A McDonough Wedding

Saturday, June 25th – Victoria, British Columbia - Day 134 

Wedding Day! We have been talking about this day since February. When talking about our plan for the trip, we kept saying our only goal was to be in Victoria for June 25th to celebrate the wedding of Matthew and Leah. Our morning was beautifying ourselves before heading to the wedding. 

 Upon arrival, we had a last-minute change, John was invited to be the ring bearer. We said yes but Gen felt terrible about the decision; to be a ring boy he should have worn a better outfit and had more practice. None the less, when the wedding started, there was John with rings on a pillow leading the way and closely followed by the four flower girls, Aisling and Charlotte among them. John was great for the first half of the aisle before taking a U-turn and looking for mom. Gen turned him around and got him moving forward again before a second U-turn. Gen tried to put him with the flower girls to keep walking. Eventually he got there. 

Gen felt that she was in the way and should have been wearing a nicer outfit herself. Matthew and Leah did not seem to mind in the least. They reached the front and the love for each other was shown with the heartfelt looks and laughter they shared in private conversations. Afterwards they thanked John, Aisling and Charlotte for a job well done. 

After the wedding, I wanted to find a nice pub to sit down and have a snack before the reception, Gen didn’t like the idea. She wanted to go back to Pat and Leila’s which I wasn’t ecstatic about since it involved a lot of driving with not much time. We settled on going down to the Fisherman’s wharf to get a bite to eat there. This was a poor compromise for everyone; there was no indoor sitting area for us to sit at. At least the food was delicious. 

 Gen realized that she had left her purse at the wedding. We returned to look in the church with no luck. We figured that someone in the wedding would have the wallet and we’d get it at the reception. When we arrived at the hall, no one knew about the purse. Apparently, they had opened the wallet and my credit card was there, so they thought it was their Uncle Dale’s and not Gen’s, a bit of a mix-up. Gen was still fretting about her wallet, so I volunteered to go back to the church to do a more thorough search. I returned in time for dinner. 

 Gen and I had contacted Paolina to inquire about a babysitter for the kids. She was good enough to line up a friend of a friend to help us. It must have been a unique ask to babysit three kids in a trailer in someone’s backyard. I volunteered to drive the kids back to Pat’s after dinner. Speeches were fantastic; I love wedding speeches. 

While I was listening, Pat asked if I minded picking up a cod from his basement fridge when I dropped off the kids; I didn’t ask why he needed a fish, anything for Uncle Pat. The speeches were done, the kids were rowdy, the babysitter was waiting, time to make an exit. I loaded the kids into the car and went back to our backyard oasis. I got the kids in pajamas, grabbed a cod and headed back into downtown Victoria. 

 As soon as I get back, Pat grabs the fish and rushes it in. Matthew was to marry a Newfoundlander and to become an honorary Newfoundlander himself, he needed to kiss a cod and take a shot of Screech, a strong Newfoundland spirit. He was successful and the marriage could continue. The rest of the wedding guests were then invited to become honorary Newfoundlanders as well. The best part of weddings is Gen and I get an opportunity to dance. We had a lot of fun the rest of the evening.