Joy and Sorrow St. Patrick's Day

Celeste Richards,and her husband, Senator Joel Harrington, were attending a wedding that the New Orleans Picayune hailed as "the event of the year." Jules, the blushing bride was the offspring of their close friends, Alton and Gloria.

The senator knew Alton, a retired political speech writer from putting around the golf course. Gloria and Celeste had been friends since the early seventies. Gloria was the first feminist Celeste had ever met. Gloria's strong opinions shaped Celeste's thought processes on what it meant to be a modern woman, in fact she had relentlessly persuaded Celeste to leave her toxic first marriage.

On this day,the bride wore a tiara instead of the usual veil. The peach rose charm bracelet complimented her mocha skin nicely. Jules was keeping her maiden name as Gloria and Celeste both both had done. The bride and groom were married at St. Louis Cathedral and because Duncan, the groom was from Scotland,there was plenty of bagpipe music and highland step dancers.

Orange tulips were scattered throughout the grand ballroom. Duncan wore Scottish garb from head to toe. Jules donned a matching tartan sash attached to her wedding gown as well. Both parties were born on St. Patrick 's Day, so they decided to celebrate it as their wedding anniversary also.

As the reception went on,Celeste reflected on her own nuptials to Joel, eleven years before. The pair married at the New Orleans Musuem of Art, with the figures of various paintings solemnly looking on. An elderly Rabbi read the familiar spiel, which was followed by the obligatory crush of the wine glass. Joel and Celeste had danced to the sounds of Bruce Springsteen all night long. She'd refused to wear white, which caused more than a few idle tongues to wag.

She hadn't been able to find any traditional wedding dresses that felt truly comfortable on her skin. Besides, 1980's wedding dresses were the tackiest items of clothing she'd ever seen. The poufy sleeves advertised her broad shoulders and hid bountiful curves. She'd worn white the first trip down the aisle,and the marriage still went to seed with a snap of two fingers.

Just before she was about to cave and buy something questionable, Gloria stepped in. She found Celeste the perfect outfit in a consignment shop 20 minutes north of Metairie. It was a lacy green formal from the forties that featured cap sleeves. The color matched her eyes exactly. Gloria was friends with the owner and convinced her to hold the dress so Celeste could try it on.

The lace around the collar was discolored and there was a miniscule stain around the abdomen. Which enabled Celeste to buy it for a song. Gloria and Celeste removed the collar to give the gown an updated look. With some tender loving care and patience, they attached ribbon around the stomach to conceal the stain,adding a discreet bow in the back. And viola,the dress was a class act once again.

Celeste brought her attention back to the wedding at hand. Now it was happy hour. Inebriated wedding guests came together and danced a bagpipe rendition of "the Macarena." Green beer, extra large double fudge brownie parfaits and shamrock cookies were being doled out by a chunky, flirtatious serving girl.

Celeste decided to check on her other half and Sebastian, their son. Hopefully they weren't pigging out hardcore on the sweets. She didn't want to spend the remainder of the day clearing vomit off the Lebaron's interior or dealing with Sebastian climbing the walls on a sugar high