C'est La Vie

Has anyone ever been to a wedding reception at The Publick House? Very beautiful, especially at night. A pre-reception event was held in the barn. We had a cozy table in one of the stalls - lots of dark wood, candlelight, and flowing wine.

This was a picture perfect wedding. Beautiful bride, handsome groom, lovely church, and a historic setting for the reception. A good time was had by all, especially the younger, dancing people. The Man and I danced once, but it was starting to snow and we were anxious to head home. It was dark and slippery and we had a few hills to go over before we made it safely home.
The paparazzi were out in full force. I think everyone owns a small, hand held digital camera (myself included). I didn't bring the Nikon. I don't know why, other than the fact that we're not particularly close to the bride and groom and I knew I wouldn't be taking gobs of pictures. I missed it. Those small hand held cameras just don't do it for me anymore. I want my 50mm lens. I hate shooting with flash now. It's so harsh. And my 50mm lens lets me shoot sans flash almost all the time. Out of the 200 shots I took, I saved about 20 of them. Ten percent. The other 90 percent were blurry since the darn lens had to stay open so long. But I got a few decent pictures and I learned a bit about shooting with the camera tilted.
I get so weepy at weddings. Even when I don't really know the bride that well. This is the moment where I lose it. The father-daughter dance. Every father must dream of this moment, yet I'm sure every father dreads it. I know the Man does. We've talked about this. This letting our little girl go. Letting our little girl go off with some stranger.

Okay, that's a little dramatic.

I'm hoping we'll know her husband very well before they actually get married. And I'm sure we'll love him like our own. But he's still taking our little girl away. And that tends to lead to drama.

We have a few more years before that happens, but I bet it happens sooner than we're ready for. And I bet the dad dancing in the picture above is remembering when the woman in his arms was a little girl. Just yesterday.

That, my friends, is life.