You Find Out Who Your Friends Are

So this one time I got married.....

WEIRD. I know.  Weird for me too but yet it's more awesome than it is weird.  Brett and I still look at each other and say "remember that time we got married?!" and laugh about it.  I never thought I'd be 21 and married but it's the best choice I've made so far.  2 weeks and still together, we've outlasted a lot of other marriages already.

The wedding day was great, extremely overrated but great.  Everything went smoothly and according to the relatively loose plan.  There wasn't much of a plan to go according to but still went well, sidefact I was freezing cold standing up there trying to listen to Bishop Erikson. Bleck.  Still had a smile on my face though.

After the evening reception, Brett and I drove to our basement suite in Calgary and on the way we were able to vent our feelings about whatever went on that day.  We were both really disappointed in the turnout in terms of people who decided we were important enough to them to come see and say hi and congratulate us because they are our friends.  It was hard to have sent out so many invitations to our personal friends, having gone out of our way to hand deliver many of them and have people confirm to our face that they would be there anbd then to have those same people not show up was really frustrating.  I'm not saying I wanted all of southern Alberta to show up but it would have been nice if the people who said they'd be there were there.  I can count on one hand the number of our personal friends who showed up to the Raymond reception.

We did have many families and relatives and such show up which was really nice of them to do so but in terms of our peers, it was disappointing.  I understand that there are a few receptions every weekend in southern Alberta but you need to think about it from the view of the people actually getting married who clearly thought about you when they gave you an invitation.  Yes our wedding was in Raymond which is about 25 minutes away from Lethbridge but really that is not that far; tons of people drive that on a daily basis so that is not an excuse.

I didn't expect everyone to drop everything and come to our reception.  I realize that everyone has their own lives (none of which are as important as mine but that is not the point I suppose) but when you tell me that you are going to be there then I don't think it is too bold of me to expect you to be there when you looked me in the eye and said you would attend. 

One of the really difficult things to take in is the fact that I had many people who I wished with all my heart could have been at the wedding but were unable to make it because of distance or because of legal regulations and the possibility of having to go to Guantanamo Bay for attempting to come to my wedding (which is a pretty sweet story if you think about it...) but for whatever reason, many people who are dear to both Brett and I were not able to make it regardless of what they tried so to have people who easily could have made it but yet did not come is really hurtful and inconsiderate.  If you received an invite from us, clearly you are important to us and we wanted you to be there but by not showing up you showed that we are not important enough for you.  Thanks kids.

The same can be applied with the reception we had in Kelowna.  I don't understand how people can tell me to my face that they are coming and then NOT come.  I have repeated that phrase many times in this post because I still can't wrap my head around it.  I mean, my dad was in a car accident the night before the wedding and showed up the next day with a cracked knee cap and a bruised tendon in his hand (the one he shakes other people's hand with by the way) and he was still there and didn't complain about it.  HE would have had a pass for not showing up unlike those who just chose to sit at home in their underwear eating cheetos and watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days or whatever you were wearing/eating/watching that night instead of coming and saying hi to your friends. 

In closing, I hope those of you who skipped out on my receptions feel like crap because we sure did when none of our friends showed up to support us.  And I guess the joke's on you because it was lovely even without you so there! *insert 5 year old sticking out tongue face here*.

Banff was beautiful, the hotel was really nice and had a great bathroom and had his and her sinks and a steam shower and all that jazz.  The weather couldn't've been better either.  We went on a few walks downtown and along the river and went out to dinner and it was really nice.  I'm glad we went somewhere we can revisit as often as time and money permits. 

We really appreciate all the well wishes, the gifts, the time and effort and everything else everyone contributed to help us and we are very grateful to everyone who helped put it together.  We are so happy together; it makes the 8 months of a long distance relationship worth every mile on the road, every hour in a vehicle, every lonely day worth it. 

Now that all the craziness is over and a different kind of craziness of life is about to begin, I will be able to write more posts for your favourite blog of all time! (I'm referring to this blog in case you were thinking of another one...)

Allison Jensen, over and out.
PS I am really good at signing my new name.