"I can't kill anything that tickles me, Hank."

Just before I got married I started watching King of the Hill on DVD. I'd watched it on Fox when I had basic cable and lived alone. When I moved in with my friends, I no longer had cable but needed to get my KOTH fix, so I started buying it. I started with season three then got seasons six and five as gifts. After we were married, I went through a phase of watching KOTH pretty much constantly (still no cable). One day my husband had had enough. He turned off the show that was playing while I washed dishes, put it in its case, and took every case of KOTH sitting around the living room and put it away.

Maybe it was just the fact that the discs were no longer readily available. Maybe I was actually tired of them and didn't realize it until he put them away. Maybe I was just taking the hint and giving him a break. But I stopped watching King of the Hill that day and haven't regularly pulled it out of its hiding place since.

Today I did. And I love it.

Feet

I'm having to get up from my desk more frequently now. My feet feel burny and swollen.

P.S. I just left this up on my desktop and was going to go for a short walk around the facility when I ran into some acquisitions reps, one of whom, after a short conversation about having to get up and walk around quite a bit (prompted by the question: how are you feeling?) loaned me her footstool! I'm using it now. It is wonderful (sigh of relief).

Drue Alison Barnes

We had a third ultrasound today. The doc wanted to check her kidneys. Turns out everything has matured well, and things look great. And we got this great profile picture out of it!

Found a crib and dresser/changing table. Ecstatic. This is starting to feel very real.

Iiiiiiiit's FRIDAY!

Listening to: Silence.

Accomplished today:

Team meeting. Fielded general questions, mostly involving what to do when a book has gone to layout and the author sends new info, like endorsements. Everyone has a book he/she is really excited about this month. I must admit, I'm a bit jealous that Angela picked up the Solomon's wife story, but I've got two fine books to tackle, so I'm good. Very good.

Edited. Worked on a fantasy story today. Mostly honing in on dialogue tags, as the story is very well put together. Possible problem in sleeping patterns. The author might be married to the day-by-day approach, but I've just started so we'll see.

Book club. Working through and discussing Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. We read a couple of really dark chapters this week. Trying to figure out August's motivation and whether I really think the protagonist is male. (I know he is; I just can't get over the fact that it took me quite a few pages to realize he was.)

Grammar meeting. Learned something new about implied subjects and when a comma is necessary in a sentence such as, "Now, go ahead and open the book, and turn to page four." Because the subject, you, is implied for both clauses but is nowhere to be found in the sentence, the comma separating the two is acceptable, correct even. Except in this case I'd argue it is not necessary because the second clause is so short. If the sentence were to read, "Now, let's go ahead and open the book and turn to page four," no comma is necessary because the subject, us, is there, and both verbs refer back to it. But enough about that.

Magazine brainstorm. Indeed this magazine idea is starting to come to life. We're this close to settling on a name, which will help focus our communication and really let us figure out where we're going with the mag. I like the team we've put together and can't wait to see what kind of logos KP comes up with once we settle on a name. Being able to visualize it a bit better will work wonders.

Editing. Well, blogging. As soon as I hit Post, editing. Then home. Then Red Lobster. I haven't been there in years. All I remember is waiting for a table for a REALLY long time. Let's hope that isn't the case tonight.

On a personal note: Husband is sick. Baby is kicking. Stomach is rumblig. Feet are swollen. I can't wait to see dear friends tomorrow and Sunday. How I love the weekend.

Grace and Peace.

Green March

Starting a new batch of books and loving every minute of it. I have a younger author this month. He's publishing his first with us, and I'm thrilled to have been assigned the book. I think we'll make a good team. He seems to have a solid understanding of what an editor and writer do, how they relate and work together. I've already got some good feedback for him and can't wait to see how this book grows. Not a bad start to a new month.

In other news: baby is growing. She now has a middle name: Alison. I'm scared to death one minute and ecstatic the next. I can't wait to gut my house in preparation and am counting down the minutes to the allotted time to do so.

I never believed "nesting" was real. It is.

Quickly!

REPORT: Started writing up a handout on viewpoint today. Did not come close to finishing.

I have a lot to accomplish in the next two weeks.

