The wedding week got off to its official start when
Brian picked up his high school tennis teammate John Shibuya at
the airport on Sunday night. Brian had spent a week chaperoning John
last summer at his wedding, and now John was returning the favor.
John stayed in the guest
room that Melisse and Brian had recently excavated from the den that
they had been treating as a walk-in closet. John helped on missions
like picking up See's chocolates for the wedding favors, picking up bows
for the attendants' gifts, and picking up Melisse's wedding dress.
In between these and other important nuptial tasks, John unleashed his
faster-than-ever serve in singles with Brian and doubles with Brian against
Mike and Stanford.
On Wednesday Melisse and Brian went to downtown
Redwood City to pick up their marriage license. After Brian's
multi-tool caused a minor security delay in getting into the municipal
building, they filled out the respective applications. Since you
don't have to say who you hope to marry on your application, Brian kept
a close eye on Melisse in case some other guy with his own completed application
popped up at the last minute. With the marriage license ready for
signing, Brian and John worked late printing the wedding programs at Sun
while Melisse burned the midnight budget oil at Genentech.
Thursday morning the Holtz clan flew into
town, except for brother-in-law Ronnie who had to work over the Labor Day
weekend. While Melisse and junior high friend Janice printed place
cards at Genentech, Brian and John brunched with the Holtzes and watched
Kay
shower Charlotte with grandmotherly attention. John and
the Holtz men went to pick up tuxedos, and when best man Don arrived from
LA he went with John and Brian to get bachelor party supplies. Melisse
spent the night at the Inns Of America with the arriving Jim and Jacqueline
and Janice. An oath of silence was taken by all bachelor party
attendees: Craig, Dan, Don, Duane, John, Kurt, Mike, Stanford, Terry, Todd,
and Wayne. The official cover story remains that we sampled fine
lagers and liqueurs while watching sports (Ultimate Fighting Championship,
Jerry Springer uncensored fights) and documentaries (Playboy's Voluptuous
Vixens) on dual screens.
Don crashed at Brian's bachelor pad and when Melisse
showed up the next morning they took the somewhat stressed bride-to-be
to Hobee's for lunch and mapped out with her all the transportation assignments
for the next 48 hours. When Brian and Melisse arrived at the church
rehearsal a few minutes late they were worried to find the Maid
of Honor and other bridal party members milling about outside the church,
unaware that our stern wedding coordinator Betsy was waiting inside.
Betsy marched us through the rehearsal and then dismissed the troops.
Melisse and Brian and bridesmaid Lea proceeded to the faculty club to make
last-minute
seating assignments that not only double-booked one table but also
made us a half-hour late for the rehearsal
dinner. It turned out not to matter because the Elephant
Bar's bayfront view of the SFO runways provide a show that can entertain
endlessly.
On Saturday morning the bridal party assembled at
Stanford Memorial Church for the pre-ceremony photography.
Melisse's brother Jon was kind enough to continue the invaluable candid
videotaping that he and his fiancee Michelle had begun at the rehearsal
the previous day. Brian's wonderful uncle
Don and his youngest daughter Jenny arrived bright and early to meet
Charlotte
and watch the photography. Mike Marchi assumed his videography post
high in the church balcony. As the eleven o'clock hour drew near,
the loyal groomsmen
began seating guests while Don and Brian relaxed in the almost stately
Round Room. "Almost" stately, because a couple of guests wandered
in, first Dana and then her husband Stanford. Dana being quite the
expectant mother had the good excuse of looking for facilities, but Stanford
must have been wandering around like the place was named for him or something.
When the last of the groomsmen assembled backstage
with Brian and Father Forte, Brian knew his remaining bachelorhood was
now measured in mere minutes. The men filed out to the front of the
church and watched in awe as the main doors opened to reveal Melisse radiating
sunlit beauty. Her smile remained dazzling throughout the ceremony,
even when she asked the priest in a stage whisper if she could have the
nuptial kiss now rather than at its later assigned time. Any amusement
this gave the audience was nothing compared to the laughs they almost got
as Brian nearly slipped and fell on his first step off the altar.
