Harlen

Today (rather tonight) was Marge and Chris's wedding! Both the ceremony and reception took place at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) in North Adams. It was a beautiful venue, fitting of the bride and groom. The ceremony, which started at 7:15PM, was short but unique to the couple. They wrote their own vows which made me tear up (of course). They also performed a ribbon ceremony which is a Chinese wedding tradition akin to exchanging vows in our culture. They both hold ends of a ribbon and face three different places and bow three times in each position. First they face the east, then their parents, and then each other. Margaret's dress was beautiful: it was a calf-length lace dress that she wore with green heels for the ceremony. The bridesmaids wore green cocktail length dresses and carried bouquets made of ribbon that Marge's mother made. To tie in with Chris's Scottish heritage, Margaret's mom used some plain ribbons.

After the ceremony, we were all ushered into the lobby for the reception. Because it was so late at night, they served hors d'oeuvres but no dinner. The couple had their first dance and then the maid of honor and bridesmaid made a speech as well as the best man and the Marge's dad. Margaret's father's speech was one of the best I have ever heard. Matt and I danced for a few songs to the band that Marge and Chris had hired, but ended up leaving early. (I wasn't feeling well.)

It was a wonderful night, though, that celebrated the love of two amazing people. Congratulations Marge and Chris!

program (front)

program (inside)

program (back)

temporary tattoos

Katell

We attended Emily and Jeremy's wedding today held at the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx in New York. It was a beautiful venue and Matt and I truly enjoyed seeing two of our friends get married. The ceremony started at around 11 30 and was held outside in a small courtyard. There were chairs on either side for guests with a rose petal-lined aisle for the bridal party to walk down. They had a harp as their only music which was beautiful (it's one of my favorite instruments) and a short, simple ceremony. One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was that, instead of traditional readings, the justice of the peace read two excerpts that related to the couple as well as a summary of their relationship together. After the vows and exchange of rings, they did a sand ceremony combining two different colors of sand (plum and white) in a single container. It was a short, but very meaningful ceremony that Matt and I greatly enjoyed.

Immediately after the ceremony they had their cocktail hour in a tented and heated patio. They had great food at a few different stations as well as passed hors d'oeuvres that were all delicious. After cocktail hour, we were ushered into a beautiful ballroom with the dance floor in the center. They had gorgeous floral centerpieces made of all different purple and white flowers surrounded by small candles. The couple entered to Bruno Mars' "Marry You" and went into their first dance, which they asked everyone to join them in after a minute or so. They spaced the three courses out starting with two different tapas one of which was shrimp. We had salad after that and a choice of three different plates for dinner. I had the salmon which was amazing and Matt got the beef which was so tender he could cut it with a butter knife. The couple cut their cake after that and the dance floor was opened up to everyone. Dessert was served as a slice of cake along with another type of cake with vanilla ice cream and strawberries, baked apples with sliced nuts, and a chocolate covered strawberry. It was honestly the best dessert I think I have ever had and I highly recommend every restaurant adopting this policy of several small dessert options on one plate. For favors, the couples had a small pumpkin with a cute tag tied around the stem in lieu of the season! After all of the food, the DJ announced the father-daughter dance and then the mother-son dance. Matt and I left shortly after since we had to drive back home, but they did do a bouquet toss which one of the girls at our table ended up with. The couple also had a photobooth at the reception that was a lot of fun. They had a lot of props and a large enough area to fit groups of people!

Congratulations to the newlyweds and we wish them a lifetime of love and happiness!

And, now, for the pictures:

escort card

photobooth card

favor tag

Mongillo

Caitlin and Anthony's wedding was another beautiful day! Their ceremony, held at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Smithtown, NY (on Long Island) was very beautiful. They had a full Catholic mass which was done by the church's priest. The church was really beautiful and the ceremony was wonderful. Caitlin was walked down the aisle by her father and her guide dog, Laser. I absolutely loved the songs that they walked down to: Simple Gifts (Obama's inaugural song) and Falling Slowly, both performed by a string quintet. Of course, one of their photographers was sitting in one of the pews in the back and started snoring.

