The wedding could best be described with one word.

Hot.

(I refer to the temperature of the air).

I don’t know if that word (hot) captures all of the grandeur, beauty, joy and love that abounded at the big wedding, but it was most certainly hot while all that other stuff happened. I’m not complaining, I’m just wondering if your memory is affected by heat. If it is, I can’t remember.

The wedding was between Ben and Jeannette, who, according to God’s plan for marriage, are now one: JeanBen. TennBen. Bennette. And I had the honor of renting a tuxedo for the event, sitting at a head table, driving from church to hall to church, to hall, to hall again, to church, to hotel, to church. Actually, Emily did most of the driving. She’s a good wife who thoughtfully left all the perspiration to me. She may have sweated too, but as far as I’ve been told, girls don’t sweat. She was working hard, though. If she did sweat, it was because she was lifting candle stands and various flowers. I was sweating because I was sitting around wearing 9 layers of tuxedo. This didn’t help the heat situation.

But I’m not complaining (I’m really not!). I’m just saying that it was delightfully warm. Warm enough for cake to melt and flowers to burst into flame, both of which actually took place. The temperature condition was not helped by the church building. A beautiful place, it was constructed in an era when stained glass technology was at its pinnacle and air conditioning was considered witchcraft. They have not upgraded since 1926. But they did make sure that these enormous stained glass windows had at least a 2″ opening to allow fresh air in. Or maybe it was just to let air out, only to be replaced with the stench of warm humans. I’m not sure.

I was honored to be a part of it. I really was. It was, in my book, one of the finest weddings ever. Someone said “it really set the bar high”, to which I agree. If a wedding could be given an award, the JBenn wedding would get a plaque that said something like “You Work To Be the BEST”. It really was nice. The best. Second only to mine and Emily’s wedding, which did not have stained glass but did have plenty of air conditioning. That’s just the way it worked out. Nonetheless, I truly was honored to be part of this wedding. It’s so great to see a friend “tie the knot”. And I’m not talking about the rope that holds his bumper on.

The reality is that I would sweat quite a bit for these people. I would stand in the same place with cardboard-soled shoes for days on end, smile for the photographer until my teeth hurt, walk up and down and up an aisle as much as needed, break into a church library with a dull steak knife, drive hither and yon to transport flowers and yes — soak my undershirt to the point of flammability.

I love these people and would pretty much do whatever needed to be done. And this shall continue long after the tux is returned. And probably burned.