Wedding reboot: Matt and Elysha trivia

My wife and I will celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary later this month. A couple of days ago, I was writing about the hora, and it prompted me to go back and look back at some old posts I wrote about our wedding on a blog that no longer exists.

Though the blog was deleted more than five years ago under rather unfortunate circumstances, I’m so glad that the content from that blog was saved. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading about our wedding day.

As our anniversary approaches, I’ve decided to re-post some of those wedding memories here to preserve and share them with readers.

Here is the first of these posts:

__________________________________________

If you weren’t at our wedding (and most of you were not), you didn’t have an opportunity to see our menus, designed entirely by Elysha. A different menu was placed at each table setting, and on the bottom of each was a trivia question about Elysha and me (10 different questions in all). The answers were in the center of the table, sealed in an envelope (much like the board game Clue).

Our goal was to tell our guests more about our relationship while also giving them something to discuss at the table. From all reports, it worked well. I thought I’d post some of my favorite questions and answers here since they say a lot about us.

What was Matt’s reply to Elysha upon her declaration of affection for him?

“I’m flattered.”

Even though Matt was already falling in love with Elysha, her declaration of affection (“You know I have a crush on you, right?”) was so shocked that he could not respond like a normal human being.

Instead, they parted awkwardly, and on the way home, Matt realized what a moron he had been and called Elysha in a desperate attempt to apologize for his stupidity. Elysha had already turned off her cell phone for the evening, so Matt left a long and somewhat incoherent message that Elysha thankfully adored and saved until her phone service eventually deleted it for her.

What food product was poured over Matt’s head on the night that Matt and Elysha first started falling in love?

Oatmeal. Matt and Elysha had dinner together on the night of a talent show at their school. During that dinner, they began to unexpectedly share things about their lives that would eventually draw them together.

Later in the night, Matt participated in a comedy sketch in which a former student poured a pot of oatmeal over his head.

Matt and Elysha use a pet name that means the best, the ultimate, and first rate. What is that word?

Skookum. Matt found the word on the Word of the Day website. He shared the word with Elysha, and it has been their pet name ever since.

On their first date, Matt took Elysha where?

Mountain climbing. Mount Caramel, across the street from Quinnipiac College, to be exact.

Though Matt had invited Elysha on the hike, he wasn’t sure if she had perceived the invitation as a date or simply two friends on a hike. On the way back down the mountain, Elysha reached out and held Matt’s hand for most of the return trip.

Matt has always thought of that moment as the beginning of their relationship.

Matt and Elysha were trapped at the airport, almost unable to rent a car during their first trip to Florida. Why?

Neither had a valid driver’s license. Both had expired a month earlier, and neither thought about renewing their licenses before traveling to Florida to visit Elysha’s grandmother. After six attempts to rent cars at six different agencies inside the Boca Raton Airport, Matt finally managed to smooth-talk a Philadelphia Eagles fan running the Hertz counter into renting them a car.

What gift does Matt give Elysha when he needs her to get out of bed?

Hair and bath products. Early in the relationship, Elysha admitted that she is only excited about getting out of bed when she has a new hair or bath product to try out. Therefore, Matt keeps a supply of “incentives” on hand if he needs Elysha to get up and moving.

When Matt and Elysha told Matt’s mom that they were moving in together, what was her response?

Initially, she failed to respond.

Matt and Elysha had taken his mother to Walgreens, and amid their shopping, Matt decided to spring the news on his mother.

After repeating the question, Matt’s mom responded with:

“That’s nice. Where do they keep the light bulbs?”

Matt realized that Elysha was made for him on their first date when she interrupted their conversation to ask for what?

While sitting in Matt’s apartment, discussing their hopes, dreams, and personal histories, Elysha stopped Matt mid-sentence and said, “I’m sorry. It’s 6:00, and The Simpsons are on. Would you mind if we turned on the television and watched?”

Matt knew at that moment that Elysha was the girl for him.