WRITE UP TWO BACKMATTERS
FINISH NOTES ON 1 MS
FINISH VP HANDOUT AND SEND TO TEAM
FINISH TIM CALLAHAN'S DARK DAYS IN MORGAN COUNTY
WRITE RADIO SHOW (BREAKTHROUGH) X2
REVIEW TEAM'S BACKMATTER AND CAFs
OTHER STUFF

We're going to Dallas tomorrow. Should be interesting.

Notes

ACCOMPLISHED TODAY: research; almost finished editing "take charge of your kitchen and still have a life" cook book, love it; reviewed children's backmatter; no meetings, if you can believe it.

We have a team meeting next Friday to discuss point of view. As I mentioned, it's been on my mind. I pulled out pages of old notes on the subject today. Can't wait to go back over them. I was searching through my notes because I was looking for notes on subplot and resolution. Here are a few of the ideas that came to mind:

dominant impression - every major character needs one, lest they all look/sound/feel the same

plates - these are small questions you toss up throughout the story to keep the reader engaged/worried/questioning; the key is that they all must be answered; it's the classic "gun on the mantel" issue - if there's a gun on the mantel, it's got to be used at some point; all plates should be resolved before the story climax.

subplots - these are fantastic; just make sure the reader doesn't become confused as to which is the main plotline; the first subplot usually has to do with the protagonist's inner struggle; there's usually another that the antagonist is "in charge" of; subplots should also be resolved before the story climax.

more on general story resolution and open-ended questions later...

attitude is everything

need to: write thank you notes; pray more for loved ones, colleagues, and authors; read for book club; think more before responding; not concern myself so much with what was said after responding; stop eating so much sugar; register for baby stuff

thankful for: community, honesty, and openness; girlfriends; maternity clothes; my kittehs; a husband who loves me; this life in my belly

thinking about: point of view, seinfeld, how fat i'm getting, work, the future

do not like: our futon

Childhood Memories Make Meggo and Crazy Girl

In 1987 I was in the third grade. I was new to Union Public Schools and attended Darnaby Elementary. I was an instant nerd, looked down upon because I didn't own Guess jeans with zippers near the ankle. I hated the third grade.

That year there was a talent show for all grades.

Mrs. Duckworth's class (that was my class) walked single file and silently into the gymnasium and sat in one long row on the white floor. I remember we were sitting just to the right of center stage and quite a few rows back. I had no idea what was going on. I don't even know if I realized we were about to witness a talent show (which I would participate in two years later as a fifth grader, lip synching to "I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog" by the Monkeys, and again as a sixth grader, when I sang along to a tape of Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings"). I was probably too preoccupied worrying about how all the girls in my class hated me and how in the world was I going to get them to like me?

I don't remember any of the acts but one. Two sixth grade boys - one on guitar, the other I can't remember - played and sang Yes's "Owner of a Lonely Heart."

Whatever I had previously been preoccupied with disappeared when these two started playing. I was captivated. I'd never seen live music like this. I'd heard my dad and his brothers sing barbershop quartet. I'd heard lots of live singing, sure. But I'd not seen an electric guitar in action. I'd not realized that people performed in this way. I'm afraid I didn't even know what rock music was. I knew the Beach Boys. Well, I guess since I knew the song I knew a little something about music, but I must have just heard it on my mother's radio station one day, because what my parents really listened to the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Kenny Rogers.

Anyway, these kids, according to my memory, were amazing. They were not lip synching. They were performing "Owner of a Lonely Heart," and they were awesome...and flawless. Again, this according to my memory. But they were.

Years later I would think about that performance and wonder, Were they really singing live? I was always still pretty certain they were, but it stuck with me. The song stuck with me. Everytime I've heard it over the years, I've thought of that talent show.

Well, recently - over Christmas - I decided I might try to find out if my memory was correct. Collin and I were home for the holidays, and I pulled out my old 1987 Darnaby Rangers yearbook (the one with the Guess symbol on the cover) and looked up the sixth grade class. I knew I would recognize at least one of the boys who sang "Owner of a Lonely Heart" because I remembered he had a specific look about him.

I found him. His name was...well, maybe I shouldn't say...but I found him. Collin was there. He looked at me like I was a little crazy and said..., "Oh." (But he has to admit that he was at least a little curious too. I mean, sixth graders rocking live? Come on.) After Christmas we came back to Norman, and some days later I looked this guy up on Facebook.

No go.

At this point I realize you probably think I'm a stalker or just nuts, but you know what? I don't really care.

