Geoff and Jenn's Ireland '99: Day Eight

Today was the big wedding day, and what a day it was! Knowing that the women would take the morning prettifying themselves, Bryn and I headed up for a quick walk on the top of Howth Head. We were joined only by a young gal in full uniform atop a beautiful gelding. From our perch on top of the Head, we could see across Dublin Bay and even could make out Dole/Peters Island (aka Dalkey Island) from the day before. The heather was in beautiful bloom (as were the nasty stinging nettles), making for a great chance to take lots of pictures. Mark and Tanya could not have asked for a more beautiful day for their wedding.

Howth Head -- If you look very closely, in the far distance above the house, you can see the faint outline of Dalkey Island from the previous day. The knob of the Martello Tower is also visible.

*Bryn and Heather*

Bryn and I rushed back, put on our tuxes (complete with accurately tied bowties) and the four of us took some pictures in the B&B’s front garden. We scrambled into our little Opel (making quite a sight) and then headed off for Trinity college.

*How is that for expression?*

*Ah! The Women!*

*Oh! How to fit two women in formal wear into the backseat of the western hemisphere's smallest car...*

Vote Peters-Dole for '2000
(thanks Bryn and Susan for the photo!)

*On sale, mens tuxes, $199*

*We *own* this town!*

We made it to Trinity, starved, and luckily Tanya was a bit late in arriving, giving us a moment to scarf down some sandwiches. All of the American tourists had also assembled in front of the chapel to take snapshots of this traditional Irish wedding. The irony was quite funny.

Now, I should say at this point that Mark and Tanya’s wedding was far and away, above and beyond, the most regal, fairy tale wedding I (and most, if not all, of the people I talked to) have ever experienced. The wedding seriously went off the charts in its level of regality, extravagance and choreography. Everything was planned to be the very noblest one could possibly imagine it to be. It terms of flair, nothing matches it. For the variety of American hicks like myself, we all seemed a bit out of sort with the grandiose of it all. Many thanks and congratulations goes to Tanya and Mark for pulling off such a majestic and magnificent event. It will be a day to remember not just for Mark and Tanya, but for all of our lives.

*Trinity Chapel*

The wedding ceremony in the chapel went off without a hitch, Tanya made her grand appearance beautifully so. The chapel was quite impressive as well.

Afterwards, Bryn, Susan, Jenn and I headed down to Powerscourt for the reception. Along the way, we listed to the all gaelic radio station “R Na G” where we heard something like: “Frkush sleck ya mleckhoney, je keek myeh SUMO WRESTLING na svora slah toney.” We later heard “fireworks”, leading us to the conclusion that some country fair was imminent.

We were greeted at Powerscourt by servants holding trays of champagne as we exited the car. Powerscourt is one of the premiere estates in the country and has a most amazing set of gardens. We all rambled through the gardens sipping our champagnes waiting for the bride and groom to make another grand entrance in Mark’s father’s vintage 1929 Rolls Royce. (Didn’t I tell you that this wedding topped all charts on the “grandness” scale?)

*The view from Powerscourt*

*Does she have any clothes on?! Jenn in one of the secret Powerscourt gardens*

Eskimo Kissing in Ireland
(Astute Observers: bonus if you can tell me how this picture is actually impossible)

Getting some last minute fatherly advice...
(Hint on bonus to the left -- study the differences!)

After oodles of pictures, we retired to the estate house where the reception dinner awaited us. While waiting for dinner to appear, I talked with Bryn, Dan Sha-corky, and Pajor about who one can learn more from – one with whom you resonate with (their vector has both similar magnitude and direction) or one who’s direction is either orthogonal or inverse of you. Dan made a convincing argument for orthogonal/inverse to which I conceded. I still maintained that the explosion of resonance though can be more incredible, and furthermore, that I strive not as much to learn about myself as for the explosion of resonance. (I had to put something down about the variety of provoking discussions I had that day with the Purdue folks).

Dinner, as to be expected, was excellent, and the open bar made it even more so! Luckily there were enough Irish people at our table to guide us through the array of silverware and glassware (after a few mishaps in guessing which glass was for water). They then cleared the tables and set up for the dancing, which went late (by Irish standards) into the night. There was a traditional Irish band and a caller who helped us through a variety of traditional Irish dances (they were MUCH fun!). There also was a DJ who took over every now and then to play various pop songs from the past 20 years (ABBA, yahoo!). Bryn did the elvis split, while I tried the John Travolta to Dance Fever. It was quite funny to see the expressions on the Irish caller and his wife whenever the music switch from organized traditional gaelic dancing to the chaotic flailing of pop dancing.

The drive back late at night was long and arduous, as our bodies ached from the partying and dancing.


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