At Celia's insistence, the ceremony itself was a traditional contemporary Catholic wedding. This was to please her family, she had confided in Jake at one point, and not because she or Greg were practicing Catholics. The priest entered the room first. He was decked out in full regalia and held a large, leather bound bible in his hands. The organ played soft music and Greg's groomsmen entered the room, walking slowly down the aisle. The groomsmen escorted Greg's mother, Celia's mother, and Celia's grandparents to their seats at the front of the room. They then retreated back out of the room, only to return a minute later with the bridesmaids on their arms.
"Nice dresses," Helen whispered to Jake.
As far as bridesmaid dresses went, they were pretty attractive. They were floor length, rose red gowns that left the shoulders bare. All of Celia's bridesmaids were friends from Venezuela and had dark complexions that contrasted very nicely with the color of the gowns.
The groomsmen and the bridesmaids separated and took their positions before the altar. Next, the best man and the maid of honor entered the room. Greg's best man was Michael Stinson, his co-star in the last movie he'd made. Celia's maid of honor was Gloria Dominquez, the girl who had been her best friend during her high school days. These two walked arm in arm to the altar (Gloria had been in awe of the fact that she got to touch Michael Stinson all throughout the rehearsal last night) and then separated and took their positions.
The flower girl came next. She was a young cousin of Celia's, about six years old, and absolutely adorable in her red dress. She scattered rose petals around the aisle in advance of the bride.
The Wedding March began to play. The priest asked that everyone please stand in honor of the bride. Everyone stood and turned toward the back. Celia entered the room, escorted by her tuxedoed father. She was quite stunningly beautiful, decked out in a traditional white wedding dress that had been designed by Versace himself (or Himself, as Greg liked to put it). The dress had cost more than twenty thousand dollars and it fit to absolute perfection.
"Look at her," Helen whispered. "She's gorgeous."
Jake simply nodded. Helen was correct.
Celia took her place at the altar. The priest asked who gave this woman and Celia's father replied that he and her mother did. Her father then took his seat and the ceremony began in earnest.
It went on for more than forty minutes before they started to get to the good part. The priest read passages from the bible, he expounded upon the religious implications of the holy union of matrimony, and every few minutes he would say, "let us pray" and everyone would lower their heads while he talked to Our Father. Every few minutes apart from that, he would say, "please rise" and, once they did, he would recite some other passage from the bible and follow it up with a "you may be seated". Finally, just when Jake was starting to think he wouldn't be able to stifle a yawn any longer, the exchange of the vows began. When that was done, the priest asked each of them if they took the other in holy matrimony.
"I do," said Celia, looking shyly at Greg.
"I do," said Greg when it was his turn.
They exchanged rings and then the priest told them they were man and wife. Greg kissed his bride and quiet applause rippled through the room.
"And now," said the priest, "a dear friend of the couple, Mr. Jake Kingsley, will perform a song he has written in honor of this union. As we found out last night at the rehearsal, this song has never been performed before another person before. Celia, Greg, and all of you will now enjoy it for the very first time." He looked at Jake. "Mr. Kingsley?"
Jake gave a brief smile to Helen and then stood up. He walked slowly to a spot just beside the altar and pulled up a Fender electric/acoustic guitar from hiding behind a section of latticework. The guitar was plugged into a guitar cord that ran discretely off to a small soundboard that was plugged into the facility's speakers. Jake had sound checked and tuned the guitar earlier that day, before the arrival of the guests. He pulled a pick from the inlay and walked up to the small microphone the priest, Greg, and Celia had been using.
Jake spoke no introductory words, nor did he give a warm-up strum of the strings. He simply began to play, picking out a soft, gentle eight note rhythm that was both soothing and captivating. He sang into the microphone, using his voice to its best advantage, singing of love and beginnings and compromise and contentment. There were two verses with a chorus in between that spoke of the "start of the journey" that a married couple was embarking upon. There was a brief bridge, during which he upped the tempo the slightest bit, displaying a considerable amount of flair with his instrument and getting a good many feet tapping. Finally, there was a final verse that led to an abbreviated version of the main chorus with a subtle changing of the lyrics.
"The start of the journey," he finished up, "begins... right... here."
He did a brief final flourish of his strings and then let the last strum fade to nothing.
The applause for this performance was much louder than that which had been offered when Greg and Celia had been declared man and wife. The guests, in fact, gave him a standing ovation. Jake saw with satisfaction that more then a few female eyes (and even the odd male eye) were leaking tears from his song. He gave a shy smile to the crowd, acknowledging the applause, and then carried the guitar back to its hiding place and set it down.
He turned and looked at the bride and groom. Celia was crying, wiping the tears from her eyes. Even Greg looked a little choked up. Greg stepped forward and shook his hand warmly.
"Thank you, Jake," he told him. "That was very moving."
"Yes," Celia agreed, pulling him into a spontaneous hug and planting a kiss on his cheek. "It was beautiful. We couldn't have asked for anything better."
"It was my pleasure," Jake told them. "Congratulations to both of you."
The reception began soon after. Little by little the guests all wandered into the next room where a bandstand, an open bar, and dozens of white clothed tables awaited. Each table had a vase of red roses, a bottle of red wine, a bottle of white wine, and a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne chilling in an ice bucket. A large table for the wedding presents was set up near the back of the room. Jake and Helen found their places at a table near the center of the room. They were seated with one of Celia's uncles, his wife, and their two teenage children.
"Do you know Bigg-G?" was the first thing one of the kids asked Jake.
It was almost an hour before the new bride and groom made their entrance. Everyone went through the reception line to take turns shaking Greg's hand and kissing Celia on the cheek. This took another hour. Finally, dinner was served. It was prime rib or Peking duck. Jake and Helen both had the prime rib, drinking glasses of red wine with it.
Jake managed to get one rum and coke into his stomach before the toasting began. The champagne was opened and poured but was halfway to being warm before anyone got to drink any of it because Michael Stinson gave a toast to the new groom that was nearly fifteen minutes in length. When we finally wound down, Greg's mother and sister each offered lengthy toasts as well. A few of Greg's other friends then chimed in their two cents worth. Finally, at long last, everyone who wanted to offer a toast had had their say and they moved on to the throwing of the bouquet and the garter. Two of Celia's cousins were the catchers of these items.
Celia and Greg then cut the wedding cake — a four-tiered number that had cost $4000 — and took turns feeding it to each other. The rest of the guests were then allowed to have a piece as well.