#GoingAlward

Back in December, we'd gotten a wedding invitation... who do we know that's getting married? Turned out to be my cousin B, on my mother's side. He's about 10 years younger than me, so we never really "hung out" as equals; we were just cousins who saw each other all the time... if that makes sense. 

I stuck the invite in my binder (I carry that binder everywhere!) and forgot all about it.  After our Gasparilla weekend, and how lovely that was, I thought that we should go. It would be nice for the two of us to go out as a couple, NOT for a race, and it would be great to see all of the cousins again (including me, there are eight of us). So, I told Hubby that we'd go, and he groused and grumbled, as I expected him to, but I told him basically just shut up and go, I'd make it worth his while. 

Hits the nail RIGHT on the head for Hubby!

Over the next 2 months, I found a really cute dress (the dress code was Cocktail Attire) and got Hubby a nice new button-down (he hates them!). I ended up getting some really cute shoes on Amazon of all places (this is a bad thing; now that I see how much fashion Amazon has to offer, I'm shopping all the time!). New shoes, dress, and shirt for him all were about $50! My dress was actually a clearance dress, and after a great JC Penney coupon, I got it for (no shit), $15! 

I got a great room at Fairfield Inn & Suites in Tampa. It was a very nice room. It had a cool layout where the bathroom was the first area of the room, and then had a long hall to get into the bedroom area. 

Looking towards the door from the sleeping area

There was a cool closet/kitchenette area. It had a coffee maker, mini fridge, and microwave, and a closet on the other side. A small portion of the closet was an actual closet, then there was a small hook.

Microwave, Coffee Station, Fridge

Hanging Rod, Small closet with hangers, iron & board

The room itself is nice and spacious, with a king bed, a big mirror, a desk, and table with TV.
 

Bed (dual nightstands), table w/mirror, TV/Dresser, Desk w/Desk Chair

Front view of desk, TV, and table area

After a lovely afternoon, we got all gussied up and made our way to the Florida Aquarium, where the wedding and reception would be held. 

We got there early and parked at Channelside Parking (final cost $10) and walked over to the location. We were quickly kicked out and told that they would let us know when we could come in for the event. Kinda wish I knew that... I would have stayed in the car!

Hubby spent the entire time grousing about having to wear a long-sleeve button-up AND a sports coat, so I told him to shut up and I'd go put the jacket back in the car, and he could spend the evening in only the button-up shirt. He was okay with that, but was still expecting the evening to suck. 

Dream Pairs Tiffany Heels from Amazon

My $15 Clearance Dress

Yeah... I look like a lacy green potato

We stood around in the foyer area for a while, then saw my mother and my aunt show up. We talked with them for a bit, and they said that my brother and his wife were going to attend (originally, they weren't going to come, due to financial reasons). Then we saw my cousin J and my cousin T show up, who had just come from the Hooters down the road. Sadly, they said that their brother K or his family would not be attending tonight. This really bummed me out, because - since my brother came - we could have taken another group cousin photo with all eight of us... oh well. 

Just as my feet were about to scream at me for standing in heels (and cheap heels, at that!) for so long, we were soon led through "Ocean Commotion" and "Dragons Down Under" areas (shuttered for the night), where the centerpiece was a MASSIVE aquarium in the Coral Reef Room. The entire wall was aquarium. I was blown away.

Okay, that's an amazing backdrop!

The ceremony itself was very small, not super-religious, but definitely over-the-top in terms of what the aquarium provided. At the point the minister asked, "are there any objections?" two penguins came racing down the aisle towards B and R (bride and groom). Very cute, but hokey.

I love the strings of lights, too

And after the minister introduced "Mr. and Mrs. A," the wall behind them exploded in a million bubbles, creating a Bubble Curtain. Again, very cool, but hokey.

Eventually the entire wall was bubbles

It's a Fame-Whore Shark

I'm sure it made for great photos though. The huge shark sure seemed to like hanging out there!

Once the ceremony was over, guests were able to walk around the Aquarium to view the exhibits, or make their way to the upstairs to the Mosaic Center for light refreshments.

Even though my feet were still hurting from these cheap shoes, we decided to walk around. (Standing hurts more!). We walked around the Sting Ray area, but it was shuttered for the evening, and the rays had gone to bed. We went over to the Bays and Beaches area, and there... we discovered... CLETUS.

Sssssshhhhhh, Cletus is sleeping

Cletus is a Goliath Grouper, and in the 10 minutes we were over there, he never moved from this spot!

According to the signage next to his aquarium:

• He's been at the aquarium since 1995
• He's about 29 years old
• He weighs 275-300 pounds, on his "skinny days" 
• He's 2 inches shy of 6 feet long, and 50 inches around
• He loves to eat herring, sardines, ladyfish, & mackerel
• He also loves sandbaths, bubbles, and his diver friends

A better angle to see Cletus

After our visit with Cletus, we headed back over to the Mosaic Center, picked up our table assignments, and then mingled with family.

