Happy Happy Joy Joy

You don't have to be on your feet to do the happy happy joy joy dance. It can be done in any posture you please.

A few shots from the wedding reception at Blue Star in Wicker Park. Highly recommended. Anyway, there wasn't a sour puss in the place. The feelings were infectious. By the way, the hand gestures in the fourth picture below count out 2733, the couple's street address. And that's Madeleine, my daughter Emily and son-in-law Brian in the following shot.

That's all for the wedding. I've got a lot of family pictures still to edit, not really of general interest. They will gradually turn up on the wedding Flickr album if you're desperate. Next we will turn to the St. Louis Fringe Festival, which Carolyn and I attended this weekend. Wacky.                           

Public Transit Party

One of the best things about Andy And Claire's wedding is that everybody took the CTA Blue Line from the ceremony in Logan Square to the reception in Wicker Park. No bourgeois limousines for this couple. The other riders were dumbfounded. I love the juxtaposition in the top pic of the two ad signs, the sign the woman is holding and the very puzzled boy in the lower right.

All of this was going out live on a web video stream from Andy's iPhone mounted on a tripod. The young man does have a masters in computer science.

I think A and C get to Paris today, staying somewhere in the 10eme near the Gare De L'Est. Ah, to be young, in love and in Paris.                     

I Now Pronounce You

Some shots of the wedding ceremony itself, out on the lawn in Logan Square. The second picture is Emily's.

Andy and Claire called me yesterday from Amsterdam via Skype. Hanging out in Vondelpark, cycling along canals outside of town. It sounds idyllic.

I'll spare you the family shots after the wedding, then perhaps end with pictures from the reception.             

Getting Ready - The Bride, Part 2

The bride has to look good, right? It's fortunate that there are no digital pictures of Carolyn and my wedding and the snapshots (we couldn't come close to affording a photographer) are buried in a box in the basement. Carolyn looked great but I looked like a complete dork - overweight, long scraggly hair and wearing an absurd yellow tuxedo jacket. Sort of a hippie bumblebee. 

My son and daughter-in-law both looked gorgeous. In the last picture they are all put together, standing on their front porch about to walk a couple of blocks to the ceremony in Logan Square.

The first and last pictures are Emily's. The middle two are mine.                 

Getting Ready - The Bride, Part 1

These photos were all taken by my daughter, Emily, who was the other photographer at the wedding. Excellent work. This is Part 1 of the bride's preparation because it's all I had time to edit yesterday. Emily and Madeleine came over to dinner last night so you can imagine where my attention was.

Claire has the most beautiful eyes. She can levitate the entire world. And she takes makeup direction well.

By the time this post goes up they will be about to land in Amsterdam.                         

                                

Party On

Saturday weddings are most common in the US. There is usually a rehearsal for the ceremony on Friday with the wedding party, followed by a rehearsal dinner sponsored by the groom's parents. Andy and Claire weren't having any of this. There wasn't much to rehearse. The party was Popeye's Fried Chicken, salads and beer in the couple's back yard.

Above, Carolyn's brother Mel, one of the all-around nicest people I know. Down the page:

- Claire and her brother Lou, who I think bears an uncanny resemblance to the young David Byrne. Claire's father, Mike, is behind.

- my brother, John, his daughter Stephanie and my brother-in-law Mel Mark.

- Claire with her cousin Carrie on the left and her mother Ramona on the right. I do not know the woman on the far right. I'm just the photographer.

- second cousins Olivia Kruse and Madeleine face off in baby wrestling. Madeleine, having the weight advantage, goes for the rip-yer-bib-off hold.

This could go on for a while.                          

Love, Chicago Style

Today is the big day. Yesterday afternoon, Andy, Claire and I walked from their home to the Logan Square Comfort Station to check out the space, light and angles (the weather is absolutely perfect). We hadn't even gotten off their front porch before this stuff started. It's okay. I think it's a really good match.

Wedding ceremony today at five, party at seven. Transportation between the two, including the bride and groom, is on the CTA Blue Line. What a photo op.