My Cousin's Wedding

This past weekend my husband and I went to my hometown for my cousin's wedding.  It was...interesting! :) R and I had been dreading this for a long time.  I know that sounds awful, but my family doesn't really have the Catholic understanding of marriage and we just KNEW things were going to be awkward.  You see, my cousin and his new wife had been living together for a long time now and have a son, but they finally decided to tie the knot.  I felt weird on so many levels throughout the Mass...First of all, I hadn't been to a Novus Ordo Mass since July (my husband and I prefer the Traditional Latin Mass, but we of course realize the Novus Ordo is still valid.  We aren't THAT crazy! ;) ), so it was kind of different for me.  Also, they had secular music, which definitely isn't allowed.  Oh, and suddenly nobody knew the responses or when to sit or stand or kneel.  Twice, my husband and I were the only ones standing during the appropriate times until the priest gestured to do so.  But the most disconcerting thing was the obvious lack of joy throughout the whole thing.  The bride and groom didn't really smile, and it just felt super forced.  You could tell in the minds of everyone it was merely a formality.  Honestly, it was really, really sad.  


 The meal was supposed to start at 5:30, but the bridal party didn't show up until 6:15 (it's an unfortunate tradition in my area that the bridal party go "bar hopping" in between the Mass and the reception).  During the best man's speech he said, "If you can handle having a kid, you can handle a little thing like marriage.".  My heart just broke when he said that...nobody understands the sanctity of marriage anymore. :(  Dancing didn't start until 8:45!!!! Everyone was literally standing around and just...waiting.  While we were waiting, however, I had a chance to talk with my ex-boyfriend.  Yep...the guy I dated for most of my high school career was at this wedding with his fiance.  I felt pretty awkward about it because I hadn't talked to him in a couple years, but he came up to me and met my husband and we talked for a good 40 minutes!  We just kind of caught up and talked about old times a little bit and we were having a good time when his fiance's friend came up to him.  She said that his fiance was sitting in a corner and "couldn't handle" to me.  He looked really upset but went over to her to make things up.  She's the reason I hadn't talked to him in 2 or 3 years. ;)  I was pretty darn annoyed with this because, HELLO, I was standing there WITH MY HUSBAND.  I've obviously moved on. lol  


One good thing about the night:  I got to see my dad dance. :D  He has absolutely no rythym, but that doesn't stop him!  He was the life of the party!  Everyone was dancing around him while he did the most hilarious moves...oh my goodness I wish I had taken pictures!  


P.S. Sorry if this is super choppy.  We're visiting friends in Indianapolis and we're being bad and staying up late since we have no obligations in the morning! :)