MIKE'S LIFE: Weddings celebrate love, family and traditions (2024)

And just like that, my daughter is married.

And I couldn’t be happier. Or more tired.

My wife was in charge of the logistics and getting everything set up, which makes sense since her profession is corporate event planner. That said, she said it is quite different when it’s (a) your daughter and (b) your money.

The wedding itself was on a nearby uninhabited island, with just parents and grandparents making up the attendees, just as the bride and groom wanted. Because we had a little hike up the beach before we got to the wedding spot, the bride and groom decided to change on the island. And I have never tried to dress in a suit or certainly a wedding gown in 40 mph wind gusts, but I hear it’s quite the challenge.

First the groom, Tyler, emerged from his dressing room (a thick patch of palm fronds) and we told him to stand at the “altar,” the remnant bones of a windswept oak that arched over in the sand. He then was told to stare at the ocean until his bride could emerge from her dressing room, a thick tangle of roots of an uprooted palm tree.

Allie looked beautiful and was all smiles. Several people asked if I was going to cry when I saw her. Nah. Not really my style. Rather, I smiled big, told my daughter she looked beautiful and then cracked a joke to get her to laugh. That’s more of the speed for the two of us. (That said, I judge no one who tears up at something like this. Don’t hold those emotions in. It’s just other things that move the needle for me, like when Moonlight Graham leaves the field in Field of Dreams.)

My father officiated the service, including reading a passage from a book he and Allie used to read when she was a little girl — "Alice in Wonderland." Which, of course, my daughter then thought should be called Allison Wonderland. Quite fitting.

The next day we had a celebration for some friends and family. Just prior to the father-daughter dance, someone again asked me if I was going to cry. I did not. Because we were busy making each other laugh. We danced to “Rainbow Connection” by, yes, Kermit the Frog, because that was a song I used to sing to her at bedtime when she was little. She made the first joke, noting that it would be kinda funny if some Pavlovian response to the song kicked in and she fell asleep. And that would actually have been very funny.

When I gave the toast, I introduced myself, although I’m guessing most everyone who did not know me prior had figured that out since I was, you know, part of the father-daughter dance… And then I said a sentence I had never uttered before — “I’m Mike and I’m Allie’s dad… and Tyler’s father-in-law.”

The weekend was an amazing time of celebration, with wonderful family and friends. There are many milestones in your kids’ lives, and seeing one get married to the love of her life is certainly right up there. I know there are more milestones to come, but this one was certainly one that was overflowing with joy, laughter and love.

And I couldn’t be happier for them. Allie and Tyler are a wonderful couple with a bright future ahead of them. They dated for six years prior to getting married, so he’s felt like part of our family forever. It’s just fun to know it’s now official.

Mike Gibbons was born and raised in Aiken and now lives in Mount Pleasant. A graduate of the University of Alabama, you can e-mail him at scmgibbons@gmail.com.