Massive group wedding shower at work.

I mentioned before, a lot of co-workers are getting married this year... but it's more than that... they're all getting married in the next few months. Seven weddings between now and mid-October.

And that's not counting people going on maternity/paternity leave.

The office may be a ghost town.

Another picture from my parents' wedding album. Honestly, I could probably do a blog post about every picture in there (and eventually may).

Here's a classic "struggle outside the church" photo with my dad and three of his eight brothers. Uncle Pat (aka "Mudboat"), Uncle "Spiker" Mike and Uncle Paul.

I can't exactly tell if they're supposed to be pulling him into the church or away from it. Is it "You gotta get in there," or "Don't do it man"? Or maybe it's a tug of war, Uncle Pat responsibly trying to drag him up the stairs towards his wedding, while the other two are headed in a direction less reputable.

Either way, I like those suits. I'd wear that suit exactly if I felt like I could pull it off.

Sarah's bridal shower!

Here's Sarah with her grandmother and my mother.

First instance of families meeting!

Per tradition, I only made brief cameo appearance but it sounds like things went swimmingly.

Shane, like Trupe, needed a new invite. Even though I see him most Saturdays at Whirled News (minus all the shows I've had to miss for wedding stuff), I keep forgetting to bring him one.

Shane: I was starting to think you didn't want me there.

My second favorite all time wedding moment happened at Shane's wedding several years back. Well... maybe "favorite" isn't the right word. Or maybe I should say my second favorite wedding story came from his wedding.

Several people gave speeches at Shane's reception. When it was his grandfather's turn, he stood up and said, "Shane and I have had a falling out ever since he decided not to become a brain surgeon." He paused a moment... then sat down. The end.

"Shane and I have had a falling out ever since he decided not to become a brain surgeon." Full speech.

I think it was supposed to be funny. I think. At least partly. Either way, second favorite wedding story.

Sarah: [via gchat] Is there a way you could write a post subtly hinting that women should not wear high heels and should bring sweaters to the wedding on your blog? Or just tell people I made you write a blog post about it. I don't care.
Me: Okay.
Sarah: Just get the word out!

Edited to add: Basically the ground sinks a little bit and we'll be outside all night so maybe it's a good idea not to wear "your best heels and maybe some would be more comfortable in flats, wedges; basically something that won't possibly sink and make you uncomfortable. "

One last picture from Alex and Megan's wedding.

I feel like I may have accidentally caught them in one of the few quiet moments of it all sinking in, just coming from ceremony and pictures and about to head into the reception, both of them adjusting to their new rings.

We're still working on figuring out where to have our rehearsal dinner/gathering for folks who are in town early.

On the recommendation of a bartender we talked to during our last visit we looked into Turner Hall, an old city-owned theater. The video on their website opens, "In 1874 the citizens of Galena built Turner Hall for entertainments of respectable character."

We got a little excited at the prospect of it. It would almost have certainly have been too big, but the location was right and the price was very reasonable, especially considering you could bring in your own food and booze.

Sadly, it's already booked for that weekend with a play. Some entertainment of respectable character, no doubt.

Sarah and I have been toying with the idea of doing something with pictures of our family members' weddings.

I asked my mom to send us a picture or two from their wedding. She immediately put her whole wedding album in the mail. I didn't realize it was all the pictures she had from the wedding or that she would send it uninsured. It didn't show up for a long time and I was beginning to worry that it was lost in the mail, something that seems to happen quite a bit in Chicago.

Thankfully, just before I started to panic, it showed up. A modest little album, about six inches by six inches, with maybe a dozen little pictures inside. All of them incredible.

Happy 36th anniversary Mom and Dad.

Driving home from Galena yesterday we both agreed that it was time to get back to eating heatlhy in hopes of losing just a little more weight before the wedding.

Then we realized we didn't have any groceries at home. So we stopped at KFC and out of morbid curiosity ordered the Double Down, a sandwich that uses two chicken breasts instead of bread.

Sarah: Tomorrow. We start tomorrow.

We weren't looking to get married in a church, but the farm we're renting has an old chapel sitting on the grounds and it's a neat little space so we've decided to do the ceremony there instead of outside.

The chapel didn't originate on the farm. It has an interesting history, as depicted in numerous newspaper clippings and pictures which all hang in the back room behind the alter.

There's also an official transcript from the story on the chapel that ran on Paul Harvey News which reads as follows:

"Excerpt from Paul Harvey News… October 11, 1996

"A longtime Apple River, Illinois farmer so loved his land… that he always said he wanted to be buried on his land. He wanted forever to be a part of it. But when he died last summer and his widow set about to fulfill his wish… She was told that human remains may be entombed only in a licensed cemetery… or in a churchyard.

"She buried him in a cemetery but she continued grieving. Until the other day she heard that a church was bankrupt and abandoned… The farmer’s wife bought the church… Hired a semi to load and move the church with its steeple reaching 60 feet into the sky… Power company linemen lowered power lines to allow it to pass... And the church was trucked to the farm… And at a cost of seventy thousand dollars to buy the church and have it moved…

"The Apple Valley farmer has come home. Dug up from the impersonal pay-as-you-go place and buried where he wanted to be on his own farm… BUT IN A CHURCH YARD!"

The farmer's daughter runs the farm now. The story she tells about the little chapel doesn't line up with Paul Harvey's version 100%. The restrictions on where the father could be buried sound a little exaggerated, and the church itself was available not because the congregation had gone bankrupt but simply because they'd built a new church and didn't need the old one. Still, it's a nice story and a beautiful little chapel.

The farmer was the first person buried next to the newly located chapel (there are a few more tombstones out there now), and the daughter who runs the place was the first person married there.

And now you... more or less... know the rest of the story. GOOD DAY!