Anyway, we definitely allowed guests for anybody who was single.
No, we didn't.
t /flogged out all nine excruciating iterations of the guest list
However, we did include the most ridiculously random questionnaire we could possibly concoct, and then work like hell on the seating chart for the reception -- nobody was at a table with a bunch of complete strangers (except my wee cousin who really needed to get away from her family and who
really
needed to spend an evening in the company of Jilli), we tried to spread the extroverts around to facilitate conversation at any table that looked like it might possibly lag, and we used the questionnaires to write up equally random and ridiculous conversation starters for each table:
*This table contains two people who know who the Go-Betweens are and can hum at least three of their songs
*This table contains at least two rabid Shakespeare geeks
*This table contains two people claiming to be Ultraman
*This table contains four A's fans
*This table contains at least four people who run screaming from the room at the sound of George Bush's voice
and so forth. Conversation didn't seem to lag much, nobody was discovered moping alone in a corner, and the dance portion of the evening included a pogoing duel and a spontaneous conga line, so it seems reasonable to assume that the evening didn't suck completely.
Though possibly that had more to do with the open bar and the Oz'n'Willow cake than the questionnaires.
I'm glad I'm alone in the office, because this video had me cackling out loud: Sliding Faildog
except my wee cousin who really needed to get away from her family and who really needed to spend an evening in the company of Jilli
And I hope it did her a world of good!
Love this LOLcat! (I only saw the one cat at first, but then the other four pairs of eyes became obvious at second glance.)
ETA: Oh, and if you're into existential cats speaking in ennui-filled (and badly accented) French, this is for you! ("I have no opposable thumbs, yet I oppose everything.")
And I hope it did her a world of good!
It did. It seriously, truly did. Her mom told me afterwards that she talked about it for the next year; that night was one of the highlights of her life up to that point (bookish tomboy with vaguely Goth leanings + sun-drenched, sports-culture-driven cow town = ostracism, bullying, and beatings).
That night with a tableful of grownups with much bigger freak flags than her own, all of whom were perfectly at ease with letting them fly, meant more to her than we could have guessed (we'd had no idea; we just thought she was the coolest kid we'd met in forever, so she needed to be at the cool folks' table).
nobody was at a table with a bunch of complete strangers (except my wee cousin who really needed to get away from her family and who really needed to spend an evening in the company of Jilli), we tried to spread the extroverts around to facilitate conversation at any table that looked like it might possibly lag, and we used the questionnaires to write up equally random and ridiculous conversation starters for each table:
Which is how I wound up at a table with Phil and Kim, as I recall. (I think we were the Rowdy and LOUD table or something.)
FCM: Fred Flintstone, George Jetson, Shaggy (from Scooby Doo)
It did. It seriously, truly did. Her mom told me afterwards that she talked about it for the next year; that night was one of the highlights of her life up to that point (bookish tomboy with vaguely Goth leanings + sun-drenched, sports-culture-driven cow town = ostracism, bullying, and beatings).
Oh good heavens. I didn't realize it had made that much of an impact on her. She was darling.
You know, I think the only wedding I've been to where I didn't know most of the people at my table at the reception is ALSO the only wedding I've been to where I brought a plus-one! Who was actually a female friend, because she knew the bride, too, but they weren't as close (I checked with the bride to make sure it was OK to bring her). We couldn't figure out the theory with the seating, because there were other people there we knew, but maybe it was literally about keeping me away from this one guy I used to date. (This was the year after we graduated from college, so pretty close to teen age drama!)
