Weddings

Anyone ever attended on conducted by a wizard ? Seriously? I did this last weekend in Santa Barbara. One of my x law partners-in his 60s-is sort of a free spirit in the "Burning Man" sense-in fact "burning man" was referenced throughout the "ceremony". I should have known that something was "up" when the invitation said "dress for fun". When Barb and I showed up we couldn't find any "church" at the address given to us. After driving around my wife says "there's a bunch of people in an alley over there". Sure enough the wedding was in an alley near a large 5 story tower of sorts that I think was connected to a hotel. The groom-my pal-is from a Scottish heritage. He was dressed in a full kilt wearing a tam on his head, etc. Lots of alcohol flowed although my friend does not drink. His bride is a skipper for large sailboats. She sails them back after they finish the race to Hawaii and other areas around the world when the owners are tired and don't want to sail home. She too is a free spirit. Suddenly she appears in the 4th floor window of the tower in a strange gown with a huge-I mean huge-hat at least 4 ft wide that covers the open window. She too is a free spirit in the "burning man " sense. After most people have consumed a large amount of booze the groom disappears. Suddenly without warning the groom and bride "appear" at the top of the open tower. Here is where it gets weird. With them is a person dressed like the Wizard of Oz-long cape and an enormous pointed hat that seems to reach far into the sky. He begins to read from this huge book of poetry-nothing that you normally hear at a church wedding. Suddenly, he looks down at the crowd below in the alley and proclaims: "now for the magic" He takes a long stick and goes "schizam bam!!" and strikes a wooden table (the "bam"and then pronounces "you are married". Then the bride and groom throw rose petals down upon the crowd in the alley. A band in the alley begins to play rock music and we eat and dance along with fellow passerbys who gathered in the alley wondering what the heck was going on.

Best wedding I ever attended.