Oops!

Ah, don't you love weddings? Big ones, simple ones, grand ones. Like the young couple Erin and Rusty from our church who got married this summer. The church was big. The service inspiring. A horse and carriage picked up the bride at the door. The guests, who included Benny, Aunt Claudine, myself, and about 200 other people looked forward to a full sit down meal with entertainment at the wedding reception.

The three of us had been to the Trails for banquets and other events, so we drove up, parked, and went in the main entrance. We signed the guest book, put the wedding gift on the gift table. Aunt Claudine dropped her card, containing money, into the slot. Then Benny excused himself to the men's restroom while we proceeded to look for a table and to make ourselves comfortable. It was very strange. The reception certainly seemed well underway for having just started, and we couldn't seem to find anyone we knew.

Even stranger was the bride. As she stood there talking to the guests in all her glory, I realized I didn't recognize her.

"Aunt Claudine, that's the wrong bride!"

We hastily excused ourselves, retrieved the gift from the gift table. Aunt Claudine took the lid off the card box and went digging through it. After which we executed a semi-dignified retreat. When we got outside, we discovered The Trails had added on a whole new banquet room, so new it was barely completed, which they had thoughtfully hidden around the corner.

That's where our wedding reception was.

Years from now, some other couple is going to look through their guest book and wonder who the heck Jeanne and Benny Winstead and Claudine Deerr are!