rode in the van while JM followed us in Katie's car. Apparently, the radio gods were smiling on us that faithful day because we heard one classic song after another with no commercial breaks. Even though the songs were from the 80s or earlier, the were still classic none the less. Some of the songs we heard were "Piano Man" by Billy Joel, "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis, and "My Maria" by the guy who sings "My Maria".

After about a 40 minute drive and the van safely returned, the three of started to head back to Paul's house and get ready for the pool party at Katie's house. On the way, we did see the best advertisement ever. And what was the best advertisement for 3 guys in their 20s. Girls in bikinis playing on a water obstacle course.

The girls were advertising a restaurant called "Red Neck Heaven", a place were a redneck can be a redneck in peace. The premise of the place is just like any "Hooters" or "Bone daddy's", hot girls in tight ass clothing selling decent to mediocre food. But the three of us happen to come to this fine establishment on a Monday. And everyone knows that every Monday at Redneck Heaven is Bikini Monday, thus the girls in bikinis hanging playing with each other outside and thus deciding it would be impolite if we did not have a couple of drinks there.

Around drink number 2, Katie started to call Paul to see where we were so we could start the swim party at her parents house. It was in our best interest to head back her way since we left around 12 and it is now about 3 and we told her that the trip would only take about an hour or so.

We finally get to P&K's house, pack up our individual cars and head to Katie's parents house with some chips, towels, and enough champagne and orange juice to make a couple of gallons of mimosas if we wanted to.

After a couple of hours at the pool, the champagne started to die down and a storm suddenly appeared and we all knew that it was time to call it a day.

Overall, the weekend was pretty damn crazy and fueled by alcohol. Good times were had by all and some of the pictures that I have seen are outrageous as well. It is kind of funny/weird how you can piece together a night by looking a different pictures from people's cameras.