John and Amber's wedding

One of my last single friends tied the knot last weekend. He and his bride brought together a ton of fun people from across the country for a spectacular event. Friday started with a round of golf at Moss Ridge where I was lucky enough to share a cart with my buddy Brian. He has been in LA for a few years now and is working on "Heroes", one of my favorite shows. It was great to catch up and make each other laugh a bit. I miss that dude. That evening brought us to the church to rehearse the next day's affair.

p4 John and Amber Rehearsal

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Following the rehearsal, we traveled to the McLaughlin residence for an exuberant shindig. We were joined by some sensational friends and the couple of honor gave personalized gifts to the wedding party. Amber explained that John had put a ton of time and thought into his gifts of custom made beer mugs relating personally to each recipient. Mine was a picture of an epic night in Chicago when John lived on Armitage and several of us joined in an enthusiastic lip sync of Fred Bear. It also made reference to the nick name "Hic-Hop" that John had given me years earlier when I was a fan of both country and rap music (eh, still am, aren't I mysterious?). We had a really fun table and Jen caught a few pictures of laughter brought on by Brians tendency to say REALLY loud what most people are thinking, a British pronunciation of "ad-VER-tisment" and (I am told) my gay laugh. Hey, it seemed funny then.

p5 John and Amber Dinner

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Of course, a beautiful ceremony. It went off without a hitch and produced Mr. and Mrs. John McLaughlin, man and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Lallo looked pretty dern good too I must say.

p6 John and Amber Ceremony

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The festivities culminated with an opportunity to celebrate the new couple and the beginning of their adventure together. Brian had a slam dunk of a Best Man toast (while minding his bookmark - wink, wink Brain) and we were once again blessed with a spectacular table to party with. The reception eventually gave way to dancing and we felt this milestone was worthy of the famed (or infamous) Kid and Play kick step. John's wedding-ready state of health seemed to survive the tomfoolery a tad better than mine. I have concluded that I need to stop dancing at weddings or get in a shape other than pear-shaped unless I plan to mar someones special day with a dancefloor collapse.

Congratulations Jamber (check out the pics to get that reference) and thank you for including me in your special day! We hope you are having a wonderful honeymoon.

p7 John and Amber Reception

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