So, I didn't find him, and I let it go.

Then today... I thought about the song again. I don't even remember why, but I thought it couldn't hurt to try again. So, I looked him up, and someone's picture came up that fit the description.

Dare I write this guy?

Me being me, I did, really without much thought.

Well, long story short, it was him. He had played in the 1987 talent show, and he and his friend had NOT been lip synching but had played live the previously mentioned song by Yes.

I was thrilled. He was flattered. My husband is glad I have peace. End of story.

Speaking of the Beach Boys, I was talking to my mother today about nursery colors. I told her I've been thinking purples and browns and maybe some green. She asked what shades and asked whether I have a theme in mind. I told her I don't like the brightest or darkest shades of any of those colors, so I'm thinking soft, and I have no idea about a theme. I asked her, "Do you think I should do some sort of storybook theme?" She responded, "Well, you know I'm not all cutesy [nor am I, thought daughter], so I don't know. What about the Muppets? You always loved them. You could brainwash her with the Muppets like your dad did you the Beach Boys."

I laughed. "Perfect," I wrote. "How about a Muppet mural so that every time she wakes up at night and sees the wall, she is terrified?"

Mom wrote back, "So, how about these colors: Fozzy Bear brown, Kermie green, and Miss Piggy purple."

Perfect.

Axe That Prologue!

Was at dinner Sunday, and a woman across the table had just read Twin Motives, a book I edited. She loved it. I was thrilled.

My team of editors had a quick discussion last Friday about a 2,000-word piece one of my colleagues had sent around. It was the first 2,000 words of one of her mss.

What a great discussion. From 2,000 words came the topics:

When a prologue and/or epilogue is unnecessary
Viewpoint
Showing v. telling
Religiosity – when is a book over the top; how do you approach it; one way is to address character flaws as well as realistic dialogue
When a character is too perfect – what makes a good hero
Dialogue
Narrative breaks

Not only were these great topics to discuss, but I was able to see how each of my team members would have tackled the book. I was the only one who said the prologue gets the axe. And I was right.

I see more of these meetings in our team's future.

the day of the purple dress

STATUS REPORT: Tired after a long day. Looking forward to moving offices Thursday. Need to do some cleanups tomorrow lest I fall too far behind on my to-do list. Losing the light at the end of this month's tunnel but know it's there. It always is.

Worked on a long MS today. It's good. I jibe with what the authors are saying. (This is nonfiction.) However, the book is 116,000 words long and needs some serious cutting. It's not been too difficult thus far. However, I feel brain cells dying daily. This baby is making me stupid. I had a lot of trouble focusing today on what, on a normal, non-pregnant day, would have been easy thinking and reading. I would have left work rejuvinated and ready to get home to one of my side reading ventures. I love to read. Instead I left work mentally exhausted. Hopefully it was but one bad day.

Bad day nothwithstanding, I still rocked that MS.

There are few things more fulfilling than making great edits on a book and knowing the author is going to put forth the effort to take his or her book to the next level. Good writers work with their editors, trust their editors. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I am saying that you should have a dialogue with me, and just as much as I should listen to you and care about your vision for your book, you should hear my vision and care about what I have to say. After all, I have your book's best interest in mind. We should work together to meet the objective of putting the best book we can on the market. That is what partnership publishing is all about, folks.

I love my job.

The Cliffhanger

MORNING REPORT: Team meeting to discuss issues, questions, and exciting new ideas. Went well. Topics discussed included: title length, passive voice, how soon should dialogue show up in a novel, and cliffhangers.

One of my editors asked me today, "Do you have a particular book you could show me that does a really good job of switching scenes?"

Me: ???

Then she said, "All of my authors tend to do things like write, 'And back to such-and-such,' or 'Back in Detroit...' to denote setting or scene change."

I cringed.

"That is sad," I said.

We then got into a conversation about cliffhangers, hooks, and stopping in the middle of action at the end of a chapter. This seems obvious to me, but I guess I do run across a lack of it in books at times. Fortunately, I've not had to deal with the "Back at Sarah's house, Joni was cooking dinner when..." issue.

So, how does a writer keep the reader clear when they're switching settings a lot? Well, first, is the story structured well? But then come to mind things like: they've got good characters that the reader doesn't have trouble remembering. They have good conflict. They employ the use of narrative and chapter breaks. They end their chapters with HOOKS!

