Sunday morning, Mr. W and I got up early and hit the gym. We were going to take Diana’s recommendation for a nearby breakfast place first, but she and her boyfriend caught us on our way out the door and strongly suggested we eat last. They said that the last time they’d eaten at Sugar Butter Flour bakery, they were happily useless and had to come back for a nap. Hence, Mr. W and I worked up a healthy appetite which we quelched with mushroom, spinach and feta cheese crepes (me) and banana strawberry pancakes (Mr. W). While eating I got to watch a girl try to buy a floral fondant cake displayed on the counter and having to be turned down as the cashier attempted to explain to her that the display cake isn’t real, but made with paint and styrofoam.

As we got ready for the afternoon wedding, Jen came by to carpool with us. Diana made me show her all my multi-layers. Jen laughed and I think she may have taken a photo. I again announced that they can laugh all they want, but I’ll be the only one warm while the rest of them froze in oceanside fog and rain.

It didn’t rain! It was a BEAUTIFUL day in San Francisco, sun beaming directly on the green floral Shakespeare Garden, and if I hadn’t been in long sleeves, I would’ve gotten a sunburn. There was also no fog whatsoever. It was in fact so dry that my furry scarf was supercharged with enough static electricity to look like a wild cat reaching out to grab me in its deathly tight grip. There’s a photo of this somewhere in Jen’s camera. The wedding was beautiful, 7 classically dressed groomsmen with 7 bridesmaids in flowing strapless pink trained gowns, 2 flower girls, one of whom threw petals as hard as she could onto the ground as she walked and her partner threw petals straight into the faces of the ducking audience, causing laughter as they walked down the aisle. The groom was also in a classic black tux, pink vest and tie, and the bride had a jewel-lined bodice and long train. After the wedding ceremony, Jimmy and Sabrina’s photographers called individual groups in for photos. Like, “Jimmy’s family!” “Sabrina’s family!” Diana, Mel and I were in the “UCLA people!” group. Mike (“wilco“), Christi (“flip flop girl“), Dardy, Greg and Cheryl were in “bowling group!” Christi seemed rather embarrassed to be affiliated with this group, but hey, she married a member.

Since there was a few hours of time between leaving the ceremony site and getting to the Chinese seafood banquet site, a bunch of us killed time at a nearby Starbucks and goofed off, while Diana worked on her laptop there. Poor girl. Mr. W was starving and we split a garlic cheesesteak sandwich and garlic fries (we stunk!) at the ONLY other place open there, which was a cheesesteak sandwich hole-in-the-wall shop. Apparently, since the meal was in was in Yank Sing (I made a crass joke to Mr. W when we walked up to this sign) restaurant in San Francisco’s financial district at the Rincon center, on Sunday there’s like NOTHING open. Once the front doors to the restaurant opened, however, I was floored.

Banquet tables were arranged from the lobby area all the way around a large fountain that dripped rainfall from what looked like 10 floors of glass-paned offices above. We were seated at table 2, which is immediately to the right of the head table. It was dubbed the “UCLA table” according to the placecard, the back of which had a photo of Royce Hall. “Whoa, you must be important!” Christi joked, as she was in the back at the “bowling table.” We had 3 groomsmen at our table as well. There were ten courses of food, not counting wedding cake. Their cake was three tiers of beautifully detailed pink ribbons and flowers that matched their theme colors of ivory and light pink. We were stuffed.

They did play some wedding games, which I don’t think I want to do, as much as I enjoy watching them happen to other people. Case in point: Ansen (groomsman and one of Jimmy’s UCLA roommates) had told me at the Shakespeare Garden that I was in a video they were going to show at the ceremony. During the food festivities, Ansen orchestrated a game in which he called Jimmy to the front stage, and then behind him on the stage, all 7 bridesmaids plus his new wife lined up. Ansen then turned Jimmy’s back to the 8 women, explaining as Jimmy was being blindfolded that he was going to feel the hand of each person behind him, and he would have to guess which one his bride is. “If you don’t guess correctly,” Ansen warned, “We will play a video clip that, trust me, you do NOT want played in public.” I knew the clip Ansen was referring to, but I wondered how he KNEW it would be played cuz Jimmy had a chance of guessing correctly, right? As soon as the blindfold was installed, four groomsmen stopped eating in mid-bite and silently ran onstage, replacing 4 bridesmaids. Sabrina, the bride, was removed from the stage altogether. “You can feel, but DON’T GROPE,” Ansen said, as hand after hand was offered to Jimmy as the audience snickered. After all the hands were felt, Ansen asked, “Well, Jimmy? Which one is Sabrina?”
Jimmy hesitated. “I don’t think she was up there,” he said, sounding confused. “And I think there were a few men in there.” The audience laughed and started to clap, but Ansen wasn’t going to risk not showing the video he painstakingly edited.
“Guess one,” he pressed Jimmy.
“The closest would be #1, IF she’s up there,” Jimmy said, still sounding unsure and confused. #1 was indeed a female bridesmaid, but of course it wasn’t the bride. Ansen gestured for a male groomsman to trade spots with a bridesmaid and took off Jimmy’s blindfold, saying, “LOOK WHO YOU PICKED JIMMY!”
The crowd laughed and cheered as a video clip played on a projector, showing what happened at Jimmy’s birthday many years ago in SoCal at Huntington Beach’s “Joe’s Crab Shack,” in which the waitress humiliated the birthday boy by making him don a pink tu-tu, silver tinsel wig, I think he may have worn a coconut bra, and pink lacey butterfly wings. And in the video, on slow-mo and on repeated play, our boy Jimmy decked out in fairy attire holding a star wand shimmied and shook what his mama gave him. You see half my head thrown back in laughter at the lower margin.

The garter toss was uneventful, but the bouquet toss would be remembered. Diana had to be dragged from the table to participate in the bouquet toss, all the while protesting and claiming she can’t catch. Picture this: so the bouquet, on the count of 3, flies through the air toward the group of women. It arcs overhead and starts to fall. The pink and ivory bouquet nears a woman with her arms outstretched, and she is ready to catch as the bouquet makes its beeline toward her. Suddenly, a flash of two bare arms appear directly over this woman’s head and snatches the bouquet out of the air before it could land in the waiting hands. Yoink! What the heck just happened? The crowd screamed and laughed. “What happened?” I asked Mr. W, “Who got the bouquet?” Diana claims she instinctively just reached out and grabbed the flowers because she was taller than the girl in front and that she really didn’t think about it. I can’t wait to see this on video. SOMEONE HAS TO YOUTUBE IT!

A beautiful slideshow was also played during dinner, which Jimmy gave up all but 2 hours of sleep the night before to put together. It was set to 3 songs by “The Cure” which I totally associate with my UCLA NorCal friends, and the last song, “Pictures of You,” is a Jimmy classic. I was surprised to see a photo of me and Mr. W with Jimmy that I’d never seen before, and I bugged him to send me a copy. His slideshow inspired me to want to make one, too, but I don’t know where I’d display it in our scattered outdoor venue.

It was a fun evening with friends. Congrats, Jimmy & Sabrina!