Are we going with District 28 as our venue? No. But, I can’t dwell on that right now. Plus, we came up with contingency plan over La Carnita tacos (the best food for concocting contingency plans).
Instead, I want to focus on the Oct. 3 nuptials of Yerxa and Zack (collectively known as Yerxbourne).
You may know Yerxa. He was a regular panellist on the reverent, hilarious, shocking, and tender MTV show, 1 girl 5 gays (full disclosure: I was a producer for 1g5g, and I STAND BY ALL OF THOSE ADJECTIVES!)
I became intimately involved in Yerxa and Zack’s relationship, because as a non-scripted television producer, it was my job to encourage Yerxa (and the rest of the cast) to share personal details about their lives for the show.
Yerxa and I became friends outside the studio, and before we knew it we were sharing hearty laughs and polishing off boxes of wine with our boyfriends. We’ve had many good times together, and Peter and I were honoured they invited us to their wedding.
Flash forward to Oct. 3. Peter and I jumped on the Dufferin bus and made our way down to Pia Bouman School to watch the Yerxbourne's get hitched.
What I LOVED about the venue was tiered seating. Everyone could watch the ceremony! Comfortably! Without straining their neck!
A blurry photo to show you what tiered seating looks like.
While Peter and I were taking our seats, the officiate announced the grooms were close by, and asked if the guests would be witnesses to the ceremony. Another wedding guest suggested we answer with a resounding “YAS” during the ceremony. Obviously everyone was into it.
The grooms walked down the aisle to “Someone’s Getting Married” from the Muppets take Manhattan, and while signing the legal documents, the audience was serenaded by a drag queen performing Adele’s Make You Feel My Love. I can’t describe the feeling of love in that room – it was immense. Like a big hug. I’m going to try and stop explaining it, but if you ever get to be in a room with that much love, you’re lucky.
After the hitchin’ was official, Peter and I piled into a school bus the Yerxbourne’s rented to take the wedding guests to the venue – 3030 in the Junction.
The venue instantly earned brownie points from Peter for their huge pinball machine collection. We chowed down on poutine, macaroni & cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches and shepherd’s pie (aka ALL OF MY FAVOURITE FOODS) and listened to hilarious speeches by the Yerxbourne friends.
During their couple speech, Yerxa said one of my favourite Yerxisms:
“I love being a gay person!”
And took a sombre moment to reflect on the mistreatment of the LGBTQ community around the world.
Between speeches, the wedding guests were entertained by drag performances, and took pictures at the step and repeat wall with cardboard cut outs of Meryl Streep and Michelle Kwan (Yerxa is a HUGE fan of Meryl, the Olympics, and figure skating). The cardboard cut outs were a lot of fun -- definitely something I'd like to have at our wedding. Of what? I don't know. WE STILL DON'T HAVE A VENUE, REMEMBER? GET OFF MY BACK!
After tearing it up on the dance floor, Peter and I took a quick break to eat some donuts shipped in from New Brunswick (they were SO GOOD!) and took in the Yerxbourne's first dance.
If you haven't guessed it already -- they're huge Romy and Michele's High School Reunion fans. It was an amazing night, with amazing food, celebrating amazing friends.