I don't know how many times I've written to an author "No hook" at the end of a chapter. I've probably written this before here, but if your character is going to bed at the end of chapter two, so is your reader. What you really want is for your reader to NEED to turn that page and read chapters three and four, etc. If you stop a chapter in the middle of a question or great action and then switch to a different setting, the reader shouldn't have as much trouble finding their way back when you come back to said conflict question later.

There's obviously more to this, but these are the first few things that come to mind.

Now to editing...

Look at that foot!

Wow. What a moment. The ultrasound technician, who surely has a more professional title that I don't know, points at the screen and says, "Have any guesses?"

I knew right away. It was a girl.

"Yes. It's a girl."

Collin, from over my shoulder, practically shouts, "No way!" And tears of joy or something are running down my cheeks. I can't believe it. I'm going to be a mommy. I'm going to have a little girl.

Collin is going to be such a fantastic father, and she is going to love him so much. Her name is Drue (middle name pending). Drue Barnes. And she's a cutie pie.

The Cranberry Hook

My goal today: hit goal and don't get frustrated. Don't wear my emotions on my sleeve. This is difficult when hormones are raging. I've felt a failure the past two days, but I feel more on my game today. I am referring to staff squabbles about which I can't go into detail here.

What is today's goal? To finish this adventure book, set up a couple of interviews, and either review backmatter for the books I've finished or complete another quality control review. Word total: 28,000ish.

I'm wearing my first maternity pants today. One of the women in our church kindly graced me with a tub of clothing. She's a bit smaller than me (the pants I'm wearing today probably fit her at six months and just barely fit me at twelve weeks), shorter, but I think the clothes are going to work! And they're cute. What a money-saver and a blessing.

I made a huge cranberry salad last night with the help of my darling husband. If you enjoy cranberry salad, ask me for this recipe; it is outstanding. We're having Thanksgiving at work today. The design department, illustrators, and we editors are all getting together for food and activities at lunch. Should be keen. I hope there is some leftover cranberry salad to take home (for Collin's sake...and mine). You never know. It's always either a total hit, or the group of people you try to feed it to hate cranberries/new things. I'm telling you, this is the best cranberry recipe on the planet, and it's so simple!

And it smells good when you're making it.

Back to work. Remember: if you're working on a novel, no matter the genre, work to hook your reader at the end of each chapter. If you end the chapter with the doctor coming in the room and saying, "Oh, it looks like everything is going to be fine!" your reader will put the book down frustrated and might not pick it up again. Leave the character bleeding in the hospital bed!

Tylenol Woes

I feel like I should change the name of my blog since I haven't blogged about writing in a while. I would if I had the energy (and the whining begins). You can read at least one of my October writing blogs at: http://tatepublishingeditors.blogspot.com/

I'm lying on my couch with a pouding headache, listening to football fans shout "Boomer! Sooner!" from my not-open window (it would be so much more romantic somehow if the window were open). I hate game day traffic, but I have to admit I enjoy living this close to the stadium. I enjoy the stadium sounds. I enjoy the crowds, even though I scoff at them during the day in my scary judgmental way.

I wanted to go to the Dixons' tonight, but my headache and level of sleepy kept me from it. I am sick of being sick. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is dim. I actually threw up this week. It was the first time in over ten years that I threw up without helping myself. I don't mean to say that I've suffered bulimia. Thank God I haven't. But I have felt bad enough before that I thought physically getting sick would help, so I stuck a spoon down my throat (tmi?). This time: no spoon necessary. I was just drying my hair Tuesday morning and suddenly, oh, I'm going to toss that milk I just drank.

Since I'm having more bearable days to go along with my bad days though, I have been able to eat a better assortment of foods. For a while there it was Taco Bell grilled stuffed burritos every day. Now I can't even think about fast food without gagging. I like this particular change. What I don't like is never cooking and being so picky every day. I also can't wait to find water refreshing again.

Enough feeling sorry for myself.

I'm so excited to be back with the band. :) I started singing in church again last week and made it to practice again today. I love those guys, and I hate feeling out of the music loop. Now if only the trumpet (which is a marvelous instrument, and Wes is a genius playing it; I'm just not myself right now) would stop making me want to vomit. Soon enough!

I leave you with Halloween pics:


Collin's first jack-o-lantern. (Note the fuzzy orange precious on the left.)


