Congrats, Mark and Kelly!

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures).

On Friday, May 25, Mark and Kelly tied the knot. They were married at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church and had the reception at The Italian American Club.

Before the wedding, beginning on Thursday, the pre-marital preparation started. We had the rehersal at the church for the parents of the bride and groom, and anyone else included in the wedding. After a successful rehearsal, Kelly's parents, Steve and Maureen, had everyone back to their house for a lasagna dinner and drinks. The night, for most of the guys, any way, ended with an intense round of "lightening" or "knockout" on the basketball court.

Friday morning, Mark and I went golfing with six of his friends. We played the first nine at Saint John's in a scramble format. The other team won by a stroke, so the losing team sprang for lunch at Wendy's.

After golf, the afternoon just flew by, and before we knew it, we had to get to the church to start taking pictures before the ceremony.

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. Alison, Haley, the junior bridesmaid, Katie, the maid of honor, and all the bridesmaids, Christina, Lauren, and Erin all looked beautiful. On Mark's side, Jason, Rick, and Jeff were groomsmen along with me, the best man.

The reception hall was gorgeous. The appetizers, dinner, and dessert were all great as well. Mark and Kelly opted to have a band, Joyride, instead of a DJ. We've been to weddings with good bands before, but I've never liked any enough to make me consider having one at my own reception. Well, this band, was totally different from any that I've ever seen. They did an amazing job, not only at performing a wide range of music, but also at keeping people involved without seeming pushy. Before we knew it, they were announcing the last dance, and Mark and Kelly were off to get ready for their honeymoon in Hawaii. They took both their cameras, so I'm expecting we'll get quite a few photos when they get back.

If you want to see other photos from the wedding, you can see those taken by MPnA right here.

Unfortunately, for me, Mark's wedding wasn't the only big event this weekend. We had a HUGE deployment at work that I had to head right over for after the reception. When I finally left work, things were looking pretty good, and from the sounds of it, the deployment was a success. We'll know more tomorrow as the users get logged into the new network. Beginning at 6 am on Friday, until 6 am Sunday, I only managed 3 hours of sleep. During that time, I worked for about 26 hours while the rest was spent on wedding stuff. After I got home, early Sunday, in the next 24 hours, I managed to sleep about 18 hours! Michele was a trooper and took care of Jake all weekend. Today, felt pretty normal, so I think my body has balanced itself back out. I just wanted to let everyone know that I wasn't intentionally slacking on getting this post/announcement up. It's just been a hectic weekend.

To end on a positive note, if you haven't been watching any shows on FX this spring, you may not have noticed that Rescue Me is about to return. As I've mentioned before, this show is definitely not for everyone (younger children included) but it is by far one of my favorites. Season 3 begins on June 13! If you follow the link, you can click on the promo to see what's in store for Tommy and the gang.