But Brian negotiated the hazards of slick rental soles and Melisse's poofy
dress and got down
the aisle in one piece. Once the wedding ceremony and license
signing
were completed, the picture-taking
was able to resume first on the altar and then outside
for some dramatic
husband-and-wife shots.
Not having a DJ means that one's photographer has total (instead of partial)
control of the wedding day, and so Melisse and Brian were fortunate that
Sharon and Nancy were so nice.
With the last church shots having been taken and
the photographers off packing their equipment, Melisse and Brian faced
alone the trek through the heat to the Faculty Club reception.
Out of nowhere Don swooped in driving his trusty Grand Cherokee, and whisked
us across campus against one-way streets and over sidewalks. The
guests at the reception generously applauded when we arrived. John
had ironed out the seating snafu, and after mingling a while we sat down
to an incredible steak dinner catered by the Faculty Club itself.
Don said it was the best filet mignon he'd ever had, but his earlier toast
calls his memory into question. In his toast Don said he met Brian
in 1989 in Cupertino, but it was really 1990 in Mountain View. Jacqueline's
toast by contrast included no memorable memory lapses, and later Brian
and Melisse managed to cut the cake without mishap. In lieu of the
bride and groom working the room, guests were then brought in groups --
GSB, SHS,
tennis
-- to be photographed with the newlyweds. The bouquet toss went well,
but Brian weakly threw the garter trying not to overshoot an unenthusiastic
crowd of bachelors gathered in front of a hedge. The reception wound down
and John and Don loaded all the presents. flowers, cameras, and cake into
various vehicles.
Brian carried Melisse across
the threshold of their apartment, where they hung
out and had pizza with John and Mary Pat and Don and Maura. Then the
newlyweds snuck off to the nearby 9-floor Hotel Sofitel, driving Brian's
Firebird which had been suitably festooned at some unknown earlier time.
They took a romantic walk around the lagoon
and then disappeared into their honeymoon suite
on the top floor.
The happy couple re-appeared at a Hobee's breakfast
hosted by the parents and younger sister of the bride for the bridal party,
immediate families, and visiting family friends. Many of the group had
checked out of their rooms, so they were invited to the couple's apartment
for gift opening. Michelle L. recorded the gifts while Michelle O.
and John S. heroically kept the gifts flowing and neatly stacked in the
crowded quarters. This kept us on our schedule as the more (fool)hardy
of the bunch caravaned south to Laser Quest in Mountain View.
Brian smugly predicted he was going to win, but Jerry was organizing a
scheme to have everyone gang up on the groom. Such alliances quickly
evaporated in the frenzy of the laser maze, but Brian nevertheless siezed
on this conspiracy to explain why he (and his bride) came in 2nd (and 3rd)
to Amy Mongan. Brian scores through volume of fire rather than accuracy,
and having taped the wrong knuckle he raised a nasty blister bubble on
his trigger finger.
After the shooting died down, Melisse and Jacqueline
took the Lusins to the San Jose airport while Brian drove Lea and Annette
to East Bay and SFO connections. Driving two women in a Just Married
sports car felt a little cool, but driving back unaccompanied felt a lot
embarassing. However, the not-so-quiet interlude in the 500-watt
Monsoon sound system was almost worth it.
At dinner-time we caught up with Don and Jenny,
after their day of sightseeing, at Houlihan's next to the group
hotel. The old and new Holtz families enjoyed a very pleasant and
relaxing dinner with the Hermsens, Shibuyas, and Kathy Smith. Jerry
and Kay indulged their kids by keeping the number of embarassing family
stories to a bare minimum. We said goodbye that evening to the Holtzes
and Hermsens, and the next morning to Kathy and John and Mary Pat as we
all went to the airport. Melisse and Brian took with them onto the
plane to Maui the overflowing
love and good wishes of all their dear friends and family both near and
far.