You can tell who the artist is. (Hint: not me.)


My work crew. Seventeen Depps for Seventeen Editors.

P.S. I only have three books to read this month. Should make for some great edits, and I can't wait to delve in. Still, it's a short month (can't believe the holidays are here), so I'm going to have to buckle down more than usual. I'm unable to keep up with this blog the way I'd like, but (if you care) know that it's because work keeps me offline.

Crackers have become a large part of my life.

I am pregnant. I have the four tests to prove it. (Not really. They're long gone.) Why did I take four tests? Well, I've never been pregnant before, so when the second line showed, but only just barely, we weren't sure. Now, I was pretty sure. I thought, there's no way a line would show if it didn't detect this crazy hormone in my body. But hubs wasn't so sure. I don't blame him. The line was really light. Oh, and I'll never forget Collin's sound when I walked into the bathroom, looked at the test, looked at him, and paused. It was a nervous sort of chuckle-choke. And he smiled.

When I took the test the following morning, the second line was still light--but darker. Yes, darker. Still, C wasn't sure. I did some reading up online that day, and I was sure. But I just had to have his agreement. Just had to. So when he went off to work that day, I went to the store, grabbed some pre-natal vitamins and another test--this one the one that reads "preganant," "not pregnant." He was up at the lab and needed a broom, so I brought him one, along with a little stick that read "pregant." He was speechless.

Why the fourth test, you wonder, if you remember my mention of it? Well, I'm just paranoid, that's all. I took another five days later because I was feeling really cra(m)ppy and not feeling sick, like I was just sure I would feel, so blah blah blah. I'm paranoid. But I'm also pregnant.

I don't know how much I should post about this--this being my editing blog and all, but I thought I'd writing something. We'll see where it goes from there. We did talk names last night. I much have spent two and a half hours in a book of names only looking at "Boys' Names" and come up with next to nothing. Girls were a different story. We've got some "working titles." We're getting there with boys. I keep gravitating to B names though, which you'd think wouldn't work since our last name is a B name, but I love me some alliteration, and if you do it well, it can be strong.

I'm not naming my child B**** just because it's alliteration, for any sickos who really think I would.

Oh, now I really want to post about names, but I fear I would only be copying my friend Courtney, who is due oddly on the same day as (insert correct pronoun here. One thing I will say is, I think I'd like to narrow it down to two per sex. That way when the baby is born, Collin can behold him or her and decide his or her name. (Let's say it's a her.) "Ah," he will say, "she is clearly Blythe." He's good at naming that way. He saw the one pound seven ounce cat I brought home and almost immediately said, "We shall call her...Marigold." And she's lived up to her name ever since.

If marigolds are a really fat flower.

Onto editing. Tomorrow marks the end of another month. I tend to blog at the end of the month. I've decided I will not stress next month no matter how much my job begs me to. Now matter how much this computer begs me to worship it, I won't. I'm thinking dialogue. It's written on my hand--the word "dialogue." I think I'm going to whip up a sheet on this most difficult concept and start a dialogue about dialogue with my department. I promise I will post it here, for those who need their word fix. Until then, thank God for Jesus, without whom I would crumble to pieces.

Chronologicalication

I'm working on a book right now that is supposed to be a chronological study of a particular book of the Bible. Vagary!

Although the author attempts to create a chronological study, it (yes, I refuse to submit the sex of this questionable writer) fails at every turn.

The whole issue begs the question: do I have the wrong draft? Did this draft get entirely flubbed/flipped/flopped around in transmission? Perhaps this person has a computer program I've ne'er heard of.

Because it is utterly impossible that this person meant to repeat itself (there it is again) so many times, nor is is possible that this person does not see how the book is not chronological but illogical.

Unfortunatley, it is possible, because this IS the correct draft. I spoke with the author yesterday. We have work to do! But it shall be done!

"She's got some thing with her mother. It's tough."

We've recently started watching Seinfeld again. (The joys of Netflix.) I realize the show is on television every day, but seeing as we don't have any sort of basic cable in our home, I've not been inundated with reruns of Seinfeld and Scrubs and Wings (yes, Wings) and Golden Girls and whatever else is constantly on the tube these days for years. This classic, hilarious, timeless show is just as good as new to me again, and I love it.

