MackMellen's Hitchin'

The Amway Grand Hotel

Who's ready for a Kris-less and kid-less blog post?

My youngest cousin, Mackenzie, had a wedding this weekend, and usually that's the sort of thing that Kris and I would go to together, sans kids.  Alas, Kris is currently in Denver for her work (some dental conference of some kind), so I went stag this time around. . . which was pretty fun.

After dropping the girls and the dog off with my mom Saturday morning, I set off for hipster-ly Grand Rapids and some Waite family nuptials.

Check it out. . .

The drive down was pretty uneventful, but the block or two of city driving once I got off the downtown exit was downright brutal.  Once I managed to fight my way into my hotel's parking garage, I got to cross one of these little catwalk deals. . . which always gives me mild vertigo, passing over streets and moving cars and everything.

The Amway Grand Hotel (this place is slightly swankier than what I'm accustomed to.) 

Front Lobby.  I arrived around the same time as Dad and Cindy, so we all retired to our rooms to throw on our suits and get ready for the wedding, which was about two hours away. ..

View from my room (that's the Grand River - I think that's what it's called - off to the right, there.)

My room.  It's an older hotel, so the room size is smaller, but everything in it is pretty premium.  Super nice room, if not a little old-fashioned.

Command Center:  established.

Once we were all suited up, we all met down in the lobby and carpooled over to the wedding ceremony in Cindy's SUV.  We all had VIP seating in the second row on Mackenzie's side, with a blank, empty row reserved solely for the Flower Girl (seriously.)  Dad (who took this pic) and Cindy were on some couch-thing off to the side, practically up next to Mackenzie in the ceremony.  I had never seen a setup like this in a wedding before.

Maiwwage. . .

. . . is wut bwings us too-geathuh, too-dai.

Following a nice but somewhat-longer-than-expected ceremony (where practically everyone in attendance read some vow, prayer, quote or anecdote off a piece of paper, and there were approximately two-dozen musical interludes), we went upstairs for cocktails while the bridal party had pictures taken.  Both the ceremony and the reception were held in this abandoned warehouse-turned-trendy venue, which sounds weird but appears to be pretty run-of-the-mill for Grand Rapids.

Not pictured:  Kris, Jeff, Annie, Bryan, and many offspring.

After an hour or two of cocktails and standing around, it was time to shuffle back downstairs, where the warehouse folks had broken out the dinner tables.  All the siblings, spouses, Dad and Cindy were all seated together, which was nice and convenient, so after everyone had their obligatory 'couples' picture taken at the table, I made sure they got one of me and my Denver-based spouse.

Following several drinks, the bridal party arrived (unfortunately not to the theme music from Raiders of the Lost Ark, like some totally awesome people I know. . .)

Food took a bit to come out, but the booze helped keep us occupied.

Dinner itself was really good, and as the meal wore on they dimmed lights and started the dance party (in which no Houghs partook.)

Lil' Macker

Dad lecturing Cindy's sister, Sue. . . on. . . something

Chris and Nicole sent me this pic from the now-empty upstairs cocktail area, which was still accessible and much quieter than the downstairs reception.  Earlier in the evening, between the ceremony and the reception, they had an open cocktail bar and a jazz trio playing upstairs, which was awesome.  So, now that we had the place to ourselves, the Hough family migrated upstairs where we could stretch out on the couches and actually hear ourselves talk.

Some pretty awesome decor in this joint, that's for sure.

Brian, Nicole and Jill.  Deep in their cups.

Jill and I might have played this a bit.  Pretty badass-looking piano, but definitely out of tune.

What can I get for ya, Stretch?

It was awesome having this whole upper floor to ourselves

This was one those old 77 rpm record players - we managed to get it working, too.  Not the greatest sound, but rocking out to jams from the 1920s and '30s is always fun.

Mackenzie and her new husband, Matt, had a big, blank stretch-canvas - with this one, lone image in the bottom right corner - set out for party guests to sign with their names and well-wishes.  I made sure to sign my name in my best handwriting, right where they could see it.

The Houghs decided to call it quits a few hours into the reception, but posed for this pretty classy photo op on the way out.  I like to think we clean up pretty good.

Back at the hotel, heading across the catwalk with a few boxes of pizza taken from the wedding reception.

I mean, it's no Doherty Hotel, but we got by.

The end of a fun wedding.  Really, really glad I didn't have to Parent at all throughout the evening.

- Brian