5.15.05 *** BREAKING NEWS *** Graduation party turns into wedding! Good morning everyone. Yesterday, we attended what we thought was going to be a relatively tame college graduation celebration. Things sure did take a radical turn :o) Melissa and I were invited to the childhood home of Seth Price, where the place had endless "Congratulations" balloons, food that family had made and a room that was set up for a slide show that Seth and Emily were putting on. We all thought that the show was going to be a look back at their lives with their families, how they met and so on. Well, it was all of that and more. Much more. Here it goes: Right before the show, Emily approaches me and tells me that her slide show will last about six minutes and that after she finishes, Seth would take over with his presentation and that I should follow her out of the room because she "needed help with something". HUH? I said, "OK", and got up from my chair and followed her out of the room and downstairs. I thought that maybe she wanted help with some kind of prop or maybe a part of the slide show but boy was I wrong. What happened next not only surprised the heck out o' me but kicked up my adrenaline a little. She started telling me that in April, Seth had proposed to her and that they were going to announce to everyone that they we engaged to be married. "So, what's the big deal?", you're thinking, right? Well, there's more; Emily went on to tell me that not only were they engaged to be married but that the wedding was going to happen in just a few minutes and that there was a judge waiting outside and she wanted me to film the whole thing! As she pointed to the Canon GL2 a few feet away my jaw pretty much dropped and I didn't know how to feel. I was surprised, shocked, excited and nervous... pretty much all at the same time. I had so many questions for her. I couldn't believe what was going on. For a moment I thought that the whole thing was some kind of practical joke but she wasn't laughing. I congratulated her and as she left the room to change into her dress I scrambled to get familiarized with the camera. A GL2!? Holy professional. I didn't really know where to begin besides putting the battery in and making sure there was a tape loaded. As I was messing around with the camera, out comes the bride with instructions to start filming as she started telling me and the camera more about what led up to this moment and what would be happening in just a few minutes! I was nearly speechless at that moment and I'm glad that I did have a camera in my hands because I was able to focus on something rather than just being like, "wow, this sure is awesome... wow, holy cow... are you for real?". We climbed the stairs and quietly went outside to meet the Judge and to clue him in on what was going on. All of this was happening while everyone else was inside watching Seth's half of the show. Nobody knew anything about the wedding or even that the two were engaged, including myself up until about ten minutes prior. I felt honored that they wanted me to be a part of all of this. You should have seen the look on my face though :oO ... later on, Emily said it was as she expected it to be! Emily, the Judge and I. Waiting. Waiting until we heard the signal from Seth to enter the room. Me: filming, and shaking a little. Emily: smiling and shaking a lot. The Judge: calm as a house plant and smiling. Seth, as clever and creative as he is, decided he would announce the whole thing Steve Jobs style, with a "Wait, there's more" slide in his Keynote slideshow that he actually made with Keynote 2, Haha! When he announced that they were engaged, you could have heard the "awww" from outside and then, we he told everyone that the wedding would be in a few minutes, right there in that room and in everyone's presence, well, that's when the place lit up like an airport runway on a dark, foggy night. People pretty much had the same reaction as I did. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins and friends all couldn't believe what they had just heard. Smiles, laughter, eyeballs popping out of heads, hugs and screams all burst out Saturday night as people learned of the grrreat news! All of this was going on and I was filming it. Emily's brother Ben was also filming on a Sony HDV! Talk about crazy... people thought that we were from a TV station or something. The ceremony was beautiful and it was nicely executed. Very smooth and clean. Seth and Emily had just made up their vows to each other the night before. In just one month these two planned the entire event without anyone finding out. No parents, family or even friends knew what was going to happen. In fact, I was the first person to know when Emily spilled the beans last night. They even managed to print their own wedding programs! The rest of the night was equally as exciting with people celebrating and congratulating the happy couple on not only graduating from college but starting their new lives together. Food, food and more food! Talk about having lots of food there. I think everyone could have had seconds had they wanted to :o) And, then there was cake. Two cakes actually and they were made by Seth's aunt Penny. Delicious! So, let's recap: Two people graduate, throw a party and then announce that they are engaged. Then, they get married ten minutes later and throw another party that just so happens to go on at the previously mentioned graduation party. Lots of family and friends. Food, people in disbelief... then tremendous excitement filled the entire place as they tied the knot minutes later. The rest? The rest is the journey that begins now. Congratulations you two. May you have a spectacular time together and share life's moments as husband and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Seth and Emily Price Breaking News... continued (Melissa) We were all sitting in the living room at Longmeadow watching a power point presentation about Emily and Seth's lives. Everything was well scripted. Emily did her part describing photos from her childhood up to the point of meeting Seth. She then introduced Seth and departed as he began his portion of the presentation. Just as Emily left, Arthur got up. I thought to myself, "Humm. He must need to go to the bathroom or something", but thought nothing of it. Several minutes pass by and I started thinking to myself, "He is missing a good presentation by Seth" and began to wonder what was going on. My sister Danielle and aunt Marilyn leaned over and said, "Where's Arthur?" I just shrugged my shoulders and said that he must have had to do something. Several minutes later I realized that Emily was nowhere around either and Seth was presenting the "Us" part of their presentation. I then thought Arthur must be helping Emily with something, but did not ponder it much longer as I was being drawn in by the presentation. I then heard Seth say, "And then Seth cast a magic spell" and he went on to announce their engagement. The "awhhhhh" was simultaneous immediately following the announcement. He went on to say, "But wait, there is more... We are getting married right now." I honestly don't recall exactly what was said, but there were many faces of shock, tears of joy and everyone wondering if it was for real. My first thought was, "Who is going to marry them? Clearly no one here can." The next thing I know Emily is walking into the room with a wedding dress, a judge is following her, Arthur is sporting a video camera and Seth is handing me programs to pass out.