J and L get married in Orlando

The whole reason for the Orlando stopover was to attend a nephew's wedding. E's brother P and his wife D married off their oldest son. J has been an educational miracle, with a bachelor's, a couple of master's, and now his dentistry degree. He married L, the daughter of an established Orlando family that emigrated from Taiwan. They are business people with a large circle of contacts in the South of the US.

The wedding was quite a production, held at the JW Marriott Resort in Orlando. Half the story was the pomp and circumstance, half was the get together with E's family. Both were entertaining.

Before, during, and after the ceremony a harpist played beautifully.

P (E's oldest brother) and his wife D looked good as everyone milled around waiting for the outdoor ceremony. Thank goodness it wasn't summer. As it was, the temperature was in the 80s.

One of E's other brothers, another P, looked sharp. I was under-dressed in gray slacks, a blazer, and a polo shirt.

Uncle J, his wife M (E's sister), and our niece L (P's daughter) were all happy to attend.

The bride looked terrific in a gown that was modest and elegant. The long train looked inconvenient, but manageable. Here she is during the vows, in a "You be Frank, and I'll be Earnest" moment!

After the ceremony, they jumped (slight exaggeration) into a horse-drawn carriage.

And disappeared along the lovely lake (probably no alligators, but it's your guess).

P and daughter L in a quiet moment.

The reception was in the main hotel building (the place is immense). The tables were dressed beautifully. We had to grab votive candles with Chinese good luck characters (drawn in the wrong direction...), and find our table number. We sat with people we knew, luckily. Stilted conversations annoy me.

Here are the bride and groom with Mrs. W (D's mother) and her sister, at our table. They got around to everybody eventually. This must have been an exhausting day.

There was lots of drinking and dancing and speeches, stirred up by a loud and somewhat obnoxious MC-type person. Here are the best pumps of the evening. The legs weren't bad, either!

The bride's father stumbled through a speech written down by one of his other daughters. He couldn't read it very well (and was kind of tipsy besides). The audience was cheerful and forgiving, applauding him when he finished.

Finally they got around to the cake moment. The cake was pretty, but not too tasty, though.

This looks like a "What the hell is that?" or "I thought I would see that later" moment to me. Anybody else got any ideas?

After a bubble pipe exit for the bride and groom (no rice and no bird seed - I'm a fossil), we all gave up and left for the hotel where we stayed. A good time was had by all until they left and got a $16 parking bill on their way out.

The next morning we had a really fun talk with P (#2) and L, making plans to return to Jamaica. Then we set out on another boring drive back home (in three steps).