Ooops!

(Foot-In-Mouth Disease and Silly Mistakes)

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I love your site!  Having been to several weddings in my life, I've seen events go off to perfection, with great attention to detail...well, most of the time.

After reading through several pages, I was reminded of something that happened nearly 30 years ago, at the wedding of the oldest of my two brothers.  He was getting married on the family's property and everything went smoothly that day, but for one little incident.

The groom, bride, BM and MOH were gathered before the minister, and the family was grouped in a semi-circle, about ten or twelve feet away on the front lawn.  The minister was talking, when who should step through the crowd and enter the space between us, but our DOG!

This was back in the day when dogs were generally allowed to roam free, and leash laws were rarely enforced.  Our short, stocky beagle ambled on up to the wedding party (no one had the presence of mind to stop him), and proceeded to walk all around them, sniffing everyone's clothes and generally checking everyone out. 

The minister knew he was there, but just kept on going.  My brother was grinning, and we were all trying hard not to burst out laughing.  Finally "Fido" decided everything was OK and headed back to us to get some petting from one of my aunts.

Thankfully he didn't "do" any more than that!   Fast forward to just a few years later...my other older brother was getting married, and he and his soon-to-be decided they would get married at the homestead, too.

The scene was nearly the same, the small wedding party was situated in front of a semi-circle of family and friends, though not at the exact same spot on the property.  The ceremony is going along, no problems, when...Fido walked through the crowd. 

By the time we realized that history was about to repeat itself, he was too far away from us and too close to the wedding party to collar him without making a scene...Fido did the same thing, walked up, walked around, sniffed everyone for a good long time, then headed off. 

Fido lived a good long life, but he passed away before he was able to do command performances at my sister's nuptials!

Ooops0303-05

Hi, Jeanne I hope you can use this story. What my Grandpa did was certainly an etiquette faux pas and an oops.

This happened to my parents when they got married 35 years ago, and has become a cherished family story.

After their reception, the top tier of the wedding cake went into my father's parents' fridge to keep for my parents' first anniversary. Well, Grandpa got the munchies that night, and you guessed it. He cut the cake right down the middle and ate half.

When Grandma found out the next morning, she really gave him hell. Grandpa's defense? "It's in the fridge, it's fair game!"

Grandpa died over 20 years ago, but his memory lives on. My brother got married a few years ago. Because they left early the next day for their honeymoon, the rest of us (parents, siblings, kids) stayed at their house for the rest of the weekend. That meant that my mom was in charge of bringing the top tier of the cake home and putting it in their fridge. We teased my dad not to eat the cake. He grinned and said, "If it's in the fridge, it's fair game!" (No, he didn't touch it! ;-)

My fiancé and I are getting married in two months. And yes, in Grandpa's memory we will "remind" my dad not to touch the top tier of our wedding cake!

Ooops0329-05