Thursday, June 3, 2010

Whew!


Last weekend marked the end of a maddening May!  This final month of Spring just buzzed by...don't you think?

Our month in a nut shell: 
With a newborn and two year old in tow we spent 2 weekends traveling, welcomed three rounds of house guests, threw an impromptu wedding...oh and I almost forgot Chef survived a minor surgery.

The beautiful thing is that we did it without killing each other. Which is a definite reason to celebrate..hence the empty bottle of Krug. Kidding...that was from the wedding reception, if you could call it that.


We kicked off the wedding weekend with a rehearsal dinner...the bride and groom, their 3 small children, our 2 little ones, Chef and I crowded around a big wooden table in the 29 South garden.  It was the first time we have dined in the restaurant garden and it was absolutely perfect.  It was wonderful just to let the kids roam around the beds while we enjoyed a leisurely meal.

The following morning we snuck onto the deck of one of this area's premiere wedding venues and held a renegade service.  We met at 10 am. I took pictures of the wedding party (all 5 of them) while Chef went and picked up the officiant.  Chef thought that the bride and groom were going to be dressed "resort casual" so that is what he told the officiant.  This turned out to be a miscommunication...the groom was wearing a suit, the bride a white dress, the officiant in a Hawaiian shirt.  At 11 am, a 15 minute service was held on a deck overlooking the saltwater marsh.


I photographed the service, Chef was videographer, and Lil' Bit was...I hate to say it...official winer.  She chanted "I hungry Mommmmy!" at the top of her lungs during the entire affair, while The Sprout looked on from her car seat.  Luckily the ring bearer was a 2 year old, and the flower girl just 4 herself, the best man 9 years of age...so needless to say the bride and groom had a sense of humor about our hungry toddler. After the knot was tied we all took off for lunch poolside.


That evening, the new family came to our house and the reception was held at our kitchen table.  Chef prepared an Argentine asado, a.k.a meat fest, in honor of the groom's heritage.  For dessert we all shared a bottle of Krug.


It was a tiny beautiful destination wedding, and Chef and I felt honored to have been a part of it.


There is something to be said about small intimate weddings.  You really feel like you are witnessing something truly special when you are sharing the experience with just a handful of people.  This is the second itty bitty wedding Chef and I have been lucky enough to have received an invite.


The first was in 2007, a destination wedding in Virgin Gorda, BVI.   I spent the morning on a deserted Caribbean beach with the bride and the best man's wife, while Chef, the groom and the best man spent their time scuba diving.  We reconnected at sunset for a beach service and the reception was simply a dinner of fresh seafood at a local restaurant with a dance floor.  It was the best wedding I have ever been to... the only way to do it.


Intimate, authentic, and remote...those are my three choice words for my ideal destination wedding...and being a writer for a wedding magazine I suppose you could consider me somewhat of an expert...although I have no intention of getting hitched myself.  Chef and I prefer to be on the other side of the officiant..Happily unmarried.


1 comment:

Chris and Ashley said...

So glad everything worked out... sorry I could make it to babysit but is sounds like everything was great and nice that the kids where there with you... