Sally: You're getting married?
Harry: What's so funny about that?
Sally: It's just so optimistic of you, Harry.
Harry: Well, you'd be amazed at what falling in love can do for you.

...

So I went to a wedding in Vegas this weekend. It was my ex-boss's wedding, to be specific. You might be wondering why I'd want to attend my ex-boss's wedding, especially in Vegas, which adds hotel room and gambling money to the price of the required wedding gift. I'll tell you why: straight up curiosity.

I'd been hearing about his wedding for months. She relayed every little detail to anyone who'd listen. Every decision seemed like it was a matter of life or death. What colors should the linens be? Are seat covers tacky? Is it proper to combine silver with cream-colored invitations? Because you know, silver traditionally goes with white, and gold goes with cream. Etcetera, etcetera, ad infinitum.

Naturally I wanted to know how it'd all turn out. I'd heard about all of the planning and stress and daily freaking out at the wedding coordinator, the seating chart issues, finding the perfect ice sculpture, the martini bar, the Rat Pack impersonators - I had to see it all for myself. Missing the wedding would be like missing the last episode of Survivor. Will the couple be able to outwit, outlast and outplay? Who will be the last one standing? I needed to know.

I also take great enjoyment in making fun of people, and I saw this wedding as a prime opportunity. If you're my friend, you know this about me. No doubt you've participated in some fun-making fests with me. It sounds cruel, doesn't it? If you think so, do me a favor: get over it.

Anyway, a large part of me was hoping there'd be some great catastrophe I'd be able to snicker at later. Perhaps some tragedy would befall the ice sculpture. Perhaps a guest (or preferably, a co-worker) would get uncontrollably drunk and make a fool of himself/herself.

None of that happened. Everything looked beautiful. The food was delicious. The lighting was perfect. The seat covers? Not tacky at all. It all turned out perfectly.

One unexpected thing did happen, something no one saw or knew about, except me: I was surprisingly touched by the event.

As my ex-boss stood up at the altar with her husband, the reverend said something like, "______ and ______ are here today because they have great love in their hearts, and great hope."

And that's the part that got me - the part about hope.

What a beautiful thing to commit your life to someone completely, knowing full-well what a gamble it is. Everyone knows that marriages have a 50-50 chance of working out at best. That's a proven statistic, mind you. I'm not making that up. If you're a celebrity, it's even worse.

Those are terrible odds. You wouldn't take a bet like that in a million years. So it's just so surprising and amazing to me (and yes, touching) when people stand up in front of everyone they know and say, "I'm betting everything on you."

It's just so optimistic of them. And that's nice.