Guest Blogger = Matt, the Boyfriend

In order to provide a little different perspective on the recent wedding festivities, Jen has been gracious enough to turn her blog over to me for a spell. As Jen may or may not have mentioned, her sister Stacey has a few hippy-like tendencies. It's also possible that her new husband has a few himself. We had some advance notice that some of those tendencies might appear in the ceremony, but even that notice couldn't prepare us for what happened after the rehearsal dinner.

As with most weddings, the rehearsal dinner took place the night before. But not as with most weddings, after the rehearsal dinner, the bride and groom, their close friends, the bride's parents, and Jen and I went back to the synagogue at around 10PM to meet the rabbi for a havdala service. For those of you who aren't familiar with Jewish tradition, the havdala service takes place every Saturday evening at the end of the sabbath to bid farewell to the sabbath for the week. Usually it happens at sundown. Stacey's rabbi, however, was kind enough to return to the synogauge at 10pm to do a special service for the couple and their friends.

Upon entering the synagogue, we found a group surrounding the rabbi by the front door, lights dimmed, and the rabbi, who I'd never met before, strumming an acoustic guitar. He was obviously perfect for the happy couple. After everyone arrived, we went into the chapel and the rabbi instructed us to sit on the ground in a circle. He had Stacey and Matt talk a little bit about how the two of them got together. Then he had the assembled friends and family go in a circle and talk about what this wedding and the couple meant to them.

Instead of being cheesy, as Jen and I both thought it would be, it was really quite moving. Jen was in tears for most of it. A couple of Stacey's friends were barely able to say anything in between sobs. My turn came second to last, and as anyone who knows me would expect, I broke the tension with some humor, but still managed to say something sweet. This is what I said (or something like it; its not like there's a transcript):

I've been looking forward to telling this little story about Stacey for a while now, and I can't think of a better moment to share it than right now. It's not about the first time I met Stacey, but I think it was the first time I met her after Jen and I got serious. Their parents were visiting in New York. [Stacey attempted to interrupt at this point, because she knew what story was coming, but I kept telling it anyway.] We were hanging out in their hotel room waiting for Stacey, who was returning from her summer travels. When she came into the room, she quickly got into the bed, which Jen and I were sitting on, got under the covers, and then dug her feet under my ass, presumably to keep them warm. Then the farting started. Jen was horrified and said something like: "Stacey, what is wrong with you?" Stacey's response was perfect. She said that either the two of us would break up and she'd never see me again, or we'd get married and I'd be family--and what's a little farting among family? I like that story because it's funny, but it also really shows off one of the great things about Stacey. How open and accepting she is. From that first day, she was already treating me like a member of the family. And this weekend, Matt's really been treating me that way too, and I just wanted to tell you both how great that is and how much it means to me to be a part of your wedding and your family.

I wasn't the last person to speak. Ending the service with a story about farting would have been unfortunate. Thankfully, Jen spoke next and said something sappy that caused more crying.