Day: August 19, 2021

Post-Ceremony Phone Calls, Dinner, and General Celebration

After we finished with the ceremony, we called our family and friends. I had more calls to make than Matt did, plus I think he left more messages.

While he was waiting, Matt took a picture of his ring.

And his shoes.

This is my favorite picture, curtesy of Laurie.

Here’s the front view, curtesy of Burt.

Then we headed to Viva Tacoma for our take-out wedding dinner. We wandered until we found Mason Middle School (they were the mustangs) and ate while sitting on this bench. I also made a few more calls.

Burt and Laurie also got us a card and a present.

After that, back at the Elks Temple Matt and I trudged up and down the many flights of stairs looking for the answer to the clue so we could get all our stamps. Eventually we had to ask Laurie and Burt for help. I was too tired to soldier on using my own brainpower.

The Wedding Ceremony

We met up with Judge Williams and went to his courtroom to have the ceremony. Thanks to Laurie and Burt for taking these photos. They weren’t just the witnesses, they were the official photographers too!

Signing the paperwork. Burt and Laurie signed too, but there are no pictures of that.

Ring time.

Ceremony done.

Rings on.

Official photo.

Official photo with witnesses. Thanks, Judge Williams!

On our way out, Judge Williams told us that he lives in Tacoma and has a daughter named Sienna. He owns a Toyota truck, but it’s neither the Tacoma or the Sienna. I quite enjoyed that tidbit.

The Big Party!

Patricia and Matt were married on August 19, 2021, in Tacoma, Washington, and they are having a big party to celebrate!

Celebrations in the time of coronavirus…

…are tricky. We planned this party before the Delta variant started surging. Because it has, and because there is still a global pandemic going on, we will follow CDC guidelines and ask everyone to wear a mask indoors. 8/26 update! Oregon guidelines require masking outdoors if six feet of distance cannot be kept. Please wear your mask outdoors if that is the situation.

We’ve switched some activities planned as indoor activities to the back yard and we will change things up as things develop. We are fully vaccinated and hope that, if you are eligible, you are also fully vaccinated. With that said, let’s get into the details of the Big Party!

When: 9/11/21

Where: The Orange Door (Patricia and Matt’s house)

Time: 2:00 p.m. onward

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room.

We planned a big party on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. Not ideal, but that’s what we did. As the New York Times said in 2005, “Sept. 11 is a strange, unclassifiable presence on the calendar. It is not an official holiday, and yet it is a day that arouses emotions far more powerful than the half-remembered sentiments behind Columbus or Labor Day.” September 11, 2001 was a big deal in the US, and we will have a way for people to share their memories of that day, if they want to.

Read on for the rest of the run of show!

The Prize Drawings

We have a party passport ready for every attendee. Each activity you take part in earns you a stamp in your passport and one ticket to enter into one of four different drawings for a gift card to one of our favorite Portland places. Plus, there are other opportunities to earn tickets. Gift card drawings will take place throughout the party. You need not be present to win.

  • $50 gift card to New Seasons. Drawing at 4:00 p.m.
  • $50 gift card to McMenamins. Drawing at 6:00 p.m.
  • $50 gift card to Powell’s City of Books. Drawing at 8:00 p.m.
  • $50 gift card to the Portland Game Store. Drawing at 10:00 p.m.

Activities

Ongoing Activities:

Available from 2:00 p.m. onward.

Trivia (indoors or outdoors)—Answer 20 questions written by Patricia and Matt about random (though mostly person-specific) minutia. Much like Patricia’s 10 Years in Portland Pub Quiz Party.

Art (indoors)—Make art with a variety of supplies. Much like Matt’s Graduation & Birthday Art Party and the Art Party.

Photo Scavenger Hunt (indoors and outdoors)—Search the Orange Door and the surrounding block to find and take pictures of a variety of items. Much like the scavenger hunt party Patricia had back around 2004 before she owned a digital camera, so there’s no record of it.

Hanging out (indoors and outdoors)—We’re not drill sergeants. You can just chill. You don’t even have to stand. We’ve got chairs and everything.

Time-based Activities

3:00 Bingo! (outdoors)—Bring your quarters! Use them to buy game boards (25¢ each) and play along as the numbers are called. You get a passport stamp for playing, and Bingo winners get an additional ticket. Much like Bingo at Rosefriend (predigital camera) and Patricia’s Birthday Bingo Party.

5:00 Bring a Song (indoors)—Are you ready to sing? Bring a song. Or a piece, if you are good at music and have a piece ready to perform. You can play your solo piece, sing a solo, sing a sing-along song, or sing with a group of people. Bring your own instrument, or we’ve got a digital piano and a TV that can pull up Karaoke songs on YouTube. If you need a CD player, tell us ahead of time and we’ll rustle something up. Much like our Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Sing-Along Party, or Patricia’s 40th Birthday Karaoke Party (and all the karaoke gatherings since.)

6:00 Shakespeare (outdoors)—Either perform or watch Act V of Wm. Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. We will have scripts and links to access PDF copies of scripts for all performers/readers. Everyone watching gets a stamp, and everyone performing earns an additional ticket. Much like our Soup and Shakespeare Party.

7:00 Board Gaming (indoors)—We’ve got gamer games like Dead of Winter, Spirit Island, and Marvel Champions; social games like Medium, UNO, and Skip-Bo; and a few trivia games. You can also bring your own games, too. We will have multiple tables available for players. Much like the regular game night we’ve been hosting forever. Everyone who plays a game earns a stamp.

