Yosemite Wedding Report! (But not my wedding.) (A lot...)→[More:]

Cliffs Notes version: My best friend and his girlfriend got hitched this weekend in Yosemite and I flew in from Latvia to do a reading.

I arrived on Friday evening after driving up with friends of the bride, which was super. The drive from LA didn't take that long, and was enhanced by a visit to the bizarre town of Kingsburg, which markets itself as a Swedish village, complete with insane coffeepot watertower.

On arriving in Yosemite via Highway 41 (from Fresno), we emerged from the Wawona Tunnel and saw the trademark shot of the park...we could do nothing but all gasp in unison and pull over to take photos. The weather was amazing.

We stayed in Curry Village, where I roomed with a friend from high school who I hadn't seen in years. We headed over to the Yosemite Lodge for a welcome barbecue in the evening, and when I saw the groom, who is my oldest and dearest friend, we embraced as if we'd been separated for decades...it was a really emotional moment, and I think both of us just about managed to stave off tears. Throughout the whole evening, he and his bride-to-be beamed with joy - I had never seen him looking so vibrant and alive. I finally met the bride's parents, and some excited mingling later, we were treated to a very cool slideshow of groom and bride as kids. After quiet hours (10pm) we headed over to the bar next door, where various and sundry libations and wedding guests mixed very freely, and I strolled off to bed a bit in my cups but truly enjoying every minute of the experience so far.

Saturday morning, my roommate and I decided to do a really easy hike (it's wheelchair-accessible!) to the base of Yosemite Falls - which is actually two waterfalls, composed of upper and lower sections (together the tallest waterfall in North America!). We were buffeted with spray and mist, as April and May are the peak of the waterfall season in the park, and we hurried back to our room to frantically iron our wedding attire. Having not purchased a suit since 2001, and having, um, grown a bit since then, I had found an amazing deal on a chocolate-brown linen suit and pink shirt at, of all places, H&M, though a few minutes into my pressing pressing, I began to question whether my day would be spent entirely inside a cloud of steam.

Catching a ride with more old friends from high school to the historic Ahwahnee Hotel, the lawn of which would host the wedding, I met up with the rest of the wedding party, got pinned with a very understated boutonniere, noticed I was the only one in a brown suit (question for the gallery: uh, did I break some formality taboo here?), took some photos with the very cool photographers, and then retreated to the insanely huge patio of the bridal suite, which overlooked Yosemite Falls and was the home of a parade of wedding party members, "ordinary" guests, and a cart of snacks and drinks! (Whoo snacks and drinks!)

The bride and groom, who are the most laid-back people in the world, had traded a full-blown wedding rehearsal (which was impossible anyway as the chairs hadn't been set up yet) for a collective huddle and run-through - it turned out that the whole ceremony wouldn't even last half an hour. There was to be no program handed out to guests, and no shenanigans with unnecessary wedding crap - no balloons, no huge bouquets, no standing/sitting, no "Here Comes the Bride".

We got ready, mosied downstairs to the lawn, and were directed by the attendants to process in. The other reader and I were the only people seated in the front row, as the wedding party, the judge, and the parents-of-the-to-be-wed all stood adjacent to the bride and groom, who were standing under a simple, beautiful chuppah, which had been crocheted by the bride's mother in blue and white and was being supported by the ushers and two other men chosen for the task.

The judge proceeded to say his opening remarks, then launched into the vows, forgetting that readings were to come before! The bride had to (gently) remind him to stop so we readers could say our bits. I read the Beatitudes and part of Paul's letter to the Romans; there was also a reading by the maid of honor about John Muir's connection with Yosemite. My co-reader read seven Hebrew blessings for a wedding, which were beautiful, and then the ceremony proceeded to the vows and rings. These proceeded in a tear-jerking fashion as only the words "till death do us part" can, but the gravity of the moment was broken when the bride and groom realized that the altitude change had swollen the groom's knuckles to the extent that the ring couldn't fit on his ring finger! Eventually it was jammed on to chuckles.

The judge peppered a bit of frontier spirit in his final remarks (...by the power vested in me by the United States District Court, the Congress of the United States, and BY THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA [*pumps fist in the air*]!!!, I now pronounce you husband and wife...kiss the bride and LET HER BUCK!"), everyone applauded, tears of joy flowed, and we processed out not to some insanely loud organ but to the faint background roar of waterfalls. It was a cosmically peaceful, joyful moment.

We headed over to the Solarium of the Ahwahnee for an amazing reception - I danced to the Hava Negila with random relatives, people were hoisted onto chairs, food was eaten, mingling was done, no one talked about work in a negative way for hours and hours (which for a group of 20/30-somethings these days is an amazing accomplishment, I think!), and I made heaps of connections and planted the seeds of many new friendships. Over the course of the evening, the bride and groom had time to sit down, chat, mingle around, give touching thank-you speeches, and seemed to just enjoy themselves immensely, I think. Nothing was rushed or hurried, and the staff of the hotel and the park as a whole were incredibly welcoming.

A few of us decided to get a nightcap after the reception ended, and we made our way to the Ahwahnee's bar...where the few turned into the many, and things got a little too fun if this morning's headache is any indication - I remember a bottle of Crown Royal being produced and a game of flipcup, which ended with the victory of my side! Those of us in Curry Village made it back after the bar closed, and we chatted for a bit before saying our giggly goodnights.

This morning a delicious farewell brunch let those of us hung over (I really felt the 4000-foot elevation!) depart full of pastry and perhaps a little less woozy. The groom and I had a moment apart, and the embrace of Friday was replaced by an even stronger one this morning, with a nearly-teary few words of gratitude exchanged between us - I thanked him for inviting me to have a role in the most important day of his life, and he thanked me for going to the ends of the earth (kind of literally, actually) to get there. It's really hard to put into words what it meant to me, but suffice it to say that it was the kind of thing which left me with no doubt that we love each other as deeply as two people can.

The overall message of the weekend for me was that happiness is ready for us to discover if we are willing to quiet ourselves from the chaos of the world Out There and look In Here - in this insanely gorgeous valley, in this person's arms, in these hearts. It was like going through the aforementioned Wawona Tunnel was like a little weekend re-birthing for me, reemerging into a world of friendship and love and laughter that I've been really missing these last few years as I've traveled around the world.

The bride told me that the last few weddings she'd been to had had some sort of crisis, and that she and the groom and their families had designed the entire experience to give them as much time as possible to rest, recharge, and enjoy each other and their guests. I'd say they accomplished their mission in spades!

Photos, sadly, will be coming shortly - in my haste to pack, I left my camera on my bed! Luckily a bunch of people took a bunch of photos, so once I get a few I'll link to them here so you can check them out!

And thanks for making it this far - I couldn't keep all these good vibes to myself!