Summer Weddings

Posted September 14, 2024.

John and Lexie's wedding is the first of the summer. Because they planned it late and Green River City and surrounding area is kind of small there are no banquet facilities near that aren't already booked through November except for one Hall with one day open in August. Lexie wants to be married before Labor Day. Lexi feels it is bad luck to be an "August Bride". You, Jon, and every guy involved with this wedding have NO IDEA WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCKING HELL that means but you all also know that what the bride wants, the bride gets, so no August wedding.

Mr. Smith has a solution for this, the wedding will be the July 4th weekend in Green River City, in the main truck and trailer maintenance building of Smith Trucking. Green River City is the base for Smith Trucking but they have larger terminals in the larger cities of Central City and Capital City. The Green River City terminal is larger than it needs to be as it is the base. Mr. Smith basically shuts down the terminal from the Wednesday before the wedding until the Wednesday following the wedding putting many trucks on the road, parked at the driver's home, or at the other terminals.

Mechanic's tool boxes are pushed to the side or moved to other smaller buildings to prepare the normally greasy facility to be a fine Hall. The shop area is then steam cleaned on Wednesday evening. Thursday and Friday you, Bobby, and Joe (along with the temporarily displaced mechanics and maintenance crew) build a temporary wood floor to rise over the lifts and cover the pits that are part of a large truck maintenance facility. You then cover the floor with a thick heavy plastic sheeting, like the kind that is used in multi-purpose facilities to protect the hardwood (although in this case it is to cover up the nails and cracks in the plywood flooring) floor.

You built a small stage on one end where the ceremony will take place and at the reception afterwards where the wedding party will be seated. You built a ramp to the new higher floor by one of the large truck doors so rented chairs and tables could be wheeled in and also for the caters. You also built ramps to every service door and to the two doors that go to the admin part of the terminal building so there will be restrooms available for the event. The stage, ramps, and about a quarter of the floor space are covered with peel and stick plastic flooring. This is needed even for the short term use. The large area of the floor that you covered more permanently is to double as a dance floor after the dinner.

After you worked until past 1:00 Friday night, at 8:00 in the morning Karen, Lexie, and the rest of the girls in the wedding party have you and Bobby on ladders hanging streamers and bunting and other things Saturday morning and most of the day. Lexie is mostly directing and the other girls don't do heights but they do arrange the tables.

By the time of the fireworks on Saturday, July 3rd, the facility is ready for the big event the next day. On the streetside of the facility, where the big rigs and their trailers would normally drive up into the building, the caters have set up food trailers much like you would see at a carnival as there is not much there for food prep during normal business operations. Erica's dad has also brought every mobile refrigeration unit that his beer distributing company has and this is being used for all of the items that need to be kept cold. There are three large fifth-wheel campers for final prep of the bridal party and of the groom and groomsmen as well as a few other coordinators and organizers needing a little space for their work. A large portable electric generator completes the filling of this area and runs everything as it is normally just a spot of concrete for trucks to be temporarily on. A few areas of the administrative area are temporarily walled off so guests won't get lost.

Lexie wanted a large bridal party and so it looked "even" Jon had to have a groomsmen for each of her bridesmaids. Ashley was named Lexi's Maid of Honor, and Karen and Amber were among the bridesmaids. It is an extremely hot day and Karen and Ashley being skinny girls managed to run around and coordinate everything without working up a sweat. You and Bobby are going to escort your girls to their proper spots Nathan Whyte is Ashley's escort, and Lexie's 16 years old little brother escorts Jon's 15 years old cousin Courtney. The air conditioning was up pretty high on the fifth-wheeler that you guys were using and you know the girls are cranking the other one as pregnant girls get hot easier.

Jon's aunt who is a judge performed the ceremony. After pictures were taken after the ceremony everyone gets out of their hot wedding stuff and is down to the type of clothing you would wear on a hot summer day. Of course, your uncle was lead photographer but as you were involved with so many other things he brought in two other friends to help make this grand affair well noted with both still pictures and video. Tear down is a little easier and you, Bobby, and Mr. Smith's regular work crew get the facility back to it's intended purpose for Wednesday morning.

Bobby and Amber get married the first weekend of August as all the major banquet halls in your area were already booked into November when Bobby and Amber decided they needed to be married. Amber apparently isn't worried about being in August bride. You are Bobby's best man and Karen is maid of honor. Jon's aunt also presides over this wedding. You, Karen, and Amber will go to G.R.V.C.C. (Green River Valley Community College) and work for Tom's dad. Bobby will not go to college and will work more than full-time for Tom's dad. During the day he will work in the shop and evenings he will work with you and Tom remodeling and refurbishing rentals. Amber will work part-time mostly doing paperwork for the car sales as her classes and pregnancy allows. Karen will do bookkeeping for all the dealerships. She can take most of her classes on-line and will be working full-time, working after hours or Saturdays to make up for time spent attending in person courses. Jon manages the store and Lexie is home caring their child.

Tom and Maddie's wedding is on Labor Day weekend. They are both 19 and Maddie is five months pregnant and with Tom's dad's business success she doesn't need a high school diploma or college for the couple to succeed. She works when Amber can't. It is the last wedding of the summer but not the last wedding that you and Karen go to this year. Tom's dad has several rental units as well as auto dealerships. He recently purchased a former church that he is going to convert to apartments but first it'll work good as the venue for Tom's wedding. Tom and Maddie go to work for his dad at the car lot.

You and Bobby are going to be part of the crew that renovate it. You have little to do to prepare it as a wedding venue as it will not stay that way, only removing the obvious church relics. After the wedding you and Bobby put in rough framing for the three floors that will take up the former main sanctuary and dormer windows in for the third floor. You spend the cold winter months finishing the inside of the former church building.

Your cousin Ben and Staci are the last wedding of the year getting married the weekend before Christmas. They met at a party at the beginning of the school year. She got pregnant at the party. The wedding is in East Old East River City. You and Uncle Jim are there to do all the photography work. Karen and your mom are also there as it is a family event.