The Brock Wedding

So what I’m calling the end of my last blog series was my proposal to Grace. It’s been 16 months since I seriously blogged, Reader. In that time I’ve had a lot of personal growth. I achieved my goal of becoming a Blue Belt in Jiu Jitsu (more on that in a later blog), I started a new job, I watched the entirety of Hunter X Hunter and you know what, that was the biggest emotional roller coaster of everything I listed. Anyway we’re here to talk about the wedding. Specifically all the different Easter Eggs that made it into the ceremony and the reception. The theme of the wedding was Classy Superheroes. Basically we could make all the nerdy references we wanted, but they couldn’t distract from the fact that this was a wedding. Get ready. There’s a lot.

1. Grace made (almost) everything by hand. I helped with a few things but all credit goes to her.
2. Grace’s bouquet had her mother’s diaper pin and a family heirloom locket that contained a picture of her father and a picture of her and her father from her baptism. Grace’s father passed away when she was three years old so this was her way of having him walk her down the aisle.
3. All of the flowers were made of paper. The leaves on some of the flowers on Grace’s bouquet were made from Enhanced and Altered.
4. We had a unity candle as a part of the service. The unity candle was the same one her parents and sister used at their weddings.
5. As Grace was walking down the aisle, her mother unfurled a banner of Grace’s father. I seriously almost cried when I saw it. Almost. I am still The Creature. Okay, maybe I shed a tear.
6. The official for the ceremony was Ally Balcerzak. Ally is, with the exception of my wife, my closest friend. Having her do the ceremony meant more to me than anything. It really was absolutely perfect. Thanks Sis.
7. In Ally’s sermon there were quotes by Marvel writers. This story gets better because Ally was able to properly identify the author of one of the quotes because of Andy, one of the Groomsmen.
8. My vows were written in a notebook that I received from Andy and his wife, Karen for my birthday.
9. Speaking of the Groomsmen, this is where we get down to the real nerdy Easter Eggs. Each of the Groomsmen had a theme to their outfits. I got them Cufflinks, Socks, Tie Clips and another gift that’ll come up later. Taking this second to publicly thank them all for everything.
10. My best man and brother, Quinton Brock aka Scooter was The Incredible Hulk. Originally his stuff came with generic Hulk socks. Scooter is not generic so I found something way more original. You can download his music on Spotify.
11. Andy was Cyclops from the X-Men. Prior to this, I had no idea Cyclops had his own merch. Also for my comic book readers out there, Cyclops was rights.
12. Doug was The Flash. The gimmick was appropriate because Doug was running around all weekend making sure I was taken care of. Doug wrestles on the local independent scene as Matt Rattcliff. Go watch Indy Wrestling.
13. Peyton, my youngest brother, was Black Panther. Peyton proved his maturity with this whole thing. I’m proud of him.
14. Desmond was Spider-Man. This man has had a Spider-Man collection since he was three.
15. My own setup was different. I had Deadpool sneakers on. Deadpool Cufflinks, and a Deadpool tie. For two reasons, Red is my favorite color and Deadpool is my favorite super hero. Shout out to Grace for finding all of my Deadpool merch.
16. Grace’s veil was special ordered. It was a shorter replica of Gail’s and contained the same sparkle tulle from her dress.
17. Grace’s hairpiece was made from her mother’s wedding outfit.
18. All the Groomsmen and myself were wearing shirts under their tuxes that said Grooms Club. This is a reference to my obsession with Bullet Club shirts. Pro Wrestlers have always been super heroes to me. And another shout out to Grace for making these possible. The shirts were Too Sweet.

1. Marijke Cuthbert, the third arm of a trio with Ally and I read “A Lovely Love Story” by Edward Monkton. It’s about a Dinosaur that lives alone in a cage. Yeah that’s totally a metaphor for your favorite Creature that lives in a place called The Cage. Thanks Um!
2. We had four Bridesmaids, Emma Vallone, Alexis Reeher, Nia Reed (my youngest sister) and Simone Brock (my most mature sibling).
3. Grace’s Matron of honor was Gail Kieffer, Grace’s sister. It’s pronounced “Key-fur” I maybe heard 40 different pronunciations. Not quite an Easter Egg, just Kinda funny.
4. The dress Grace’s mother wore was the same pattern and designer as her dress from Gail’s wedding.
5. Grace made all the Centerpieces by folding books into cylinders and hot gluing paper flowers to them.
6. Some of the books used were from Grace’s grandparents home.
7. Peyton and Simone played a musical tribute. I had no idea what they were going to do. They practiced the whole thing in secret.
8. My ring is actually my grandfather’s wedding ring. I had it restored and resized but otherwise it’s unchanged from the original. The fact that Carlton Classic gave it to me means more to me than words can ever express.
9. The song that played for my mother son dance was I’ll Always Love My Mama by the Intruders. My mom used to sing it to me when I was a wee Creature.
10. The Stepmother-Son dance was Musicology by Prince. I didn’t appreciate Prince until my Stepmom came into my life.
11. The song Grace walked down the aisle to was Gracie by Ben Folds. Grace’s mom picked it out. She had no idea prior what she would walk out to.
12. All of the table numbers were actually super hero logos. These were layered images rather than flat printed.

• Green Lantern
• Venom
• Fantastic 4
• Hulk
• Ironman
• Black Panther
• X-Men
• Deadpool
• PS4 Spider-Man
• Thor
• The Flash
• Green Arrow
• Avengers
• Superman
• Static Shock
• Captain America
• Batman
• Robin
• Wonder Woman

Thank you to everyone for making our wedding day special.

Edited July 12 for clarification.