L & N Wedding

[in progress]

Interfaith wedding

W rocking heels

Dinosaur eggs

S got beamed

Energetic bridesmaid

Pink couch - "take a photo because you're never going to get one."

The Promise, Eileen Rafter

This was the third reading at L's wedding and I just loved it, especially with the bridesmaid's Irish accent:

The Promise
Eileen Rafter

The sun danced on the snow with a sparkling smile,
As two lovers sat quietly, alone for a while.
Then he turned and said, with a casual air
(Though he blushed from his chin to the tips of his hair),
"I think I might like to get married to you"
"Well then, she said, "Well there's a thought,
But what if we can't promise to be all that we ought?
Can you promise you won't rage or shout
If I'm late yet again, when we plan to go out?
For I know I can't promise I'll learn to ignore
Dirty socks and damp towels strewn all over the floor.

So if we can't vow to be all that we should
I'm not sure what to do, though the idea's quite good."
But he gently smiled and tilted his head
Till his lips met her ear and softly he said

"I promise, to weave my dreams into your own,
That wherever you breathe will be my heart's home.
I promise, that whether with rags or with gold I am blessed,
Your smile is the jewel I will treasure the best.

Do you think then, my love, we should marry - do you?"
"Yes" she said smiling "I do."

Forsaking All Others

I've been to many weddings but last night, something about the vows stuck out to me. ""_____, wilt thou have ____ to be thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance, in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?"

Forsaking all others. Abandoning all others. Your family who've raised and cared for you? Your friends who've been there through every tear and every celebration? Your loved ones who've mentored you? Your dog who keeps you up at night? It sounds so final. I mean, I understand that you are each other's numero uno now but I guess that's what that means.

And is that necessarily something to promise? Sometimes, it's just what happens. Married people move in together or move someplace else together, they are sometimes a little harder to drag out to things, they like to nest. They want to be with each other.

But, perhaps, it is part of the vow because people just want to hear that their partner will choo-choo-choose them first. Like in this episode of "I Love New York", the guy said that he would feed his grandmother and mother before he fed New York. He got kicked off the show for that. Which was okay because he ended up being in a bromance with Six Pack.

L & R's Wedding

[in progress]

Gorgeous setting and so easy to get to
Warm and clear day
Ferries crossing to and fro across sparkling waters
Liberty watching over and blessing the day
Pachelbel's Canon always makes me tear, the cello reaches deep into my heart
L looked stunning, R very handsome
The Promise - have to get that
NYU Stern women and their partners
Beer, shrimp, oysters on half shell, yum
Really cool cake with a sword to boot (with Hole's Violet playing)
Delicious scallop app and sea bass entree with reduced balsamic vinegar
Great speeches
Awesome New Wave - aw, yeah New Order, Cure, Depeche Mode

Hair, Make-Up and Flowers

Here are some photos from C & B's wedding. See fabulous arrangement that M created from B & C's vision. I had a lot of fun with the make-up and hair.

B & C's Wedding

[ in progress]

Gorgeous autumn weekend - so warm, sunny, clear blue skies, colorful leaves, stars. Leaves on grass like jubilant confetti. I love this area of NY - I love NY. Where else can you have great snowboarding, an amazing beach like Cherry Grove, orchards, farms, financial capital of the world, Woodbury Commons? NY has everything I need.

I love staying at bed and breakfasts and I love the idea of having a bunch of people attending the wedding stay at the inn together. There were bonfires every night with s'mores, guitars, harmonicas and beer. We had an adorable room with a HUGE sink. There was also a fancy steam option in the shower. The inn was on a huge property with very tall and old trees. Breakfast - poached eggs over homemade pork and sage sausage over whole wheat biscuit. We drank all the apple cider. S: "I had put out nearly 3 gallons of cider yesterday morning and it was all gone!" There were two kinds of coffee cake: apple and lemon sour cream. Fresh fruit and delicious granola. I am really going to miss breakfast. I am going to be SO hungry tomorrow.

The Inn at Stone Ridge had a pool table. I think it is now M's most favorite place to stay. I love watching her play, she is amazing. I was quite proud of a few of my shots as well. I have a very good teacher. I love how the inn had its own orchard and farm - definitely why the cider - everything - tasted so good. They even had chickens! This one was called Rod Stewart. And their hen house was called the omelet machine.

We had a really good time doing flowers, hair and make-up. Although C and I arranged the flowers, we were having a hard time keeping the orchids from drowning in their bowl of water. M so brilliantly determined that the mums had a larger surface area and could be used as floatation devices and redid the flowers. I used a bit of my and C's make-up to do her face and let's face it, when you are gorgeous, it really doesn't take much. I experienced lash envy because her lashes are so long and thick. I then parted her hair on the side, ran the flat iron through the front part, pinned the rest into a french chignon and pinned white orchids down the middle. I called it her orchid mohawk. Then I ran down, threw on my usual wedding dress and the new $15 shoes (finally, a pair of comfy fancy shoes!), and grabbed M who looked so beautiful.
The ceremony was fun, romantic, beautiful and so B and C. There was an open bar, a cheese plate, passed hors d'œuvres and entrees. I LOVED the cupcakes and fresh apple cobbler.

