All you need is love

and to be at least 18 years old to get married in my family apparently.....

This year I have attended an abundance of weddings (ok, well four)...only to be matched by even more in the upcoming year. When you have 40 cousins, and they start to break the age barrier, you find yourself all of a sudden bombarded with wedding invites.

I attended my cousin's wedding Friday after Thanksgiving. It used to be that weddings were only something I saw in movies but they have become oddly familiar events and I have become a self proclaimed wedding critic. Wedding days are like a mini Christmas season-- for the entire day everyone is in anticipation and celebrating moments of joy-- plus you get to see the family members that you otherwise never see.

Each wedding has its own feel to it. Its amazing how much you can customize in order to achieve the feel of your choice. In this wedding, the bridal party took stage to Coldplay's "Kingdom Come", wow, a song I would never have chosen but worked well.

It's amazing to watch years and years of a couple's future together become solidified as a commitement within a short ceremony and by a couple simple words. It seems like getting cable service is more complicated than solidifying (supposedly) years of commitment from another person.

I know I've said it before, but I will say it again-- weddings are awesome for three main reasons: free food, free alcohol, and free dancing! I have not really met m cousin's new wife but from her choice of wine at the reception, I know I already like her. I got to know that wine pretty well.....and to think my family once thought I was "reserved" and "quiet"...... I had never seen my dad so worried about me. But he had no need, I was being looked after by my loyal younger sister and sexy boyfriend.