I danced with my husband last night
Sep. 22nd, 2008 01:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamadebWe were at a wedding. It was a beautiful wedding - it was held in a country club in Long Island. The bride's reception was pool-side, the bride seated on a fainting couch between her mother (who looked very young) and her mother-in-law, who. Wow.
Stole the show. Seriously. The colors were black and champagne, so all the women - friends, sisters, cousins, grandmothers, mothers - in the wedding party wore long black satin dresses, some with champagne trim. Chaya, the groom's mother, is my friend. And she outshone everyone but the bride - tailored black dress with a champagne rosette, her hair (yes, hair. Neither mother covered their hair.) done perfectly, and the biggest, happiest smile. In fact, the only smile as happy was that of her son. Most bridegrooms I've seen have been happy, but nervous, or overwhelmed, or even frightened. Not Ari. Ari was just *happy*. She greeted everyone, she chatted with everyone. At one point, she sat on that couch with her feet stretched out and crossed in front of her - revealing that she'd chosen shoes from her wardrobe (the soles were a giveaway.) When my husband took a picture of a bunch of us, she ran to join us. The other mother was...there. Poor thing.
Anyway, there was an outdoor chuppah in perfect weather, and it was done beautifully, even adding some Sphardi details in deference to the bride's family. And then we were inside, and there was dinner and dinner was delicious (I'd made certain to eat very lightly from the buffet at the bride's reception). We sat with the rest of the chumash class plus three very bored husbands. The other women with husbands left them home (one because he's in mourning. His mother died on Tisha b'Av.)
It was funny - no sooner had we finished our starters than we heard the band start, and we knew the bride and groom were entering the ballroom. And as one, we all stood up and ran to the respective sides (with a line of potted plants between them) to dance. And I think we danced for over an hour - long enough that the salad course came and went. I got my dance with the mother of the groom. And it was, well, tremondous.
But. Chaya and Shimon are very modern in outlook, and it was clear that the bride's family concurred. Because after the main course, the potted plants were cleared away, and the band played slow dance music, and the bride and groom started dancing together.
I know. I KNOW. And it was adorable - the way they looked at each other. Pure amazement and joy, you know? And other couples started dancing.
And. We've attended less-observant weddings in the past, with only mixed dancing, and I wouldn't dance. I can't dance very well, and I felt very uncomfortable. But last night, conditions were right, and the parents were all dancing, and.
I slow-danced with Jonathan last night. Right there on the dance floor. For the first time in 17 years - since our own wedding. And I got to stare up into his eyes, which something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and it was wonderful. I don't know if we'll ever get that chance again, and I'm glad we took it.
Because I danced with my husband last night.
Stole the show. Seriously. The colors were black and champagne, so all the women - friends, sisters, cousins, grandmothers, mothers - in the wedding party wore long black satin dresses, some with champagne trim. Chaya, the groom's mother, is my friend. And she outshone everyone but the bride - tailored black dress with a champagne rosette, her hair (yes, hair. Neither mother covered their hair.) done perfectly, and the biggest, happiest smile. In fact, the only smile as happy was that of her son. Most bridegrooms I've seen have been happy, but nervous, or overwhelmed, or even frightened. Not Ari. Ari was just *happy*. She greeted everyone, she chatted with everyone. At one point, she sat on that couch with her feet stretched out and crossed in front of her - revealing that she'd chosen shoes from her wardrobe (the soles were a giveaway.) When my husband took a picture of a bunch of us, she ran to join us. The other mother was...there. Poor thing.
Anyway, there was an outdoor chuppah in perfect weather, and it was done beautifully, even adding some Sphardi details in deference to the bride's family. And then we were inside, and there was dinner and dinner was delicious (I'd made certain to eat very lightly from the buffet at the bride's reception). We sat with the rest of the chumash class plus three very bored husbands. The other women with husbands left them home (one because he's in mourning. His mother died on Tisha b'Av.)
It was funny - no sooner had we finished our starters than we heard the band start, and we knew the bride and groom were entering the ballroom. And as one, we all stood up and ran to the respective sides (with a line of potted plants between them) to dance. And I think we danced for over an hour - long enough that the salad course came and went. I got my dance with the mother of the groom. And it was, well, tremondous.
But. Chaya and Shimon are very modern in outlook, and it was clear that the bride's family concurred. Because after the main course, the potted plants were cleared away, and the band played slow dance music, and the bride and groom started dancing together.
I know. I KNOW. And it was adorable - the way they looked at each other. Pure amazement and joy, you know? And other couples started dancing.
And. We've attended less-observant weddings in the past, with only mixed dancing, and I wouldn't dance. I can't dance very well, and I felt very uncomfortable. But last night, conditions were right, and the parents were all dancing, and.
I slow-danced with Jonathan last night. Right there on the dance floor. For the first time in 17 years - since our own wedding. And I got to stare up into his eyes, which something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and it was wonderful. I don't know if we'll ever get that chance again, and I'm glad we took it.
Because I danced with my husband last night.
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Date: 2008-09-22 08:59 pm (UTC)