B and C headed out for a hike on Monday and invited us. I wanted to get us back so M could rest before the last leg of driving from Jersey to Maryland. But...we would hit Woodbury on the way down and she did need another pair of boots... Hey, it's like hiking. And would you believe it, I didn't buy anything. Well, because I already bought everything there was to buy the last time.

First Comes Pug, then Comes Marriage

Over a quite lovely dinner at Donguri (http://www.greatrestaurantsmag.com/NYC/restaurant_view/13/) of kumamoto oysters (from California/Oregon/ Washington, creamy and petite with terrific ponzu sauce), house miso soup with mini mushrooms, gorgeous black cod, broccoli rabe with sesame sauce, shrimp tempura and of course, Sapporo beer, my sweet W told me she was engaged! Congratulations W & T! I really love each of them - their brilliance, integrity, positive impact on this world, global perspective and love and thoughtfulness. I had always wanted someone for W who loved to travel as much as she did.They are beautiful together. W's mom is quite fiery and T has charmed her. W's mom: "T is a good guy and has such a mild manner. If anything goes wrong with your relationship, it would be [W's] fault." That is classic Taiwanese mom.
July 14, 2006. My birthday party at the Boat Basin. W arrives with her friends S and A. T with our friends M and E. It could've been her ebullient personality, cuteness and/ or her brilliance but something (many things) caught T's eye and they started talking. T let Petunia sit on his lap and I think that sealed the deal. One romanticizes cupid as a sweet cherub with a bow and arrow. The true manifestation is in the form of an overweight, snorty, pig-like dog with a rainbow ruff.

So, T is off on a project in Malaysia for a few months and will be missed dearly. They are now part of the Couples Who Skype club. Definitely try the video effects - that is hours of fun alone (see blog posting). And while distance can be very difficult to deal with, I think that talking deepens a relationship because you have to communicate with one another as opposed to just sitting in a room together.
Of course my brain is flying ahead. Let's get a conflict free diamond and eco-friendly ring! www.greencarat.com and www.brilliantearth.com. I also love the idea of making the ring yourself. I know of one person who made the mold by hand and the ring ended up having her fingerprints cast into the gold. So many really great creative, socially-responsible options. I see a terrific engagement party outdoors when he returns. Like at a beer garden! A totally green and outdoorsy kind of wedding...

But I get ahead of myself. Congratulations W and T! Good luck in Malaysia. W, I'm here for you and welcome to the club.

Just a Small Wedding with 530 Guests

We have been preparing and looking forward to N & H's wedding weekend for quite some time. 1) It was M's first time officiating. 2) M would see her mother and brother for the first time since January. 3) I would get to see my first Cambodian/ Filipino wedding. 4) I would be her date (she had never brought a girl to a Cambodian event and it's pretty neat to be the preacher's wife (or back up Reverend)!).

We were supposed to be at the bride's parent's house at 8 AM on Saturday morning but my train had gotten in late the night before and I had stayed up with her, her mother and brother. Her mother packed me some food, so sweet! Trying to get up was really rough. We made it around 9:30 AM and while it would've been amazing to witness all the intricacies of the Cambodian ceremony (which actually started on Friday morning), the air conditioning broke and like Survivorman, we headed underground and hid from the heat in the basement. Lunch was again, home-made and utterly delicious. There was some kind of beef and string bean cerviche, Thai noodles, a whole roast/ deep fried pig and pickled vegetables. M was very hot and tired so we all headed back home without seeing the hair cutting ceremony or the knot tying ceremony.

After a brief nap, we got gussied up and headed over to Harvest Moon for the "western-style" wedding and banquet. Despite the huge amount of people, the wedding was pretty well organized. I couldn't imagine trying to manage all the people and details. We were put at a really fun table (Table 3!!!) and one thing I've learned from K's wedding in Mexico - bring your own alcohol! Luckily, we had a couple of bartenders sitting with us so the drinks were flowing (Goldschlogger shots and something called "Liquid Cocaine"). I had a beer and some champagne because, I did not want to deal with a hang-over and I might have to drive if the Reverend got too smashed. Which she did...her pictures get more and more adorable through the night.

The ceremony was great. M did an amazing job in spite of her jitters and many drinks. She got a standing ovation when she came back to our table and so many people came up to her and said they loved it. The band was called "Hello Band (1)" and I LOVED them. Intermixed with Cambodian hits, they played some great 80s to today karaoke staples that our tables sang really loudly to - "It's too late to apologize, too LATE!!!" A bunch of drunk guys really liked my tattoo and took a lot of pictures of my back. M's gay Cambodian traditional dance teacher who is so cool and loves me, asked me to dance and taught me some Cambodian dance moves. I think I am close to getting their version of the electric slide. Then R put in her dance mix and we did a Filipino money dance which was really fun. Basically, people get cash and pins, line up, pin the bride or groom with cash, and dance with them for a little bit. The food was good - your basic Chinese Wedding banquet fare of 11 courses. My 3 favorite courses are: 1st course cold platter with jellyfish salad, 7th course ginger scallion lobster, 11th course cake. The cake was so good - Vietnamese style with mocha filling. They even put a Mickey and Minnie wedding ornament on top and little Mickey heads all around the cake. It was a really fun weekend.