My SuperAwesome Marching Band Wedding (Part One)

Before I wax poetic about the actual wedding, allow me some time to share with you, fine readers, the fabulous events leading up to the wedding.

Shower One: Tea with the Ladies of Michigan

First official wedding event was a shower in Michigan hosted by two of my mom’s BFF’s and her sister. This was an opportunity to allow my mom’s friends and Michigan folk to gather, celebrate, and wish us a happy soon-to-be marriage. It was ladies only and, in the true fashion of my mother’s ilk, was a very fine tea at a ritzy hotel. We sipped finely brewed beverages from fancy antique mismatched floral cups and ate little finger sandwiches.

It was very lovely. Karin and I were truly showered with love, and gifts, and well wishes. Both my siblings were there (a rare occasion - though my brother was banned from the actual shower) and my Aunt and Uncle flew in from Colorado. We were able to touch base with some of my awesome medical school friends who still live in MI and my mother’s friends I’ve known and loved forever, who are like family.

The only down point was that I was still pretty sick from my decompensation the several weeks before. Traveling was particularly hard on me. I was so grateful for the acceptance and flexibility of my friends and family as I’m sure my not feeling well put a small damper on things. I was in a bit of a drugged haze for most of the event (high on anti-emetics and the like) but in all it was absolutely gorgeous! As my mother-in-law would say, it was Fancy! (Photos from the Hotel's website!)

Shower Two: Shower/Bachelorette Brunch with Epic Scavenger Hunt

The second official wedding celebration was the shower/bachelorette event our local friends held for us. We started the day by gorging ourselves on an amazing brunch at one of our favorite local restaurants. After we finished stuffing our faces we waddled out the doors and commenced a truly epic adventure. One of our fabulous friends and shower-hostesses had designed a local scavenger hunt!

The Hunt

We divided in the two teams: Karin’s team, the Blue Team, and mine, the Green Team. We wore as much green or blue paraphernalia as we could cram on our bodies (points for each item of your team color). Then, we set off to scavenge! Almost all items were things we needed to photograph – either as proof or as the item itself. Creative interpretation was encouraged. Below is a random handful of items from the list (note: items couldn’t belong to a team member):

• Convince someone on a wheeled “vehicle” to let someone on your team take a ride (pic below).
• Take a photo of two people in love who are both drinking coffee.
• Photograph your entire team plus two guests jumping. Everyone must be in the air at the same time. (pic above/left)
  
• Take a photo of a pet wearing clothes.
• Take a photo of the most unusual item with the Space Needle on it.
• Someone who has been with their partner for over 25 years
• Someone born in Karin’s/Liz’s home state
• A white wedding dress -- extra points for someone wearing it, even more points if it’s someone’s wedding day!
• Two people playing musical instruments (extra points for both in the same photo)
• Go to a used clothing shop and dress a team member as a lesbian cliché (outfit must include 4 items not owned by a team member)
• Etc... (there were about 30 items)
  

It was so much fun! We did a majority of our scavenging close to home, in Capitol Hill, the LGBTQ and artsy district of Seattle, and where Karin and I call home. We hit our first roadblock at the very beginning. We saw a gaggle of young gay men sitting at a table outside one of the bazillion nearby coffee shops. After our usual lead-in which included the phrase, “we are on a scavenger hunt,” we asked if any of them were in love. The laughed sardonically and very dramatically rolled their eyes. The answer was a unanimously bitter “no.” In fact, they were quite possibly the most embittered anti-love folks we could have encountered. No matter - we didn't let that slow us down! We expressed our condolences and trudged on another block or two to easily find another two big, burly men walking down the street with coffee cups in hand. They were indeed in love, and more than happy to pose for us.

About 2/3 of the way through the hunt, my Green team met up with two of my friends from Boston who joined us for a foray to Pike Place to complete some scavenger items, and then lastly to Lake Union for a sample of water to take to the finish line. They were very helpful, especially when it came to asking strangers at Pike Place (mostly scared tourists) if they were together more than 25 years or from Minnesota. Another funny fact, while the 5 of us Green-teamers crammed like sardines into a teeny 2-door Volkswagen bug for part of the hunt, poor Karin’s Blue team had dwindled to two, and were traveling in luxury in her enormous Nissan Pathfinder.

I have to also mention that the day we had this Shower/Bachelorette Scavenger Hunt was the day Seattle hosted the Great Urban Race! That meant that we were coincidentally in the company of hundreds of other scavengers, also strangely dressed and frantic to get their items from their list! At one point we came across a couple of gals who asked us to help by taking a picture with them - instant scavenger hunt karma!

After completing the scavenger hunt we treated ourselves to yummy frozen yogurt at my summer obsession, Yogurtland (photo left). All in all it was a great event. The only real casualty was my camera, it obtained a mortal wound while serving us bravely taking a photo of a beloved drag queen friend (see photo of her fabulous besocked hand, below/right).

One of the scavenger items was to write a poem. My team had to write one about Karin and hers had to write one about me. I’ll wrap up this blog post with hers for mine and then mine (ours, really, as it was a team effort!) for her. They are definitely corny but we were pressed for time! You should have seen the pictures we drew of each other with our eyes closed! The horror!

Next post may be about the actual wedding itself -- stay tuned!

Liz is great,

Liz is smart,

And she’s crafty,

And good at art.

She likes horses,

I like dogs,

She’s good at games,

And wins them alls.

She likes coffee

I like toffee.

Yay for Liz!

By Karin Riggs

There once was a woman named Karin,

Who didn’t belong to a harem.

Her dog’s name is Lucy,

She likes to chase goosies,

And the two of them together would scare ‘em.

One day Karin met Liz,

And her heart got all in a tiz.

It went pitter, patter,

Flitter, flutter and splatter,

And she said, with this girl I must live!

By Team Green