Sarah Lackritz and Bones (no last name known) met while Bones was trolling for girls at a biker rally in Sturgis, S.D. and it was love at first sight.
Sarah, who works in corporate financial communications, and Bones, who spends most of his days drinking tequila, had just pulled into town when they spied each other outside a local saloon. Sarah, with her long hair and thin frame, remembers the moment exactly. "I saw this handsome guy riding a Harley, his beer belly and tattoos in full view. And that beard! It had the fragrant aroma of Elderberries and Budweiser. I knew right then that we were destined for each other."
They were married in a small ceremony near the Lincoln Memorial, surrounded by family and fellow bikers. As Bones kissed the bride on the cheek (he did), you could feel the collective gasp as far away as the White House.
Wait a sec. What's that? Bones isn't the groom? He was just part of Rolling Thunder on the Mall on Memorial Day? The groom's name is actually Danny? Oh. My mistake.
Let's start this over.
Sarah Lackritz and Danny Levy met while Danny was trolling the halls for girls in Usen dorm at Brandeis University.
As Sarah remembers, "He asked me out and I said no. And then I decided I actually liked him, so I found out where he was going on Spring Break and stalked him to Cancun. And that's how the magic happened."
Like I said, love at first sight.
This is the part of the blog where I'd say, "Seriously, Danny and Sarah had a beautiful wedding blah, blah blah" but with Sarah and Danny, there really isn't any "seriously." It would be hard for me to accurately describe Sarah's laugh, which is oddly much deeper than you'd expect, but trust me, it's ever-present and adorable.
These guys are a perfect pair. They laugh about everything together. The laughing started early in the day, while they were getting ready at the Willard and continued through the last throes of dancing at the majestic Mellon Auditorium. And from the Dep't. of Broken Records, for those of you who have read these blog posts, that's just the way it should be.
I know I always brag about my luck with wedding weather--even when the weather doesn't look so good--and this day was no exception. It was glorious from start to finish. As I drove in to the Willard, I passed about 10,000 bikers parked along Constitution Ave. for the following days Rolling Thunder parade. I thought, Hmmm, this is going to be a logistical problem, doing pictures by the Lincoln today.
Silly me. When I gave Sarah the option of going the opposite direction, to the Capitol perhaps, or making our way through the throngs of motorcyclists, she didn't even think twice. "Bikers!" she squealed with excitement.
And so off we went. The Harley folks were really gracious, allowing Sarah to sit on a hog and providing unlimited background extras. Everyone was screaming best wishes at the couple. As they stood on the retaining wall in front of the Lincoln Memorial, an audience of 100 folks applauded from below. Sarah and Dan ate it up, waving to the more sparsely-dressed biker crowd from their perch. (Sarah's patented dance move is one in which she points both arms at the sky and laughs, and she repeated it again and again to the mob's delight.)
As we walked back to our bus, that's when we found Bones and his posse. They posed for fun pictures with Sarah and pretty much had us in stitches. When someone asked Bones how much he would "offer" for the beautiful bride, he didn't miss a beat: "If we wanted her, we'd just take her." And with that, he leaned over and kissed Sarah, giving her a wedding memory she may (or may not) relish for decades to come.
We all headed back to the Mellon in a great mood. The upper balcony is an incredible spot to take photographs, with all of those columns rising above. We did family pictures up there and it was wonderful to see Sarah and Dan pose with their respective grandmothers. While signing her katubah, Sarah clutched a worn copy of the Hebrew Bible, the same one grandmother used at her wedding. (Her grandparents were married for 62 years.) During the wedding ceremony, the rabbi recounted the story of Danny and the Brandeis dorm and once again all the wedding guests were laughing uncontrollably.
It's always good to be at a wedding where laughter is the overriding dynamic. It puts a bride and groom on a trajectory that can only lead to great things.
To see a mini gallery of pictures from Sarah and Dan's wedding, click here or follow the link under Photo Galleries in the right hand column.
And, since I'm a bit crazy and my mind is always wandering, looking for a cheap pun, here's a little verse for you. Maybe it's not so cheap after all.
Thinking back to the season before
Looking back through the cracks in the door
Two people were married
The act was outrageous
The bride was contagious
She burned like a bride
These events may have had some effect
On the man with the girl by his side
The arc of a love affair
His hands rolling down her hair
Love like lightning shaking till it moans
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
--Paul Simon, Hearts and Bones
Take care,
Matt
