Just before 3PM Atlanta time on May 22, 1999, we were pronounced "lawfully married, now and forever more, husband and wife." Months of planning, days of frantic activity, hours of even more frantic activity: it was all worth it to hear those words. We then proceded to party and socialize and relax for the next 8 hours. The reviews we received from family and friends were excellent: good food, good music, good conversation, no thunderstorms. We had fun, our guests had fun, we saw many people we hadn't seen in ages. We missed many more who couldn't make it. Now, as Paul Harvey would say, for the rest of the story…

As I told my friends at the U of A upon our return, we had a terrific time, but enough things went awry to give us some interesting stories. So here goes…

#1. It's called the red-eye flight for a reason. We flew on Delta using some of my hard-earned frequent flyer miles. I was trying to take as few days off from work as possible, while giving us a couple of days in Atlanta before the wedding. Hence, we left Tucson at 10:30 PM Wednesday night. We flew for a couple of hours to Albuquerque, N.M., waited for fuel, passenger exchanges, etc, then went up for 2 or 3 more hours. Total amount of sleep: less than 2 hours for me, a bit more for Avery. We arrived in Atlanta around 5:30 AM. Hartsfield is pretty quiet at that time. We rented a Mercury Sable. This was weird, renting a car in Atlanta. Avery drove us up to our friend's house in Dunwoody, via Ga. 400. Being comatose didn't make me any calmer riding on the Alpharetta Autobahn. If you recall, Tucson has no traffic to speak of, and we rarely do highways here. Plus, we both have SUV's, so this Sable felt very short.

We woke up Marilyn, had a snack, dragged our bags upstairs to the luxurious master suite they were lending us, and crashed for a whopping 60 minutes. No more red-eyes - ever!

#2. When 24 hours is really 36 hours. Our itinerary for Thursday was originally as follows: Get blood test taken; buy plates, utensils, decorations for the receptions; go to Life University to have my old Chiropractor put us back together properly after that flight; visit some offices at Life; then crash the International Chiropractors Association Convention at the Waverly.

Step one was the problem. Fulton County had told us over the phone that we could get blood tests Thursday morning and have the results back in 24 hours, thus giving us time to get the license. The whole blood test ordeal was annoying anyway, as we are NOT having children, but, that's Georgia… We show up at the quickie blood letting place, tell them what we need, and the woman says sorry, can't get the results back until 5 or 6PM Friday. Low point of the trip here. You see, the blood samples for that day won't be picked up until 6PM that night, which is when the 24 hours start. Try a hospital, she says. So in between phone calls and faxes, she lets Avery call around. One hospital would have the results by Tuesday. I'm envisioning a mock ceremony, and an elaborate ruse to keep it all from my Mother. We finally go back to Marilyn & Gary's where they have 3 phone lines and several cell phones. She springs into action.

The nice thing about having friends who live in a mansion sub-division (besides their letting us get married in their Clubhouse), is they have useful connections. They had several neighbors who were doctors. Normally, we avoid MD's whenever possible, but we needed one now. She finally got through to an office who would take our blood, have it rushed to a lab, and, (here's the clever part) GET THE RESULTS FRIDAY BY TELEPHONE! The doctor could sign the form, we bring it to Fulton County, and ta-dah! we can have a legal ceremony. So we hightail it down to an office near St. Joseph's in lunch hour traffic, and get punctured.

The rest of the day goes pretty much as planned. We visited with some of my old colleagues and I got to brag about the University of Arizona. We stayed awake long enough to visit the ICA convention, and have dinner at the Galleria. Sleepless Day One was over.

#3. Saved by the Wildcats. Friday's schedule now began with the visit to the party store, followed by picking up the blood test form (around noon), getting the marriage license in North Fulton, then picking up my mother and sister at the airport at 1:30. Later we would check into our hotel in Alpharetta, rendezvous with Avery's family, and take everyone to dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen near Northpoint Mall. The party store was fun, especially as I had one of Marilyn's cell phones. I had to call her to consult on ribbons. Standing there with the shopping cart, talking on the phone, I could see how people get addicted to them. So far, we have resisted the appeal. Step one accomplished.

We drove south again to the Doctor's office. After a short wait, we picked up the forms that proved that we did not have syphilis or sickle-cell anemia, and I was immune to German measles. Back into lunchtime traffic in Sandy Springs, we headed up Roswell Road to the North Fulton Annex. Here's where my choice of attire was a big help. I was wearing an Arizona Wildcats shirt with a U of A baseball cap. We arrived at the proper office at the time when the two women were trying to get away for lunch. As they scan the waiting room, we hear one shout: "I have to take them, she's covered in Arizona stuff!" Turns out Kathleen, the enthusiastic public employee, was from Arizona, and her son wants to go to the U of A in a couple years. She gave us great service, we traded cards, and we got to the airport only marginally late.

