NYC Recap Part 1: The Wedding

Just got back from an afternoon shift at “the store,” and wow, today I saw the not-so-fun side of working retail.  Stock.  Boooo.  Though opening boxes of fabulous clothes is a lot like Christmas, hanging and steaming every single article of clothing in the boxes is not.  Therefore, I thought rewarding myself with a little shopping afterwards was totally necessary.  I mean, its with a discount, so its practically free, right?

Right :)

As promised yesterday, here is a semi-recap of our New York trip.  I say “semi” because there is no possible way to show and talk about all the fun and fabulous memories we made.  It was seriously so much fun that I could ramble on for-ever.  (I hope you said that in your best Sandlot voice.  FOR-EV-ER.)  And for about two seconds today, I actually thought about posting all 384 pictures from our trip, but then realized that no one but my mom really cares to see that many pictures of me :)  So, I’ve narrowed it down a little, and broken it into two parts but I’ll warn you, its a bit of a NYC picture overload :)  The first part is all the wedding related festivities, and tomorrow, I’ll work on posting the second half of our trip.  Enjoy!

The whole reason for us going to New York was for the wedding of Liz, a good childhood friend of Matt, and her husband Nitin.  (Liz is pictured in the middle in the fabulous dress and belt.  The belt that I I loved so much I considered ripping off her waist and making a run for it.)  Matt and Liz, along with the other peeps in this picture, grew up together in a teeny tiny town in Arizona and even after everyone moved and went to college, the group managed to stay in touch and stay close.  (One of more of gang is missing due to a delayed flight.)  So the night before the wedding, Liz joined her hometown group (and 3 added significant others, including moi) for a nice dinner at our hotel.

Me and my man at dinner :)  I can’t believe its been almost a year since our own wedding.  Eeek!

Ok, I know I’m a huge weirdo for always taking pictures of my food, but when its this good, I can’t help it.  I mean, how can I keep halibut crusted sea bass all to myself?!

The gals after dinner.  And no idea why I just typed “gals.”  Weird but whatevs.  Rebecca wasn’t able to make dinner thanks to Continental Airlines, but  luckily she made it in time for the pictures :)

Thursday was the wedding day, and wow, it was definitely a day to remember.  Before you look at all these pics, I should tell you that this wedding was like something off of Platinum Weddings.  (Please tell me I’m not the only wedding crazed looney that watches that show?!)  Everything was breathtaking, over the top, and the best of the best.  For realz.  It was in-credible!  Here are Matt and I outside of our hotel waiting for the chartered bus to take us to the groom’s home for the ceremony.

Rebecca and I about to head down to the tents.  Check out that gorgeous view behind us!

The beautiful home (and lawn) of the groom’s family.  Their home is in Oyster Bay, New York, and though its a bit of a trek from the city, it is insanely gorgeous.  The picture was taken from inside the tents where we were seated for the wedding.  Like I said, incredible!  PS: Thanks RA for letting me steal this pic :)

The BEAUTIFUL bride and groom.  The ceremony was a traditional Hindu ceremony, and though I couldn’t understand most of what was going on, it didn’t matter because I was overwhelmed by how beautiful everything was.  Seriously.  Check out Liz.  Gorgeous.  And check out the freaking flowers.  Insane yall!

A full view in case you weren’t yet overwhelmed by the beauty of this mandap.  I mean, for realz, gorgeous.

Alaina and after the ceremony.  Alaina was a bridesmaid so she and the other bridesmaids wore traditional bindis on their foreheads.  Very cool.

Woo hoo, time to celebrate!  After the ceremony, the family bussed all the guests into the city for a fabulous reception…on a yacht!  Matt and I were super excited (as was Foster judging from that little smile on his face in the top corner of the picture!)

And here we are aboard the yacht.  It was so beautiful, no picture or words can even describe.

A great shot of the whole group (5 hometown friends and 3 spouses/significant others.)  We get a little crazy when we’re all together, but its a rare occasion, so we make the most of it!

A required sassy shot of the girls :)  (PS: I am apparently a giant.  Its a wonder I have any friends.)

Kari and I at the back of the ship as we left the pier.

Matt and I inside the second level for cocktail hour.  I made a point to make friends with a server who found me whenever he brought a new hors d'oeuvre out.  Lol, a little pathetic I realize this, but it was so worth it as the food was so stinking good :)

Once the boat left the dock, we grabbed our drinks and headed to the top of the boat for an insanely fabulous view of New York.  And to make it even more magical, Jay Z and Alicia Key’s “Empire State of Mind” was playing through the speakers.  I mean, seriously, it was a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.

It wasn’t even my wedding day, and I felt like I was living in a fairytale!

:)

Watching the sun set off the other side of the boat was beyond breathtaking.

After enjoying some fabulous views, we headed to the main floor for dinner and dancing.  We were met with these two beautiful pieces at the bottom of the stairs.  I stood and oogled for about ten minutes, until I realized people were staring at me.  Oopsie :)

The only two pictures I have with the bride are blurry.  Dang it!

Table 4 was the place to be!  (And yes, every centerpiece was this incredible.)

After an insanely delicious dinner, we headed back up to the top deck for some NYC nighttime views.  Thankfully, I have a thoughtful husband who lent me his jacket once it got chilly :)  Though towards the end of the night, they gave all of the women shawls to help us keep warm.  Shawls we got to keep, a woo hoo!

After a sparkler exit (my favorite type of wedding exit)…

…the bride and all the guests were met with an ice cream truck!  Liz is obsessed with ice cream, so we were treated to any frozen creation of our choice.  I wasn’t quite as ambitious as Liz and went with a chocolate malt :)

Hahahah, clearly we were excited for our Mr. Softee delights :)  It was such a fun ending to an incredibly fabulous night!

The wedding was so beautiful, but more importantly, so special.  Watching two people join their lives together is such a privilege in itself that we were so thrilled to be there.  And the fact that it was so beautiful and so magical for all of us guests, was the cherry on top!  (No pun intended for the Mr. Softee reference.)  Cheers to happy marriages, fabulous friends, and lots and lots of wonderful memories! 

I’ll post part 2 of our NYC trip tomorrow if you’re not pictured-out yet :)  Till then, I’ll be belting out some  serious Jay Z and Alicia Keys…

“In Neeeeeew Yoooook…”

I sound just like Alicia Keys if you can’t tell through the computer :)