The reception was held at the Timber Point Country Club, also on Long Island, and was also beautiful. They had a cocktail hour outside which started at 6:30 and featured some delicious hors d'oeuvres. They had a man singing classic Frank Sinatra tunes as background music which was great. The dinner was great, they took your order there from three options. (I had chicken and Matt had the steak which were both good.) Their DJ had accompanying instruments and played really good music which kept the dance floor pretty busy all night. Matt and I left around 10:15 since we were staying with one of my bridesmaids in Queens, so we weren't able to taste the cake, but it certainly looked delicious! On our way out, we saw that they had a pretzel vendor outside for guests, which  was really cute. I was really happy, too, that instead of a favor they donated to the guide dog foundation in Smithtown.

program front

program inside

prograg back

favor card

Here are a couple photos from the wedding:

MacLeod

Kevin and Kristen's wedding was wonderful! They had some really great personal touches, but we'll start with the basics. The ceremony and reception were held at The Riverview in Simsbury, CT. It lived up to its name with a view of the river and the whole venue was gorgeous. The ceremony was was held outside underneath a tent, which was beautiful. It was a smaller wedding, about 100 people. However, it was scorching outside in the humidity with only a small breeze. Obviously not their fault, but everyone was dripping buckets after the 20 minute ceremony ended. While people were finding seats, there was a bagpiper (since Kevin's family is Scottish). The ceremony was non-denominational, presided over by a minister from the church where Kevin's mother volunteers. They had two   readings, one adapted from the Bible and the second a poem read by Kevin's dad. The wedding party looked absolutely gorgeous: the men wore gray suits with purple vests and ties (Kevin wore a white vest and tie) while the girls had floor length purple chiffon dresses.

The cocktail hour started immediately after the ceremony, while the wedding party and immediate family took pictures around the outside of the venue. There were served hors d'oeuvres as well as two stations of food during the cocktail hour. The favorite, by far, was the mashed potato bar! They had delicious mashed potatoes that you could top with cheese, broccoli, bacon, sour cream, or gravy! It was awesome! The cocktail hour was in a small section of what would be the dining room for the reception. It was very spacious, though, and had small tables for people to sit at. They opened up the dining room and everyone was seated. The grandparents were announced, though they were sitting at their tables, then the parents were announced and seated. The bridal party came in pairs and then the bride and groom were announced. They entered, throwing a football which was really cute. The tables were labeled by both numbers and a name. The names were things about the bride and groom (for instance, we sat at the rock-climbing table which included a photo of them rock climbing and a back story to the name). After their entrance, the bride and groom had their first dance to one of my favorite songs! Everyone was seated and the maid of honor and best man gave their speeches. Dinner was delicious, with a selection of one of four entrees. The had a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert which was wonderful! After dinner, the guests were asked to surround the dance floor for the father-daughter and mother-son dances. They recorded personalized messages over the beginnings of their songs which I really liked! They also did a couples dance like we did, even using the one of the same songs, where couples are eliminated by how long they've been married. My great-grandparents (Kevin's grandparents) were the winners, having been married for 62 years!

Overall it was a wonderful wedding, despite the heat, and we had a great time!

I really liked Kevin and Kristen's programs for the ceremony:

front (brochure style)

inside

outside

Here is a picture of Matt and I with the bride and groom, but for more pictures click here to go to our website!

Hessenius

CJ and Andrea's wedding was absolutely beautiful! The ceremony was presided over by Father Iriarte and blended Andrea's Spanish heritage into the Catholic ceremony perfectly. They did a few Spanish traditions, starting with giving each other coins, followed by a lasso tradition, and finally offering a bouquet to the Virgin Mary. Their readings and musical selections were well-chosen and fit the two of them beautifully. Their programs contained the readings in English and in Spanish which I thought was wonderful. The bridesmaids and flower girls had on beautiful taffeta dresses. And the groomsmen wore long-tailed tuxes. Andrea looked stunning in her wedding gown which was very demure and fitted her perfectly.

The reception took place at The Dorrance in Providence, literally right down the road from The Biltmore! The inside of the space is stunning, with large stained-glass windows bearing different coats of arms. The cocktail space was rather small, but once they opened up the dining area, it got much better. They had delicious food and an open bar with a wonderful cake for dessert! Matt got the rack of lamb and I had the fish, both of which were delicious! It was served a little late in the evening and most people had been drinking quite a bit already, but it was still great. We sat with other PC alums in the balcony area and had a wonderful time! And for our favors we got adorable little bottles of olive oil!

I'm including a few pictures, but to see more click here. And to see more about the programs and menu click here.

St. Dominic Chapel

The organ in the chapel

CJ and Andrea exchanging vows

Exchanging rings

Matt and I at the reception

Bride and groom's first dance

Father-daughter dance

Mother-son dance

Jim's speech

Matt and I with the bride and groom