#4. Thornton and Wilder. The actual start of wedding festivities was the equivalent of the Rehearsal Dinner Friday evening. We got ourselves and my Mom and sister settled in, and waited for Avery's family. His Uncle Larry (mother's brother) and friend Patty flew in from NJ. His sister Sydney, brother Lee, and Lee's four children drove up next, all the way from Fort Lauderdale. Finally, remaining sister Janet and husband Kyle made it in from Aiken, SC. We all piled into cars and headed out in late rush hour traffic to CPK, with Avery on the ham radio to his best man, Ted, already in place at the restaurant.

Quiz: what happens when you trap four children, aged 14, 10, 6, 3, into a van for 10+ hours, then make them wait outside a restaurant for 45 minutes? The 14 year old girl, Virginia, does her best to be mature, helping the adults. The 10 year old girl, Georgia, is irrepressibly charming, winning over even my sister Eve, who is not easily impressed by anyone under 30. The six year old boy Thornton, and little brother Connor run laps around the restaurant, with the attendant sound effects. In spite of this show of youthful exuberance, they finally let all 15 of us inside, where we had a well deserved, excellent meal.

#5. Yes we have no fruit basket. We wanted the food for the reception to come from Harry's Farmer's Market. That was one reason we stayed in Alpharetta. We had placed the order the week before from Tucson. We ordered cheese wedges, vegetables and dip, assorted rolls, a fruit basket, an angel food cake, a chocolate torture cake, and a banana bread. We took Eve and my Mom to pick up the orders, and went through the store selecting more goodies, such as a case of Martinelli Sparkling Cider (there was no alcohol served), cookies, whitefish spread, etc. When we piled it all into the cart, now a bit pressed for time, we discover there was no fruit basket. After many calls to various supervisors, and some finger pointing, they admitted that they didn't have it on their copy, and could not make one up that day. We rushed back to the fruit section, grabbed a few melon halves, a flat of strawberries, and made a mad five mile dash down to Grogan's Bluff for the main event.

#6. It's NOT a dry heat. When we arrived at the clubhouse, we were amazed at how Gary & Marilyn had transformed the place. There were decorated tables in alcoves at either end of the room, and the main section had 40-some chairs arranged in nice wedding-like rows, with an aisle. There was a small, but complete kitchen and restroom on that level, and bigger bathrooms downstairs where we went to change. A friend of mine from Life did all our flowers as a gift, and helped me dress. As I didn't want to be seen before the ceremony, I stayed downstairs longer, not realizing that the airconditioning had failed on the upper level. Luckily, the clubhouse was in the woods, and had windows on all sides, so it wasn't too unbearable. There was also a large shady deck, where many people gathered after the ceremony.

#7. Happily ever after. We put together a music tape consisting of 35 minutes of classical music to lead in to the ceremony, followed by 140 minutes of love songs for the reception. After a few late-comers were seated, Judge Jay Roth began the non-religious, but poetic marriage vows. We said our "I will's", exchanged rings, and were lawfully joined as husband and wife. Now we could relax and mingle. Not all of our friends could make it, but we enjoyed seeing those who did. We had pictures of Tucson, to show everyone our new environment. In between chatting and having our pictures taken, we did wedding stuff like cutting the cakes, and having a sparkling cider toast. I didn't throw my bouquet. I suspected the only females who would go for it would be Virginia & Georgia, and they were a bit young.

The wedding crowd began to thin out around 4PM. We thought we'd go to Marilyn's to rest, but not everyone left. Regina Kirby, hostess extraordinaire, was already rearranging the original food, and adding new dishes for the evening party. Remember the flat of strawberries? Stephanie Gould turned them into elegant chocolate dipped strawberries- better than Harry's would have done. We changed into casual clothes, as did some of the remaining guests. By six, the second shift began to arrive. There was more food, cooler air, and more time to visit. Around 10PM we started forcing departing guests to take food home, and the clean-up began. We got back to the hotel suite, complete with jacuzzi tub, for a 90 minute "honeymoon".

We spent more time with family and friends Sunday and Monday before we headed back to Tucson, one suitcase filled with gifts, and two boxes on their way via UPS. It may not have been a traditional wedding, but we loved it; and are eternally grateful to everyone who helped us make it happen, and to those who shared in our happiness.

With Groom's Family.
L-R: Sydney Davis, Debbi, Avery,
Lee Davis and children (Georgia, Connor, Thorton, Virginia), Janet Larson