Err…took me a little while to get this up, but here are some pictures and a brief recap of a great day!
(Photo courtesy of Julie)
Melissa and Brad are married! It was a whirlwind of a day full of love, laughter, dancing, eating, and a bajillion pictures. Sadly I did not have my camera for most of the day, but luckily others did to help highlight some moments.
First of all, how adorable is Melissa in that picture?
We started the morning bright and early all gathered in Melissa’s room to get our hair and makeup done. There was quite a crowd there, but the mood was festive and everyone was having a good time. Also, don’t we look great?
Also, isn’t Melissa’s hair awesome?! Jen wore that hairpiece for her wedding, so that Melissa’s “something borrowed”.
We headed over to Grounds for Sculpture and got ready to do pictures. While we were waiting for the photographer, I intercepted the handsome groom. His bow tie was super cute.
The Medoways and the Feldmans have a lot of relatives. Like A LOT. Somehow they managed to gather everyone together to take a bazillion pictures and still managed to finish on time. It was very impressive.
Elise did a papercutting for Melissa’s ketubah (she made ours as well!) and it was stunning. I honestly have no idea how she does it. Ok, I have some idea, but I’m not sure how her hand doesn’t fall off and how she’s so carefully intricate, but it’s amazing!
(Photo courtesy of Julie)
They finished up the pictures just in time for the ketubah signing and then the ceremony. Melissa hid in the bushes while the final guests trailed in and got situated. The weather was perfect for their ceremony. The sun was setting and area they picked for their ceremony was just beautiful. Since the grounds were still open to the public, they had a number of wedding crashers interested in seeing what was going on and enjoying the wedding!
The ceremony was short and sweet and the rabbi was pretty funny. He definitely made me chuckle a few times. He kept the tone light but meaningful. Before we knew it, Melissa and Brad were married and we were exiting the ceremony. Luckily no one fell in the water or tripped in the cobblestones, although that would have made for a memorable event.
(Photo courtesy of Julie)
It’s pretty obvious when you see Brad and Melissa together that they truly love and adore each other. As the rabbi said, they both have an air of seriousness about them, but once you get to know them, they’re both kind of goofy. Every time we’re together, that goofiness comes out a little more and it’s easy to see why they are so well matched.
Afterwards, we booked it back to the main area for cocktail hour. I think we were all starving so we stuffed ourselves with mini Reubens, bagels and lox, potato latkes, and the impressively orange signature drink, an aperol spritz.
The reception was a frenzy of dancing and eating and dancing and eating. I got to catch up with Mel who basically works every waking hour, and then the hours that should be spent sleeping, she spends having a life. I have no idea how she does it. I’ve gotten to know some of Melissa’s family and law schools friends over the years and it was great to be able to catch up a bit with them as well. Weddings are the best for that reason. All the people you love the most are gathered together to celebrate a joyous occasion.
Elise gave an awesome toast at the reception. All of the toasts were great, but Elise had the perfect balance between funny, emotional, ridiculous, and loving. I kind of want to hear it again. And somehow we missed the cake cutting because Andrew, Mel, and I were too busy perfecting our guest book entry. But, before we knew it, the band was winding down and everyone started heading out. What an evening!
And that’s it. Elise, Jen, Melissa, and I all got married within the span of year and a half. It’s kind of hard to believe. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that we were graduating from college and trying to figure out what we were going to do next. Now we’re spread out all over the country. We’ve got jobs and houses and somehow, without even realizing it, we’re adults.
Now that we’re no longer planning weddings, we can sit back and relax and enjoy having time. Time for weekly dinners with Jen and Evan, visits up to New Jersey to see Melissa and Brad, and cross-country treks to play boardgames and wrestle tiny cats with Elise and Jim. I’m looking forward to seeing how our relationships grow and evolve as we make our way into the next phases of our lives.