Speaking of weird. We're still finishing up Twin Peaks.


YES!

Our dear friend Kyle says there is a subplot coming that we're going to hate. I'm on the hunt for this alleged subplot but have yet to encounter it. Bring it on, David Lynch!

As for work, we've met the end of another month, and my Friday deadline looms. I've finished all first edits and am thrilled about two books this month. One a contemporary mystery, the other a textbook about God and country. Wish I could write more, but I need to finish this episode of Seinfeld and get back to work. Perhaps one day I'll be caught up.

Oh! But first, quickly, the Olympics! The one sport I cared about more than any other: the marathon. I have to say I was heartbroken when our guys came in ninth and tenth, though that was a first for USA, which is fantastic. I really wanted Hall to place. Really. But he's only 25, so there's always 2012 (and even 2016). Strange to think that far in the future.



Think I'll go for a run. Forget television!

And as for a word of writing advice: stop capitalizing everything. Writers like to capitalize things that don't need to be capitalized. Are you one of them? My advice is: get comfortable with Chicago Manual of Style's capitalization laws. That's right, I said laws. Get comfortable wih any style guide's capitalization rules, because they are all going to tell you similarly to stop capitalizing everything. It's distracting, just like italics. And who wants to distract their reader? Not me said the editor.

Nuptials

Another month down, another to go. I just organized my email files. I have so many of them now. A lot of people hate Outlook. Perhaps I'm just uneducated, ignorant, not cool, but I like it! I have folders within folders and folders and more folders, adn they're all right there for me to easily behold and navigate.

I'm sure there is many an email program that allows one to do the same things, but I don't care. I like Outlook.

Until it crashes. What does it mean when a window pops up and says, "Would you like to auto archive your files?" Where do those files go?

Do you know, I don't really care.

I finished sending out all edits and clean ups today, and it felt great. I approved three proofs, which also felt great, and now I'm down to sending out final scores for the month and nitpicking with a handful of MSS that need to be ready for layout by the end of the working day tomorrow. I think I can get this done; however, I've got meetings upon meetings tomorrow. Four meetings? I think so, yes, four meetings.

I'm looking forward to next month, I think. We'll see how a full month with a regular workload goes. I'm hoping it will go well.

I'm "friends" with the new RUF intern on Facebook now. I can't wait to meet her!

What else, what else...

I am going to be 30 a week from TODAY. That is a strange pill to swallow.

Last night I went through a bunch of old grad school notes. Note about pieces I was writing; notes from class; actual old MSS; handouts. It was a lot of fun. I think I'll use a lot of this old work to craft conceptual notes for the editors on my team. I might also post them here. We shall see.

Not much else about the pub world today. I'm too happy to have a bit of a day of rest tomorrow. And then comes the new load Friday.

I also came across a bunch of old songs I used to play. Many of them I had written, and I didn't even remember them. I had a lot of songs in the early 2000s. I did a lot of writing. In fact, I found a bunch of "song doodles" in the class folders I was going through last night. I might have to rework some of those lyrics to new music (since I don't remember the old music). Might be fun. C and I have been talking about "jamming" lately. Although we always end up sitting around, working in our free time, not doing fun stuff like jamming.

Sorry so scattered. More quality blogging to follow.

No to Nuptuals!

Weddings are a beautiful thing. They are a picture of Christ and the church, a great mystery. Lovely. Exciting. I cry at every wedding I attend, without fail.

We went to a beautiful wedding last weekend in fact. Kim was a beautiful, blushing bride, and I mean beautiful. Wow. It was so much fun spending time with friends I hadn't seen in a while, and I can't tell you how excited I am that one of those friends is moving back to Oklahoma.

So, weddings are great.

Not so in print.

If you are considering writing nuptuals into your novel, think long and hard before you implement them. How much of the grand event do I absolutely HAVE to include? How many details MUST be in the story? Who is my audience? What percentage of my readership will I alienate with an extravagent wedding scene? These are good questions.

Further, in evaluating the necessity of the nuptual, ask whether this is just you taking the opportunity to be "descriptive." If it is, be assured you can employ brilliant description elsewhere (or less description here). A wedding slows the pace of the story exponentially...ultimately because conflict is key. Unless there is a shooting in the middle of the wedding; unless there is something that hinders the hero, some conflict arises there, it probably doesn't need to be there. The story MUST move forward!