Played a wedding up at the Maine Maritime Museum this afternoon. What a nice location--too bad it's October and FREEZING in the shade (which is where we were playing). Beautiful day, shivering musicians.
I've seen a lot of brides this summer. Ones who clearly could give me a lesson in how to use styling products, and ones who you knew slipped out of Tevas 2 minutes before walking down the aisle. Ones who cried and ones who were totally cool and composed (in one of them, the groom cried instead). But today's bride stands out because of The Smirk.
I have never seen an expression on a bride's face like the one I saw today. She maintained it through most of the ceremony, so I had plenty of time to figure out what it made me think of. If it hadn't been her own wedding, you would think that her expression meant "HA! Look at all of this ridiculousness. I can't believe how SILLY this all is. Let's ditch this and go have a beer at the pub." (think Betty Rizzo in "Grease") Meanwhile, the groom had assumed these very earnest-looking, Labrador Retriever eyebrows. Side by side, it was an interesting combination.
The ceremony was heartfelt, and both bride and groom started looking more normal after The Kiss. It's interesting how happiness and stress can duke it out on people's faces.