Wedding Part III (Belated, whereby by belated I mean two weeks late)

On the weekend of July 28th, Colin and I went to our final wedding of the summer, the nuptials of Kamille and Kevin. Colin and Kamille are friends from way back, they went to grade school together in Huntington Beach.

This was one of the most Catholic weddings I have ever been to. Both Kamille and Kevin come from Catholic backgrounds, and there were two nuns from Kevin's family were in attendance. (I horrendously embarrassed myself at the rehearsal dinner by involuntarily crying out, Nuns! when I saw the good sisters. Seeing nuns is kind of unusual for me... so it just sort of came out of my mouth. Luckily one of the sisters turned around and waved after my error, which made me feel like less of a loser.) The mass was in a lovely little church right on the ocean in California, and in the courtyard you could smell the sea. I felt a little out of place during the service, mostly because I did not know what was coming next, and people kept doing odd gesticulations . Basically, it reminded me how odd it must feel for a Christian to attend a Jewish service! Every religion has so many intricate rituals that are difficult for outsiders to anticipate and understand.

The party was also a blast, there was much dancing and drinking. At one point I heard Colin explain to Kamille's mother that he had been surprised by my emphatic description of Jewish weddings as a "total party". What had surprised him was the fact that Jewish weddings sounded just like Catholic weddings, and he could not figure out what the big deal was. He was right, Catholic weddings are a lot like Jewish weddings, the reception is full of family and friends having a great time.

Be sure and checkout the lovely photos of the event.

Wedding, part II

Last weekend (July 21st) Colin and I flew to Boston to see the wedding of my high school buddy Lauren. We had another awesome time, and I got to party and chat with my friends from Maret. The wedding was really beautiful, and did a nice job of incorporating elements from Dan's Christan background without ruining the Jewish tone of the wedding. This can be difficult, as Colin and I know. Their rabbi was awesome, and we spent some time talking to her about the difficulties of crafting a wedding which has elements of multiple faiths. Lauren and Dan also

Anyway, Lauren looked lovely. She did the whole princess thing, and had a cool tiara. Dan looked quite nice, and I appreciated his decision to not try and tame his normally spiky hairdo. My friends from high school looked stylish in their Black tie attire, and we had a wonderful time dancing and talking the night away. Colin and I decided that we need to rent a beach house on the gulf coast and invite them all down to spend the week with us and catch up on everything we have done since high school.

We really enjoyed being in Boston, the day of the wedding we were able to walk part of the freedom trail and go to a puritan grave yard and see some macabre gravestones. Colin, myself and Mike, a friend from college wandered all around the edges of Boston, looking at the harbor, the graveyard, and wandering into Little Italy.

if you want to see photos of us at this wedding, click here.

Wedding, part I

This last weekend Colin and I traveled to Madison WI, for the wedding of our dear friends Annie and Doug. This was the first of the three weddings we will be attending in the next few weeks, and I have to admit that I am already exhausted. What is it about weddings that is so tiring? Perhaps it is the emotional upheaval that comes from seeing someone you love at the beginning of their new life with their partner. Despite my tiredness, I am so glad we were able to go, because the wedding was fabulous.

You always want to see your friends be themselves, even on as big an event as their wedding day. I am happy to say that Annie and Doug managed to design a ceremony that was meaningful, moving, beautiful and, most importantly, really reflected who they were. Colin and I both teared up several times during the night.

We also got to see some of our other friends from U of C, and we were able to spend a lot of time with Jasmine and Thomas. It was really great to see them for such an extended time (we bummed a ride from O'Hare to Madison with them) and get to talk with them about our lives in New Orleans.

It really was an idyllic visit.

If you would like to see some candid snapshots from the event, click here.