Mom (love the Table Assignment in the bra!), Sister-in-Law, Brother, Aunt

Once we sat down, though, and got a good look at our table assignments, I had to giggle. My brother's name is Jess. Hubby's name starts with J as well (it's a secret!). My bother's last name is NOT Weber (because Weber is my married name). We were all rightfully confused as to who was supposed to sit next to to me. All four of us (me and my hubby, my brother and his wife) ended up sitting at the same table, so no big deal there (they didn't have an assignment; they kind of crashed the wedding).

So... am I sitting with my husband or my brother?

We were seated at the "family, but not really important family" table, along with other cousins T and J, my mom, my aunt (T and J's mom), and a lady accompanied by two men - none of us had any idea who these three people were! When we all sat down, there was a champagne flute at each seat. Hubby and I don't drink, neither do my aunt or my mother. Mystery woman seized them like it was the only beverage on Earth and dropped all 5 in about 2 minutes.  She's a keeper...

Very early in the seating, and you can see all champagne is gone from the table

Mom, Cousin T, and Cousin J (two sons of my aunt)

As usual, there was a lot of pomp and circumstance, the bride and groom came in. There were speeches and toasts. One thing that was very touching though, was that B was able to dance with his paternal grandmother. His mother - my aunt (my mother's brother's wife) - had died about 5-6 years ago from Lupus, and her absence was widely felt. Grandma was very emotional during the Mother of the Groom dance, and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house when the dance was through.

Grandma could hardly keep it together

The meal was lovely; a buffet of pretty typical wedding food. The bar was open, which led to a lot of drunk people (including my two cousins, as seen in an earlier photo, and the Mystery Trio at our table!)

At one point we were able to get all of The Cousins together (minus K) for a group photo. Unfortunately, NO ONE had a good damn camera with them (where was the wedding photographer!), so they all came out grainy and crappy. This was one of my favorites though... T (the one grabbing me) has always been my favorite out of all of them!

Cousin K, Cousin L, Cousin J, Cousin B, Jess, Cousin T and Me!

We were also able to get a great one with The Cousins, the bride, the Grandmother, my sister-in-law, and my uncle Skip (my mother's brother, B's dad)

Bride, Cousin K, Uncle S, Grandma, Cousin L, Cousin B, Cousin J, Brother, Sister-in-Law, Cousin T and ME!

I took a moment to dip out and head to the ladies room to prepare a special surprise for Hubby. No, not that... okay, yeah, that, but also something else."Our Song" is Enter Sandman by Metallica. There's a long story there, but it's not pertinent to the story at hand. I put this song on my phone before we left home, and I brought a pair of Bluetooth earbuds with me. In the ladies' room, I queued up the song, got the earbuds powered up and connected to the phone, then headed back to the reception. When the DJ called for all the married coupled to come up on the dance floor, we headed up that way. I told him to put the earbud in his ear (of course, he was totally perplexed), I put the other one in mine, and then I hit play. Seeing the look on his face go from perplexed to understanding to love was amazing. We never had a wedding reception, so this was a nice way to be able to dance to our song that way. It was probably the best 2 minutes of the entire night.

After the song the DJ was playing was over, he played a little game. Anyone married a year or less, step off the dance floor. 2 years or less, 5 years or less. He went on and on. 20 years or less, left only Hubby and me, and the parents of the bride. They had been together for 42 years (hubby and I will celebrate 22 years in June). The DJ then asked them for advice for the new couple, as well as the couples who left the dance floor. I don't remember the advice, but I was so proud of us, for being runner's up in the best competition.

After this, the party really began to step up - it got louder and darker; I needed some air, so we headed out to the balcony and ended up bullshitting with my brother and sister-in-law for a while. At one point, The Mystery Trio came out, and headed to an upstairs balcony one level above us. It was chained off, but rules be damned!They stayed up there for about 10 minutes, and then came back downstairs. Mystery Guy 1 damn sure looked like he was adjusting his fly. Mystery Guy 2 looked like he was patting his hair down. And I'm pretty sure Mystery Lady was wiping her mouth. (At this point, we were all pretty sure Mystery Lady was Mystery Hooker).

The American Victory ship (Mariners Memorial Museum) and the view beyond

Hubby and I went back inside and sat for a little while until we could gather all the family at the fun photo booth. As has always been in life growing up, my brother and I tried to outdo each other in the photos. (My brother is the large, hairy guy... not the just hairy guy).

Hubby, Mom, Aunt, sister-in-Law, Brother, Me

The result of that photo shoot

Then it was just Hubby and I. We never pose well, so the first 3 are awkward. Then I shouted Prom Pose! and the final one was cheeky and cute.

Probably the first dressed up couple photo we've had in over a decade!

The party by now was in full swing - loud, dark, drunk - so it was time for us to leave. We said our goodbyes to everyone and finally, we were gone, back on our way to the hotel for the evening. I couldn't wait to peel that dress - and the 87 layers of Spanx - off of my tired old body!

Sunday, we lazed around for a while - yeah, you know what we did - then headed to Red Robin at the mall for lunch. On the way home, we made a pit stop at the Russel Stover Outlet for leftover Easter Candy ($25 for TONS of candy!), and made it home safe and sound.

I'm so glad I decided we should go. It was a lovely weekend that didn't involve parenting or running or any other types of responsibilities. It was just him, and me, and being together.