One thing I've realized is how different the cultures are between Wisconsin and Texas. This includes weddings. As I outlined in my blog entry about High Tech Happy Hour, us Cheeseheads like to drink. Besides alcohol, we also like to drink milk, including with the meal at the wedding. My girlfriend was going to come up with me to experience a Wisconsin wedding first hand, but her stepmom had unfortunately passed away and the memorial was the same day of the wedding. This meant I'd have to go up by myself.
One thing that sucks is it was raining on and off so I wasn't able to bring the Cougar to the wedding. In the last blog entry about riding in it, this was at another cousin's wedding. I rode with my parents to the church (and the rest of the night) instead.
This was one of the rare weddings I've been to that wasn't in a Catholic church. Additionally, this was actually the first wedding I've been to with a female minister. I guess there were a lot of firsts with this wedding. It was the first time I've seen someone drop the rings and, unfortunately, the first time I've seen someone hauled away in an ambulance after the wedding. Basically, instead of flower girls, they had flower grandma's. My grandma and the bride's Grandma were the flower grandma's. On the way out at the end of the service, the bride's grandma slipped on a step and had a nasty fall. They did get an ambulance and fortunately, later that night, she was discharged and it sounded like she didn't have any major injuries.
Now the one thing that would have been a cultural shock for my girlfriend is the gap between the wedding. I remember her mentioning about me taking my Cougar to the wedding and not wanting to ride with me after I'd been drinking. I had no intention of driving after drinking and told her I'd drop it off before the reception. She was a bit confused as the reception starts right after the wedding in Texas. In Wisconsin, they take pictures between the service and the reception and there's about a 3-hour gap. It is also a Wisconsin tradition for the bride and groom to go bar hopping before their reception.
The reception was at the Eagles Club.
My girlfriend asked what do people do in the meantime waiting for the reception. I said drink at the front bar while waiting for the reception hall to open up.
We had to let Jordy out, so we went back home. As you can see in the picture above, the reception hall was already open due to the lack of people in that bar.
I first signed in on the book.
I got my table assignment, which was by my parents. This was actually one of the first times I've had a table assigned like this but it was nice since we didn't have to quick try to claim a spot so we could sit together.
By then, everyone was mingling by the bar in the reception area.
The pitchers of beer were laid out on the bar. I know they don't usually do this in Texas. In Wisconsin, you just grab a pitcher and however many cups and bring it back when it needs to be refilled.
The choice of beer was Miller Light or Busch Light. I'm more of a Busch drinker so I got my Busch Light.
Pretty soon it was time to eat. While we waited for them to bring the food around, we munched on what was on the table.
Of course, since we are in Wisconsin, we had real butter for our bread.
The meal was chicken and beef tips along with mashed potatoes, corn, and stuffing.
Of course, besides butter we had milk with our meal. This is another thing my girlfriend found weird, but we drink milk with every meal. Why would this be any different?
The can koozies that we got for a remembrance of the wedding were definitely pure Wisconsin.
After the meal, they cleared the tables and DJ Fuzz set up.
Being in Wisconsin, they had to play some polka music and do a little polka dancing.
Back in the day, they used to hire polka bands for the wedding. Now it's mainly DJ's, but polka is still played. A little after playing some polka, they played other music. One song that my cousin, who is the groom of this wedding, started, was a unique dance to Lady Gaga's Poker Face.
We do like to drink and party in Wisconsin. Weddings are no different. It was nice kicking back, seeing a bunch of family and friends, and catching up since I'm obviously not around Marshfield a ton. After talking to my girlfriend, I can definitely see how Wisconsin culture is very different from Texas culture when it comes to weddings. Later on my trip up here I'll be at a 50th Wedding Anniversary party, which is basically another big and awesome party. Stay tuned for more Wisconsin blog entries!