Other ways to earn tickets

  • Scavenger Hunt, find all things
  • Trivia 18/20 correct
  • Vote for which anniversary we should celebrate
  • Previous attendee of 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 past parties
  • Known Matt for 5, 10, 15, 20, years
  • Known Patricia for 5, 10, 15, 20 years

But What Will Sustain Us Through This Party?

It’s a long party, so we have choices.

Drinks

  • Tap water, and even ice to put in it! (I know! So fancy!) (Also, Patricia’s favorite beverage.)(Though she likes it without ice.)
  • A variety of sodas.
  • Homemade lemonade and limeade.
  • A selection of beer picked out by a New Seasons employee who is good at that.
  • Red and white wines.
  • A signature cocktail: the Whisky Buck.

Food

  • 2:00—We’ll have platters from New Seasons including the seasonal vegetable platter, the Mediterranean platter, the charcuterie platter, and the brie and fruit platter.
  • 5:00—Casa Maya will bring us all we need for a taco/burrito bar.
  • 8:00—If people are still hungry, we’ll order pizza from Fino.

Dessert

Patricia loves cakes! So much so that she’s making three of them. Patricia doesn’t love wedding cake traditions involving two-person slicing and feeding/shoving, so there will be none of that.

Here’s what we’ll be slicing up:

  • 4:00—The Pink Cake. Chocolate cake with raspberry-tinted buttercream frosting
  • 6:00—Watergate Cake with Impeachment Frosting. Pistachio cake, pistachio buttercream, and candied pistachios.
  • 8:00—Goober Cake. Peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting, plus a few layers of chocolate ganache.

Should I RSVP?

Yes!

Yes, you should!

It will help a lot!

You can RSVP by posting a comment on this post (Patricia will need to approve the comment, so you won’t see your RSVP instantaneously), phoning, messaging, texting, or emailing Matt or Patricia, or mentioning that you are coming the next time you see either of us.

Are you registered?

We have no registry. We own a lot of stuff already. If you are coming to the party, your presence is present enough. If you are not coming to the party, good wishes (sent via vibes, text, email, or the USPS) are also wonderful.

If you are a person who really likes to celebrate things with money, you could make a donation to:

Are you coming to the party? Cool! We can’t wait to see you. Don’t forget to RSVP!

Are you sending us good wishes! That’s awesome! Thanks so much!

Pre-Wedding Things

After our walk to the glass bridge, Laurie, Matt and I visited Port Defiance Park where we ate some lunch, peered at the fort (we visited the gift shop and didn’t pay to go into the fort) and then took a walk along one of the trails.

We also went on a tour of the Elks Temple. Our tour guide was great, very enthusiastic, and we were the only people, so we could ask a lot of questions.

Then we rested and got ready for the ceremony.

We removed the boxes around our ring boxes.

Burt and Laurie drove us, so we paid for the parking. Marriage ceremonies in Washington happen after 4 p.m. You can see that we arrived right at the end of the metered parking day and paid twenty-five cents for one minute of parking.

Engagement Photos

There were a few hours left of being engaged (what I like to call instead planning a wedding) and so we used the pretty backdrop at the Bridge of Glass to take a few photos.

We had a musical interlude.

We were thwarted by the sun.

But managed to not be too squinty in this photo.

On the way back we took this timer photo that I think turned out quite nice, even with the flare.

And here we join together to create the letter looming over us.

Chihuly Bridge of Glass

After breakfast we finally told Laurie and Burt that we had lured them to Tacoma so they could be our witnesses. They were excited.

Laurie, looking for outdoor things to avoid COVID, had found the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, which was a not-far walk from our hotel. We set out to explore.

Matt and Burt and a traveler.

Looking up is imperative at the glass bridge.

Here is just a bit of what you will see.

There are also these massive sculptures.

A view of the museum.

Then you can explore this wall of glass.

I had everyone pick a favorite and pose.

Laurie’s:

Mine (it had orange):

Matt’s:

Burt’s:

I also liked this one, with the sea creatures.

Morning Walk to Mail Announcements

Though I felt like I was tempting fate to mail announcements before the ceremony, my want to get those envelopes out the door ASAP outweighed my worry about tempting fate. So I set off for the post office. Here’s what I saw along the way.

This gorgeous building, currently not occupied.

I love all the brickwork and detail.

These lovely lights.

This mural.

The actual mailing of the announcements. You can see I was nearly 14 minutes into my walk when I took this picture.

This was my favorite find.

Look at these great stairs. And landscaping!

More great muralage.

A gorgeous old Woolworth’s building. (A thing I just learned from Wikipedia while looking up the possessive situation with the Woolworth name: On October 20, 2001, the company changed names again; taking the name of its top retail performer and became Foot Locker, Inc., which Woolworth started in 1974. The corporate history of Woolworth is legally included in the history of Foot Locker, Inc., which is the legal continuation of Woolworth. Who knew? Not me!)

I thought it was interesting that Idaho ranch land was offered for sale in Tacoma.

This gorgeous quartet of ghost murals. I think a building must have come down fairly recently for that outfitting company’s to be so vibrant. That, or it is a recreation. But see that line above it? I’m leaning toward the first theory.

And more ghost murals.

Who knew that Rossell G. O’Brien started this particular tradition? Not me! (It’s slightly less interesting than the Woolworth/Footlocker connection.)

Even more muralage, this time with the building at the beginning of the post.

This gorgeous mosaic.

And finally, back at the Elks Temple, the joy that is the fifth floor.