Originally published in BikerTrash. By Amy Edgerly.
What I Did On My Summer Vacation Part 2: The
Wedding
Amy Edgerly
Photos
At the end of my last story or “journal entry”, I asked the question “What could possibly be better than that?” referring to a day of riding with people you love in beautiful scenery and weather. Well, I’m here to answer my own question: The same kind of day, only with a biker wedding included!!
I was thinking of writing the wedding story as it might appear on the social page of a newspaper: The bride wore a floor-length satin gown, with an a-line skirt and spaghetti straps, and mother of pearl beads on the bodice. The groom wore a dark suit jacket and slacks, white shirt, red tie and a red rose boutonnière. The couple was riding a 2001 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic, with Blue and Silver Ice color scheme on the fenders, tank, faring and luggage compartments, stock chrome throughout the body, with a “Just Married” sign attached to the back. Absolutely perfect for the season…” What do you think?
That’s a pretty accurate account of what the bride and groom were wearing and riding. The best feature though, was that most of the guests were also riding!
My sister Heidi married the love of her life, Jeff on June 9th, 2001 at 1:00 pm at the home of Mike and Chris in West Omaha, Nebraska. My mother was Heidi’s matron of honor and Mike was Jeff’s best man. A Justice of the Peace, who delivered a beautiful and moving ceremony, joined the couple in holy matrimony, or should I say hitched them?
I dare say there were not very many dry eyes in the house by the time it was over. It was especially touching for me to see my sister so happy, after so many years of hearing her claim that she would never marry. The man she finally married is someone she has been a good friend with for years, who also grew up in our hometown. But timing had never been right until recently. It is so nice to add Jeff and his children to our family. (I think I need a tissue now all over again * sniff*) It is always special to see a couple so happy and in love together.
But here’s what I consider the best part of when bikers get married. Then you get to go riding!! So, after the nuptials were signed, sealed, and delivered, we adjourned to the front yard where about 20 bikes awaited their respective riders. After blowing bubbles on the bride and groom as they made their way to their Ultra Classic “limo”, we all jumped on our respective rides, gave the neighborhood a rumble of a serenade so-long and rode off to the after-wedding/before-reception party at Boondocker’s. This is a nice little neighborhood bar on West Fort Street.
It was another gorgeous Nebraska summer day, and the groom was so happy and I guess feeling his oats a bit, and made the ride without his helmet! Tink the renegade! Who knew?
All the guests and wedding party were assembled at Boondocker’s while Tink’s mother, Judy, went to her house to make last minute preparation of everything for the reception. While at Boondocker’s we began the pre-party and took pictures, talked, laughed and cried and reminisced about the wedding that had just taken place.
Somewhere amid all that discussing the bride took the customary walk from one end of the bar to the other — ON the bar, to shoot the tequila rose waiting for her at the end in the hand of the bar’s owner. And then, at last it was time to go to the reception celebration party at Judy & Gary’s.
Everyone rode over to the reception. We had earlier in the week been lending a hand in the “construction” for this reception. We had a tent in the back yard in case it rained, (which it didn’t, thank God). All the tables were set up in the tent, as was Joey’s musical gear, as he was the featured entertainment for the day. The groom’s son, Pony, also DJ’d during Joey’s breaks.
At this point, it was the time to make merry and truly celebrate the event! We ate, drank, and passed out Jell-o shots, which disappeared way too quickly, danced, and generally partied our butts off. More folks who hadn’t made the wedding showed up at the reception and the place really was swinging! Everyone just had a blast. It was a real kick seeing old friends from high, without having to go to a dang reunion thing.
After the sun had long been to bed, we decided we should probably head that way too. Heidi and Jeff took off for their bridal suite somewhere to rest up for their trip to Cancun the following day. We also would be leaving Omaha the next day, heading Northeast, Laconia bound. Our stay in Nebraska was just about perfect, and couldn’t have ended on a better note.
And like the newly married couple, new adventures await us, just
on down the road….
Part 3