First Dance of the Groom and the Bride

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my first ND bachelorette party. Soon after a bachelorette party comes the wedding, and this weekend, I was invited to celebrate with the bride and groom on their special day, which made this my first ND wedding.

It was an absolutely beautiful day in Carrington, ND after an absolutely horrible and stormy night in Cooperstown, ND. (4 inches of rain in one hour… not kidding). The wedding ceremony was held at one of the Lutheran Churches in town. (As most ND weddings are being that almost 40% of the population views themselves as Lutheran, the largest percentage of the population out of any state.)

While we did not attend the groom’s supper the night before, we were excited for the ceremony. (Really, I had no reason to mention that other than needed  a wayto introduce a term I had never heard of until moving to ND).



Wedding Definition #1:

Groom’s Supper: (noun) Same as a rehearsal dinner but called the groom’s supper by those in the Midwest.

I ran into a few of the bridesmaids before the ceremony as well as the bride’s personal attendant. Now, if you would have asked me a year ago what a personal attendant was in a wedding, I would have had no clue. I remember chatting with the bride a few months ago when she first mentioned this term to me. She was shocked that I had never heard of it before. For those of you as clueless as I was, here is my definition in a nutshell.

Wedding Definition #2:

Personal attendant: (noun) The position given to a close friend who is there to maintain order during the bride’s chaotic day. Her duties include straightening the bride’s train, carrying makeup and lip gloss around for touch-ups, helping her use the restroom if the gown is too large, and being available for any additional errands as needed. Synonym: bride’s slave

My first reaction when I was informed as to what the personal attendant does was stating, “You mean, this is an honor to be chosen?”

Apparently it is, and  I have no doubt that the personal attendant at this particular wedding did an excellent job.

The ceremony was beautiful with excellent personal touches throughout. Then the bride and groom said their “I d0′s” and we soon moved on to the reception and then the wedding dance.

Wedding Definition #3:

Wedding Dance: (noun) The event that is held after the wedding ceremony and the reception. Wedding dances have large amounts of guests in attendance, many of whom may have only been invited to this particular event and not necessarily the ceremony and reception. Though wedding dances are not usually open to the public, they often have random people show up, especially in smaller towns. Synonym: huge party

I have attended weddings before, but I had only been familiar with two parts of the wedding: the ceremony and the reception. When it was explained to me the purpose of the wedding dance, it made sense. If you live in a town of only about 1200 people or less, chances are you know the majority of the people in it. If you invited all 1200 people to the ceremony and reception, it would be standing room only in a typical church and there would be one heck of a bill for all the food. Having a dance open to additional guests after the food is served, allows you to include the maximum number of people on your special day.

My thoughts on the wedding dance? Wow. I don’t think I have ever danced that much in my entire life. Absolutely everyone was out on the dance floor at one point or another. And man, people in North Dakota can dance. I was twirled around in all sorts of directions praying that my dance partners had a tight enough grip on me that I wouldn’t go flying off into a table. The dance was still going when I left at 1:00 a.m. Turns out I can’t keep up with you North Dakotans.

As I collapsed into bed that night and rested my exhausted feet, I smiled when I realizied that I had two more ND weddings to attend this summer.

All in all a fabulous first ND wedding, and of course, congratulations to the beautiful bride and handsome groom. Love you both!