ok part angst part fluff: richie always wanted a wedding ceremony, figured he'd never be able to have one, and eventually convinced himself he didn't want it after all.
eddie has always been indifferent on the wedding front wrt the ceremony + party, and after a Not Great divorce proceeding an even Worse marriage he doesn't want to get legally married again.
both of these things kind of go unspoken between them. eddie is fully aware that richie loves big romantic gestures and that he has a whole Thing about his love life being accepted/celebrated by his family, and Richie is fully aware that eddie gets unduly stressed by any hint of outside control over or expectation of his life. so they don't really need to specifically discuss a wedding/marriage in particular.
once again richie just assumes, even tho it's legal now and he's with his One True Love™, he won't have a wedding. it's not a deal breaker, and it's much less heart breaking than it was as a kid when dreams were a little more all or nothing. he's with eddie and he loves him desperately and they make each other happy and live together and own a dog together. and now they just bought a house together that they picked out together and are going to decorate together! real life can't be prefect, and Richie is a big boy who can accept the things he cannot change etc etc.
Eddie plans a "house warning" party for the weekend after he and richie move in to the new place. a "house warming" party, he says.
and the "house warming" party goes like this:
richie and eddie wear tuxes
there's an aisle down the center of the yard, lined with flowers
at the end of the aisle is an archway of more flowers and a little podium with two jewelry boxes on it
went walks a gradually less confused and more emotional richie down the aisle
eddie makes richie a few deeply sentimental promises in front of all their friends and family
richie improvs some deeply sentimental promises back to eddie (it's not difficult; he's fantasized about his vows - to eddie - the same amount he fantasized about his talk show interview answers)
the jewelry boxes contain chain necklaces each with a single diamond charm and the other man's initial
they put the necklaces on each other
they dance to "their" song, and no one else is allowed to dance until the song is done
Maggie and went are there. Becky, Richie's sister, and her husband and their two kids are there. the losers are there. audra and patty are there. Steve is there. richie's work friends are there. eddie's garage friends are there.
the dog is wearing a flower crown
they receive several "house warming" gifts, including three (3) blenders that they will never use
in every eye but those of church and state (and who cares about them anyway), it's a wedding
omg thank you for this so much omg omg omg. this is everything.
i have nothing to add other than i immediately thought of april and andy's wedding in parks and rec and it just. my heart. i love them so much.
