As readers of my blog know, I’m part Puerto Rican, part Honduran, and all fiery Latina.   One thing that matters over everything to this Latina is family and fierce support of that family.  So when my god-brother/son of my father’s closest cousin, told me he had fallen in love with the man of his dreams and they were getting married, you better believe that my entire family and I were going to be there.

 

The wedding was held in Boston, where the couple live and at the time one of the first states that recognized same sex marriage.*  My entire family came up for the event.  My ENTIRE family: mom, her boyfriend, dad, his wife, my sister, and her fiancé.  I was so excited they were all coming until something hit me, all my potential babysitters were attending this wedding.  I had no choice, I had to bring my kids to the wedding.

 

 
I was worried because this wasn’t the casual, laid back wedding that my father’s wedding was a few months back.  This was an elegant affair being held in a museum.  The grooms understood my situation and made accommodations for me, but I was worried.  Could I keep them from touching the exhibits? Would they throw a fit and ruin the wedding?  Would I spend so much time taking care of them, I’d not get a chance to enjoy myself?

I knew my task ahead of me was tough, so I planned for the event.  In the morning, instead of going out and exploring, we stayed close to the hotel.  We walked to breakfast, took the kids to the pool, and picked up a picnic lunch.  Afterward, I marched us all up to the hotel room for a nap.  I knew without that, we would have a meltdown later in the evening.  Thanks to the Westin’s fabulous black out curtains, we were able to make the room completely dark and get the kids (and ourselves) to settle into a peaceful nap.  My alarm let me get up and ready, then wake the kids to bath and make presentable for the affair. 
 

 
A school bus brought the guests to the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation, where we walked over to the room set up for the ceremony.  I came prepared with workbooks, markers, LeapReader pens, and electronics  (as a last resort) to keep them entertained while waiting.  Then finally, the show began.

 

 
My son was fascinated and watched the whole event.   He loves the idea of weddings, but this was the first time he was seeing two “princes” get married.  He loved the flowers, the “princess dresses” (both the grooms had their sisters as the maids of honors), and the grandeur of it all.  The only issue was when it came time for the husbands to kiss, the sudden eruption of applause startled my poor sensitive boy, and he started crying (thankful downed out by the applause). 

 

  

At the cocktail hour, there was lots of kid friendly choices like humus and pita, while us adults dined on Mediterranean meats, cheese, and salads and drank lovely wine.  Then we moved into the main room for the reception. 

 

 
Dinner was elegant, with choices of salmon or pork and the food was excellent.   The grooms thought ahead and got chicken fingers and fries for my kids, who were thrilled to eat at the fancy table with whole family AND get the tablet.  (Hey, I want to enjoy this nice meal too.)

 

 
Finally,  the main event started.  The grooms danced with the mothers as we all watched.  That is, until my kids said “Yeah, dancing started!”, jumped up and headed out to the dance floor.  I was able to  pull them to a corner, and dance with them so we wouldn’t be in the grooms pictures, but there was a lot of attention over to the two kids dancing in the corner. 

Finally,  the DJ opened up the floor for everybody to join and the fun really began.  My kids didn’t leave the dance floor (and neither did I).  They had a blast dancing and playing with the lighted foam sticks and glow necklaces.  There was enough of my family around that I was able to take breaks and enjoy myself during the wedding.  And being the only kids at the wedding, they got so much attention that they thought the day was all about them! 

Sadly, the kids started the get tired, and soon my daughter wanted only to be in my arms.  We said our good-byes and headed down to the parking lot to catch the 1st bus back to the hotel.  Both my kids went to sleep in their wedding clothes, too exhausted to change to pajamas.  My husband and I smiled at our two young kids, reminisced about our wedding ten years ago, and thought about the happiness that awaits the grooms in the years to come.   
 

 
*Two weeks after the wedding, Supreme Court Ruling Obergefell vs Hodges legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.