As I’ve mentioned before, Patrick’s sister is getting married this weekend.

Tomorrow we’re leaving for the resort where The Wedding is happening. It’s in a small town not far from Park City, home of the Sundance Film Festival and Utah’s most famous skiing.

If memory serves, Patrick’s sister and her fiancee have been dating for 7 years.

In a state where it is not uncommon for people to become engaged after a month of dating and then have a two month engagement (sadly, I’m not exaggerating), it’s pretty accurate to say we’ve all been waiting for this wedding forever.

As Patrick and I have been together for just over three years, or almost half their relationship, and Patrick’s family is amazingly wonderful when it comes to his and my relationship, I am lucky enough to be in the wedding party with Patrick.

And I’m saying that with no sarcasm - I promise.

I’m not too sure what weddings are like in other states, but in Utah, the majority of receptions are held in the rec room of the local ward house (Mormon church), with fake greenery strung through the basketball net, bride and groom under a plastic trellis in the corner (complete with homemade wedding dress), about a thousand children running around and screaming, and a hundred quilts - “gifts” - scattered along the receiving line, so you have plenty to look at while you wait.

If you’re lucky, you can sit down and have a cup of nuts and some pineapple flavored slush. Maybe a little white chocolate mint imprinted with the silhouette of the Salt Lake Temple. And this is only if you arrive early enough, before the food runs out. I’m not sure if my family is just cheap, poor planners, or both, but the food always runs out! I suspect they initially get enough food (of course prepared by the Relief Society, the church’s women’s organization) for everyone who received an invitation, but then someone in the family stands up in church during testimony meeting and invites the entire ward to “come celebrate the holy union of LaVerl and LaDean” and everyone in the congregation thinks that includes their 6 children, too. And really, it probably does.

But anyway.

I’m so relieved The Wedding is not a Utah wedding …