G is for Green Wedding

My father and sister sang at our wedding reception. I think I did too.


When I married Carol Powell on May 15, 1999, it was not only a blending of families, it was a mixing of family sizes. My family is very small, while hers is ginormous. Since both of my parents were only children, and all of my grandparents, by that point, were deceased, this was pretty much it on my side of the ledger: (L-R) my niece Rebecca, her mother/my sister Leslie, Carol, me, my mother Trudy, my late father Les, my niece Alexandria, and her mother/my sister Marcia.

Whereas my new wife had LOTS of relatives. My mother-in-law had seven siblings, my father-in-law two. My wife had three brothers and over 30 first cousins. I, of course, had no first cousins since I had no uncles or aunts.

So when they wanted a picture of my side of the family, you might wonder: who ARE all of these people? Most of these are direct descendants of my late great aunt Charlotte, the little woman in the front right of this photo above.

My mother’s mother Gert had three siblings that reached adulthood, but only one, Ernest, who married Charlotte, had children while my mother was growing up. So even though they were a decade or more younger than my mother, my mother’s first cousins by Ernest, who died back in the 1950s, and Charlotte, were the closest child relatives she had. And even though they lived in Queens, New York City, Charlotte’s grandkids were the closest child relatives my sisters and I had, besides each other, likewise 10 years or more younger than we were. Charlotte, BTW, was the sister-in-law of Professor Irwin Corey.

So the folks in the photo are one of Charlotte’s sons (and spouse) near the center of the photo, two of her granddaughters (plus a spouse), and a couple of her great-grandkids, along with the folks in the first picture. Whereas the picture on my wife’s side was a virtual mob scene by comparison.

This is the Yates side of the family that showed up at my niece Rebecca’s wedding to Rico in 2005. There was some difficulty between the bride’s mother and the groom’s mother, who wondered why the first cousin of the bride’s grandmother should be indicated in the program. As I described here, ultimately the extended family was listed, though the bride’s uncle, i.e., I, was inadvertently left off.


Oh, at Carol’s and my reception, my father and sister sang. I think I sang one song with them, Rebecca probably performed a number or two, and even niece Alex sang Yellow Submarine with her young cousins. Leslie also sang at the wedding.

I’ve been thinking a lot about weddings because my daughter is going to be in her first one this coming month, the Pakistani event of her babysitter, which will be an elaborate affair. More on that after the fact. If you’re also planning to tie the know with your soulmate soon, you’re probably already trying to find those tungsten wedding rings for him.

The website of niece Rebecca’s band, Siren’s Crush.

ABC Wednesday – Round 7

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

40 thoughts on “G is for Green Wedding”

  1. What a lovely post for the G Day, Roger! Such fun seeing your family and your wedding day! And you do have a beautiful family — both sides! Hope your week is going well!

    Sylvia

  3. A lovely walk through your family album as your were reminiscing…
    Loved the passionate way you have introduced your family members.
    Thank you Roger.
    Cheers!!

  6. Weddings can be fun!
    I discovered the US way when I had to go to New York for my own daughter’s wedding in May this year.

  8. What better G-word than to use YOUR name with a great story! The importance of family certainly comes through in your writing. I look forward to your post on the upcoming, elaborate Pakistani event.

  10. What a great post about the Green wedding. I enjoyed the photographs and explanation about the family size and origins.

  12. Aren’t weddings and family just the best? Wonderful pictures and interesting narrative – the family tree is always intriguing.

  14. Being from a big family it is always fun to attend a wedding and get to met and catch up with old friends and talk about old times. I enjoyed the story of your wedding.

  16. Wonderful wedding pictures, Roger. Thank you so much for sharing your family with us.
    I’m sure you’re used to being part of your wife’s big family by now, but I can imagine it must have been something of a shock at first.
    It reminded me of my mother’s family. My grandmother had four sisters and a brother but only she and one sister had children, one each, until her sister’s son died, unmarried and childless, in World War II. That left only my mother on that side of her family. “The Aunties” and Uncle all lived to ripe old ages, but left no direct descendants, only, indirectly, my sister, my brothers, and me. I’m glad to be able to say we loved them all very much.

  18. Wedding memories are something you both can share. Me and Dee Dee had the ceramony and reception videotaped, so we can look back at the day as it was, especially important since some of our guests have passed on since then.

  20. Weddings are fun, that’s one place we can get all the family and relatives together. I’m from Asia, and I know Pakistani and Indian wedding have the most elaborate weddings! with a big price tag attached too.

  23. Although your family is small (like mine) I must say it’s a beautiful one! Your sisters are gorgeous! And your wife fits in perfectly…but what about you? Not so pretty! LOL Just kidding, Roger! You look very handsome and happy in your wedding photos. Sending hugs! 😀

  24. You have a lovely family. My husband too has a larger family than I do though he no-longer talks to his. We renew our vows in 4 years and I don’t think we’ll have a large turnout.

  26. A colourful, beautiful and outstanding family! You look divine! And I am absolutly sure that you have lot´s of love in this family….

    Annelie E

  28. I am also an only child, my father broke all relationships with his sister and brother, my mother had only a sister who had married and American and lived in Madison Wisc and couldn’t come to our wedding. On my husbands side was only his mother and his sister and niece. No other family. But we had a lot of friends invited.

  29. That is a nice and beautiful wedding. Was it also environmentally green? Anyway you are not an only child, Roger! Your sisters are beautiful.
    Thanks for the visit to Gouda! Have a great glorious day!

  33. Love to read your post as always. A green wedding that is awesome! And by the way, you’ve got a beautiful bride!! ^_^ When I marry my husband I was alone, my family are in the Philippines, kind of a bit lonely but what can I do? Great post Roger I appreciate you share this to us. Happy Wednesday!
    ABC Wednesday

  34. I LOVE weddings and wedding pictures, and I enjoyed yours very much. I also thought environment when I read Green wedding!

  36. I have a big family but as none of them talk to each other. And my wife’s is scatted to the globe so in practice it’s small. If and when my son gets married say in ten years. I think he’s going to be struggling to fill a chapel! Thanks for dropping by to read my poem. Hope your week goes well

  37. The most important people in a wedding are the bride and groom – so long as they’re happy, no-one else really matters in the long run 🙂

  38. What a great post – and what an interesting family you have! Lovely to see a picture of you, too, and your wife. Looks like a smart wedding!

    As Jabblog says, the most important people are the bride and groom. Your day, after all – although the parents of the bride and groom often seem to disagree with that. 😉

  39. What a delight to see a bit of your beautiful wedding, Roger, you all look awesome! And to follow your familie’s stories, just loved this…

    Thanks for sharing this important part of your life. One cool detail: May 15th is my mom’s birthday! 🙂

    Kisses from Nydia.

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