Thug Wedding

Last night I attended the wedding of one of my oldest friends, Big Daddy Thug.

There was some concern in some corners (not this one) that the event would be a little too nontraditional. I mean, in his professional life he goes by the moniker Big Daddy Thug, for crying out loud. And his bride is heavily involved with his ThugLit.com, going by the name Lady Detroit. On top of that, a while back it was told that the officiant for the ceremony was going to be a magician.

It turned out to be one of the best weddings I've ever been to. The wedding was great not because of the beautiful setting, the beautiful bride, the well dressed groom, the fun people invited to share the event or the delicious food, though those were certainly all wonderful elements.

This was one of the best weddings I've ever been to because it was so genuine. It was genuine to the personality and tastes of the Bride and Groom and to their love for each other. While it didn't include all of the formal traditional elements of a wedding, it was clear they didn't mean to mock those rituals. There were vows and rings, formal attire and processions in and out. The magician--who it turns out performs at Coney Island swallowing fire, swords and light bulbs--could've passed for a Midwestern minister, with his suit and sweater vest. It was soon clear that he has obviously done this before.

But though one of the four readings was from the Bible, there was no church or mass and the other three readings included a children's book and a very thoughtful consideration of modern marriage by Kurt Vonnegut. (I'm trying to track that down online, it was from Man Without a Country.)

All of the readings--Vonnegut and the bible passage done first and last by the magician , the children's book done by the Bride's brother and another done by the Groom's sister--were all very poignant, touching and read very well, with feeling and love.

The vows were appropriately written by the Bride and Groom who I'm sure have seldom written in this genre, let alone read it aloud in public.

The first dance was The Story, by Brandi Carlile. It will be featured in the next post as the song of the day. One of the Bride's brothers sang a song at the reception, accompanying himself with guitar and was followed by the Bride's sister singing while another brother played guitar alongside. Both were very done very well.

The groom made an announcement after entering that he and his new wife would not be responding to clinking of glasses with a kiss. That response would only come if someone sang a love song. Though only one table did sing, I'm proud to say it was ours and we probably tallied a dozen over the course of the night.

Favors on the table were as fitting as could be: books. Classic paperbacks from Shakespeare and Pride and Prejudice to Sherlock Holmes and classic American Ghost Stories. Everyone got to pick one on the way out.

Big Daddy Thug is one of my oldest friends. And though we share as many differences as similarities in tastes and personal characteristics and don't see each other nearly enough, I couldn't have been more happy and proud for him and his new Bride. They are a couple, now with a marriage, that is based on a very genuine and well understood love and respect for each other. I could not wish them more happiness than I already do.

I think the wedding was an absolute home run. Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Thug.