Kyle & Guest: Mark and Paula's Wedding

I met Mark back my sophomore year at MSU. He was my roommate on 5 south in Case Hall. He was a very energetic easy-going guy and we got along very well. Through him I met his long time girlfriend from his hometown. Over the years at MSU we remained friends and I also became friends with Paula through him.

I bored a train from Chicago to East Lansing where I was picked up and went to the house I grew up in very near to East Lansing where I stayed for the weekend. It is fairly convenient growing up so close to MSU for reasons such as this. I brought, Katie F, one of my friends from MSU that I met while working at the IM West Outdoor Pool. Katie was a very fun wedding date. She actually knew more people then I did from MSU, which kind of surprised me considering I know a great deal of people from my school.

The wedding was held at the MSU Alumni Chapel along the Red Cedar River on campus.

I used to give tours of Michigan State when I was a student there but I never knew where the Chapel was till my friend Katie showed me and told me how to get to it. I did find this fact a bit embarrassing. Once we were seated inside the Chapel I found it to be a very nice little building with a variety of stained glassed windows depicting the various academics and athletics provided by Michigan State through out the years.

As I have known Mark for a while now I have learned he is a very humorous person and likes to make people laugh and enjoy themselves. I was sure his wedding would somehow involve this as well. I was not disappointed though at first Mark had nothing to do with it. As both Mark’s mom and Paula’s mom had just light the candles for the unity candle and turned to step down the few steps back to there seats Paula’s mom caught her shoe on her dress and tumbled down. Everyone reached to help but obviously everyone was seated and was helpless. Luckily she was not injured and just laughed if off and returned to her seat now with locked arms with Mark’s mother. As the ceremony went on Mark took his turn to make a good laugh of the wedding. As Paula finished her vows Mark made a comment about how long they were and made everyone laugh. As the ceremony concluded we were asked to assemble down near the river for a full group photo.

Katie and myself returned to the car and drove across campus driving past all the building we had both spent many hours in as students as we traveled to the Kellogg Center. Once we got the Kellogg Center we walked to the rooms where the reception was in rooms B and C. I knew this area well from the multiple career fairs I attended there as a student. For this wedding the room didn’t look like a convention space at all but a very nice elegant room designed for a wedding. As we walked in we were greeted with a three-foot ice sculpture of a block “S”. We got a glass of wine and took our seats and waited for the rest of our table. Once we had all introduced ourselves and found out how each person knew the couple we went for the hors d’oeuvres of fruits and cheeses.

The wedding party entered and the toasts began. The best mans toast was from a person I had met a few times before. Kevin is the next-door neighbor of Mark at his cottage. Just as Mark likes to make a joke of things and make people laugh so does Kevin. He shared many funny and enjoyable stories of Mark and Paula while giving advice all along. At the conclusion of the toasts the buffet began which was a wide variety of Italian dishes. I have never seen a buffet quite like it but it was very enjoyable all with amazing food. About the only similarities the Kellogg Center shares with its weddings and conventions is the food, which is superb. I was very stuffed from how much I had eaten, as was everyone else at our table but as someone pointed out MSU taught us never to turn down free food especially if it is good so our entire table went up for seconds. As we finished the second helping the dances began, as did the full celebration. It was a very fun reception filled with dancing and drinking but mostly dancing. I did still manage to get quite drunk by the end but it took the full night before it hit me. At the conclusion to the reception I called my mother who came to pick Katie and myself up from the Kellogg Center and drove us home. I am very glad that I was a part of their special day and I wish both Mark and Paula happiness in their lives together. And its about time they finally got married!