Both the Bride and the Groom were second-generation Texas Aggies. Both parents of both families were Texas A & M graduates, as were most of the 250 wedding guests.
I knew they had something cooking when I was contacted before the wedding by both the Best Man and the groom’s mother. The big prank? They wanted me to play the “Aggie War Hymn.”
It’s not as if I hadn’t done this at numerous Aggie weddings before, but they wanted the timing to be just perfect. The groom was the chosen victim.
Step 2 fell into place in the Bride’s Room at the church before the ceremony, when the Maid of Honor showed her Texas Aggie boxer shorts to the bridesmaids. The Bride insisted on wearing the boxers beneath her gown for the ceremony.
En route to the Reception, the Groom started taking inventory: “Something Old, check, Something New, got it…what do you have that’s Borrowed?” The Bride just smiled and answered, “You’ll see!” No doubt the groom envisioned something a little different from what he would encounter.
The evening progressed and the dancing was fierce and hand-to-hand, until time for the Bouquet and Garter toss. Both the Best Man and the groom’s mother had put me on notice to have the Aggie War Hymn cued up, and to start it on the Best Man’s signal.
As the groom started moving to remove the garter, our Aggie bride stood up, jumped on top of the chair, and raised her dress over her head, exposing the Aggie boxers for all to see!
What every Aggie bride should wear!
That was when the “WHOOP” of the War Hymn kicked in, and over 200 Aggie wedding guests all joined in, rattling the windows of the Fort Worth Club.
The groom’s face was a deep shade of Maroon.