You might think it was a funny coincidence that the annular eclipse just happened to fall on the same day Eric and Kat picked for their wedding. If you thought that, though, (a) you probably don't know them very well, and (2) you would be mistaken. These two science geeks who somehow found each other and figured out they were imperfectly perfect for each other? They chose this day for that reason.

And the wedding was just as weird and wonderful as they are, and as much fun as you'd expect their wedding to be. Many things even came off as planned, including the eclipse. They had solar viewing glasses for everyone, and it was amazing. But it was amazing because it happened between the moon and the sun. What happened right here on earth was pretty fantastic, too. After all the excruciating thought and planning and sweat that went into it, it's a good thing it was just that good.

Not that everything went smoothly. Alexander was supposed to be the co-ring bearer with Aiden, but he wasn't in the mood at the time, so Aiden had to improvise and do it on his own. But Kylie was a gorgeous flower girl in her purple and white gown, strewing petals with the steely resolve of someone who knows exactly how a task like that should be performed.

The ceremony was beautiful and memorable. The officiant told the story of how the couple met and how they came to realize that they belonged together. Just before she pronounced them married, and before they kissed as husband and wife for the first time, they got their last kisses as single people, from their mothers (who were surprised by this twist but gamely played along).

The DJ was excellent, and the caterers did a fine job. The setting was a country home belonging to (and donated for the day by) family friends, and we couldn't have asked for (or paid for) anything better. David was best man, and John was the father of the groom, so you know the toasts were heartfelt and funny. Kat's father told wonderful stories from the time before we knew her. Alex was in good form, happy with all the attention and all the food. And the steps. That child will walk up and down steps until he drops. He thinks that's so much fun.

The tables were given clever thematic names taken from science fiction spacecraft. As you may know, he is Star Wars and she is Star Trek, so our table was the Millennium Falcon. Her family sat at the Enterprise table.

We laughed, we danced, the bouquet was tossed and the garter was slugged across the field with a baseball bat (a touch only Eric could have pulled off). We saw so many family friends that we rarely get to spend time with that it became even more special. We wore Mom out, so I took her home, but when I got back the party was still in full swing. Yes, in case you were wondering, I danced with the bride. Me, the non-dancer. (I didn't get the bunny hop that Kylie promised to do with me, but she was awfully busy chasing the little boys around the place. Or was it the other way around?)
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The bride and groom.
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The weather cooperated, and the eclipse was a very cool touch. (Again, only Kat and Eric could have persuaded the moon and the sun to do their thing today.) I wish I could have taken more photos, but they had a professional for that, so I just snapped a few random shots and let it go. Most of them were in my usual hit-and-miss-but-mostly-miss style. I even have videos, but I don't know that they are of sufficient quality to share. I'm a little beat tonight, so I'll just have to get to them when I can.