mark and kimi got married!

It's true. My younger brother, Mark, married Kimi Kann, and had a beautiful and lively wedding. 

Kimi's dress was classy to the max.  Bunched on the side, a-line, and fit her perfectly.  The train was super regal and bridesy but was challenging in the swamp area near the altar.  And Mark wore his formal Army dress uniform which was actually a dark blue.  Kinda like a tux with 100+ pieces of flair.

What? Yeah, they have necklaces with tiny babies and clothespins tied on.  Why is that weird? 

It's kind of a twist on a Polish Wedding Tradition called the oczepiny.  The tradition starts at the beginning of the wedding reception, where the godmother unveils the bride, signifying that she's ready to get down for marriage and all, and she pins a formal napkin kind of thing to her head.  The groom gets a redonkulously embarrassing hat to lighten things up.  All attendees circle up, slow polka plays, and bride and groom have the first dance with the implication of the necessity for humor and hundreds of babies in their marriage.  At this wedding, though, I tossed the necklaces on them at the very end of the reception, forced their hats on, made the DJ throw on the "Beer Barrel Polka", and stumbled through a Polish pronunciation of "good luck and have babies".  I want nieces and nephews, seriously. Kids bring families together and make people happy, dammit!  And during holidays, I'll get to play with them instead of having to watch a non-Ravens football game or wash the dishes with the Female Clan.  Anyway, timing was good with a ripely buzzed crowd and we polka'd the best we could.

It was a tremendously beautiful wedding on the Eastern Shore.  Kimi is a Maryland girl through and through: grew up boating with her family in Shady Side, played soccer for her high school, went to the most excellent college in Maryland (UMBC).  No complaints on my side--I wish she could have been my sister sooner.   I wish them the best of luck as Mark is stationed in Arizona and North Carolina in the upcoming months.  I'll bring them a Tofurkey wherever they end up on Thanksgiving.