4 Weddings and a Family Vacation: Wedding #2

This past weekend Craig and I flew up to NYC to  attended our second wedding of the summer.  Josephine Daño and Vincent Zurzolo's Manhattan wedding ranks high on the scale of elegance.  

Since it was a morning wedding, Craig and I left the hotel at about 9:15 a.m. and headed over to the church. At first, we both felt a little out of place on the street, all dressed up so early in the morning. However, when we reached St. Malachy's  Church on West 49th Street between 8th & 9th Avenues, we fit in much better amongst the other wedding guests. 

The 108 year old church was breathtaking.  Josephine and Vincent did not have a traditional Roman Catholic mass, but in addition to several readings, they incorporated two beautiful traditions into their ceremony. They had a veil and lasso ceremony, where a large veil was draped over Josephine's head and over Vincent's shoulders, then a long double rosary made of clear crystal was placed over both of their shoulders. This is a Filipino tradition that symbolizes infinity and everlasting fidelity.  They also had a Latin coin ceremony where Vincent dropped coins into Josephine's hands symbolizing his financial commitment to her and their future children.

Afterwards, while the bridal party took pictures in different parts of the city, guests made their way across town to the Yale Club, on Vanderbilt Avenue, across from Grand Central Station.  There was a cocktail hour in the library with an antipasti buffet with meats, cheeses, pasta salads and mini empanadas as well as numerous pass around appetizers. The cocktail hour was followed by a 3 course dinner in a ball room on the second floor of the club.  The DJ was also a singer who sounded like Frank Sinatra. There was lots of dancing, speeches and fun all around. When I wasn't dancing with craig I was having a lot of fun catching up with old friends I hadn't seen since leaving NY two years ago.

And that is not all! For an after-party, Vincent and Josephine rented the mezzanine at The Campbell Apartment which is a high class lounge located in the corner of Grand Central Station. It provided a more intimate opportunity to talk with Josephine and other wedding guests after the reception --an opportunity I didn't really think I would actually get to have.  Craig and I didn't get back to our hotel until nearly midnight! It was a long but wonderful day.

4 Weddings and a Family Vacation: Wedding #1

This is the summer of four weddings and a family vacation for Craig and me. On Saturday we kicked off  the first leg of this summers nuptuals  by attending the wedding of JoAnne Elizabeth Dickens and Jonathan Wade Hodges.

JoAnne and Jonathan have known each other since the eighth grade and I think they started dating when they were sophmores or juniors in high school. They both went on to Appalachian State and soon after they gratuated they were engaged. After they return from their honeymoon they will be moving off together to Georgia to begin their new life together.

JoAnne is the youngest daughter of one of my mother's best friends from High School, and she and I have grown up referring to each other as "cousins." I also want to note here that she is the youngest of 5, which I think adds to her spunk and tenacity. She is a writer who not only planned her wedding this year, she wrote an entire novel! I really truly believe that she has the strength and determination to succeed in anything she puts her heart and mind to.

On Saturday, they didn't have a mass celebrated during their wedding, but they did have a few readings and songs which really enriched the ceremony. Father McConville spoke about marriage and was both funny and poignant. I really enjoyed his homily.

The reception was at the North Raleigh Hilton. It was the first time in a long time that I had a sit down meal at a wedding as opposed to a buffet. Both Craig and I had the prime rib-which I must say was pretty darn good! I think whenever there is a choice of beef, fish or chicken I am going to opt for the beef from now on. As the evening progressed so did the party. Lots of dancing and good times!

One of the details I really liked was that at each table they had placed different photos of themselves along with some facts about their relationship. For example at our table the facts told us about how Jo and Jonathan celebrated their anniversaries. Jonathan would take Jo out to a fancy restaurant every year and Jo would get Jonathan the appropriate year's edition of the John Madden football video game.

One of the highlights of the evening was Jo Anne and Jonathan's first dance, they had a music montage of both romantic and fun songs. They even incorporated a very cute personally choreographed line dance that just HAS to make it to youtube!