Surprise!

How to pull off a secret wedding? Keep it in the neighborhood.

1) Hold it on your 40th birthday on the back patio of your favorite local watering hole. People will expect you to be dressed up fancy. They'll expect the free-flowing wine, bbq fare, and even the pretty flowers on the tables. They won't be expecting the nuptials. Zing!

2) Enlist people you know to take the photos, cook the vittles, and even officiate the ceremony.

3) Share the secret only on a need-to-know basis. The bar owner should know, as should his lovely wife, who may plant a few extra flowers in the back patio in advance. The officiant (yours truly) and photographer must know. The caterer, not so much. He's happy to cook up a storm thinking it's just your birthday.

4) Invite friends from far and wide, as well as just around the corner. The former wouldn't miss it since they've travelled so far. The latter will pop over since it's so close by. They might even bring homemade ice cream or strawberry rhubarb pie, it being your birthday and all.

5) Raise as many glasses as you like. It's walking distance home.

Congratulations, Tracy and Joe! This was one for the history books.