Purple and Penguin Wedding

Friday, June 27 was our wedding of the year with the marriage of Sarah Elizabeth and Trevor Forest Stiltner. Of course the Kirkwood family knows how to party, so it was party time leading up to and following on after the wedding. Ken and I boarded our direct flight from McChord to Baltimore on my favorite private jet the C-17. Many times we are only two of perhaps a dozen passengers, but both coming and going on this trip we shared the mammoth space with about fifty other folks, almost all being young families on vacation. There were baby carriers, sleeping bags, and air mattresses galore.

Since we have to travel when the opportunity presents itself, we found ourselves arriving several days earlier than was necessary and undoubtedly earlier than Keith and Janet needed our presence. So after arriving at Dover Air Force Base at one in the morning, we cooled our heels for a while (there isn’t much going on in Dover) and called a cab to take us to IHOP (it stays open all night, right?) for some coffee and a very early breakfast and to wait until seven when the car rental office opened. It turned out that there was a huge music festival in Dover coming up that weekend, and to discourage loiterers, IHOP chose to close during the wee hours of the morning. Sigh. “So Mr. Taxi Driver, take us down the street to the Hilton Garden Inn. “ We explained to the manager that we had Hilton reservations in Columbia, Maryland but couldn’t get there until we could get a car at seven and make the one and one half hour drive. We were welcomed into the lobby, given a paper and coffee and then presented with complimentary vouchers for breakfast. Nice.

Knowing we were several days early, we agreed we would hide out at the Hilton in Columbia for at least two days before presenting ourselves to Keith and Janet. All went well until we went down the street for dinner to a restaurant that we were familiar with and knew that Keith and Janet frequented often for happy hour on Fridays so we thought. We walked by a window only to be “busted” by Keith, Janet, Rachel and her boyfriend, Mac, who were there for dinner on a Saturday night! So we joined them for dinner but did go back to our hotel for one more night before moving in with them.

Wedding preparations were well in hand with the exception of just a few last minute details so we pitched in and helped where we could. Of course one never arrives at the Keith Kirkwood household without being overwhelmed with food and drink. The bride and groom joined us at various moments as did Mac Rachel's boyfriend).

Janet’s parents and brother and family arrived a few days after us. Our entire family was in attendance with Brian, Sheila and the Harriotts coming from Seattle, Craig from Tacoma, Warren from Virginia, and Nolan from North Carolina. Curt and Cinda Johnson, Marty Sells (our grand niece) and Jeff and Bev Schuler rounded out our entourage. On Wednesday, the Radisson in Baltimore became party-central as we all settled in prior to the wedding on Friday.

 There were three restaurants within a few steps of the hotel as well as a hotel bar so we had plenty of places to gather. Over the past six months, I have ordered and returned at least eight dresses, none of which was the “perfect” dress. I had a dress shipped from a Palo Alto store to me, another I had shipped from Nordstrom to the Schulers because we were still on our winter road trip, and another I had shipped to Colleen because I wouldn’t be home. I even went out on a limb and ordered from Lord and Taylor which we don’t have in Washington but knew I could return it when I got to Columbia if necessary. None of them was perfect, but I did finally settle on one that would work. The courtyard outside our hotel was home to a number of shops so Bev, Colleen, and I decided to stroll around for a while in the afternoon of the wedding, and lo and behold I found THE DRESS! The PERFECT DRESS!! How is that for waiting until the eleventh hour?

 I was privy to seeing Sarah in her dress when she went for her final try-on, and I was invited to join Sarah and her eight attendants and Janet for a glass of champagne prior to the wedding. Colleen was the practical one and loaded the girls’ room fridge with meats and cheeses and fruits to help offset the champagne and to be sure no one fainted during the ceremony.

The venue for the wedding was a manor house on the grounds of the Baltimore Zoo and it was lovely. It was the shortest wedding ceremony I have ever attended, but Sarah made it clear that the order of the evening was to get to the drinking, dining and dancing. And we did all of that with gusto. Sarah has a love for penguins, and sure enough, Tails the handsome little penguin made a guest appearance right after the ceremony. We had not met Trevor’s family so were happy to do so and enjoyed them all. They were responsible for the corsages, boutonnieres, and centerpieces and they were spectacular. Lots of white and purple (Sarah’s favorite color).

The flower girl and ring bearer were Trevor’s niece and nephew. William is only three so his Grandma said if he would walk down the aisle he could then go to her and she would have candy for him. As you will see, the ring pillow (Janet’s mother made it from fabric from Janet’s wedding dress) is upside down, but he made it down the aisle. Colleen said she heard him singing “London Bridge is falling down” as he came down the aisle.

Of course a Kirkwood celebration calls for the akvavit toast and Colleen’s gift was to make the charms for the akvavit glasses.  At the beginning of the dinner, Keith welcomed the guests, explained the family ritual of toasting with akvavit and then asked me to “skoal” as the matriarch of the family. My feet were killing me by the time we sat down to dinner so I had kicked my shoes off assuming I would simply stand for the toast, but no, I had to go to the front in my bare feet because there was no way I was going to get the shoes back on.

 After dancing the night away, we sent the bride and groom off with a walkway lined with the guests holding sparklers!! Then it was back to the hotel bar where who should appear but all the family, some of the wedding party and the bride and groom! They are not going on their honeymoon to Aruba until August and wanted to be around this past week while family was in town. It was a late night!

 Sarah and Trevor continued to pop in and out at Keith and Janet’s and spent the second night of their married life in a tent in the back yard because every available sleeping space inside the house was taken. Saturday was another day for visitors and celebrating and EATING. Smoked pork sandwiches and coleslaw were on the menu. Keith must have smoked an entire pig, so as usual there was enough food to feed an army. Fortunately, Keith and Janet purchased an excess of wine and Prosecco for the reception so we felt an obligation to help them dispose of the leftovers!

 Monday night we were joined by Trevor’s parents, sister, and grandmother so we could watch them open their gifts. Another great opportunity to get to know his family.

If you go to http://www.lizandryan.com/maryland-zoo-baltimore-wedding-sarah-trevor/ you can see some of the wedding photos. Ryan worked with Keith at Northrop Grumman and he and Liz were going to give her five years to establish their photography business and then he would join her. He had to leave his job after eighteen months to move in to their very successful business. They did a great job.

 I love each and every one of our family gatherings, be they large or small, and spend many moments afterward reliving the moments and reminiscing. Ciao.