Oh, weddings, nerdlings. I can't help but be a big, ridiculous sap about weddings. I love them, weddings themselves, all cake and flowers and people crying and drinks and nibbles. I love the nibbles. I also really like watching people at weddings because, inevitably, everyone else is all sappy about them, too, and looking around a wedding reception at the end of the night is like piecing together a million great moments from all my favorite British romantic comedies. Everyone gets that slightly misty look while lovers and best friends and family members all shuffle around the floor like this moment will last forever. And it won't, but you might remember it that long.

 

I got married approximately five years ago (five years this Saturday) and I remember every single moment of that day, the good ones (most of them) and the bad ones (when my mother-in-law forgot the flowers, which ended up being okay anyway, because all ended up well and it wasn't like she hadn't worked like a house-elf to make the day happen anyway) because it's the sort of thing you really don't forget. The whole day is kind of trapped in amber for me. Weddings are like that, though. They're really the sort of thing that sticks with you, even when you're just sucking down the free beer. JG,FE and Mrs. JG,FE win the award for best nibbles but they also had the best band and Mrs. JG,FE probably wins for all-around favorite bride if we're judging based on appearance, humor and general awesomeness. There was bad swing dancing and nearly ruining my dress at Drew and Erin's wedding. and there's a picture of me and Mr. BFF and our friend, Steve, getting down to some Vampire Weekend at Marc and Nikki's wedding before it erupted into a spontaneous '90s high school dance.

 

Weddings. Seriously. Who doesn't get a little sappy about weddings? Certainly not me. So I have no problem admitting that I cried when I read Astonishing X-Men this week. (I know, I know, we talked about it last month, but how often do I actually get to see weddings in the funnybooks? Not very, so we're going to take advantage of this moment and next week we can go back to making slightly snide remarks about current covers.) Northstar and Kyle did end up getting married, of course, because everyone got away from the baddies last time. The issue starts out with the moment that everyone has, that second before the wedding when you're like “Oh, gosh, this is a thing that I'm about to do right now, getting married to someone” and it's all nerves and it doesn't help that poor Jean-Paul is all wrapped up from the epic battle where he had to manage to both rescue and not get shot by his mind-controlled best beloved. It's a question of who rescued whom, of course, since Kyle had a gun pointed at Jean-Paul's head and JP was refusing to leave when, the story tells us, Kyle overwhelmed the brain baddie with his love for JP. Kyle reconsidered after that situation because, hey, life is short and JP is hot.

 

And, so, a week later, somehow, they got married in the middle of a Central Park. Beside the unbelievability of managing to get a wedding together in a week, Northstar and Kyle's wedding has its own snapshots: Sasquatch objecting to the seating arrangements, protesting that there's Avengers and X-Men all mixed in and would that work? Some drama with a party guest who just doesn't believe in the whole wedding thing, not even for a friend, and a few asides from some others who are confident the day can't pass without an alien invasion or something. Sage advice from Wolverine. Jean-Paul's sister, Aurora in her Jeanne-Marie gear, asking him to step into the sky for a minute to ask if he's sure, if this is what he wants. Kyle's dad mentioning that maybe this was a little weird for his boy, too. And a whole host of X-Men utilizing their very best decorating skills, including Iceman's practically patented ice roses. A few bemused head shakes over the open bar about how weird this is for some of our more conservative superheroes.

 

Because it's an X-Men wedding and we leave the issue at the reception, there's still the chance that disaster may strike but the most important part of the day is over and it could be pretty bad, but there was that smiling moment in the second before Jean-Paul and Kyle said “I do” when the scene cuts to just their faces and they're drawn so happy in that moment, it seems like all will be well for a day, despite the world being filled with bad guys and mind-controlled teammates and conservative teammates and concerned parents. And that's the very best wedding moment of all, the one where it's all over and you hope that all will be well, just like that, that reception feeling, forever. | Erin Jameson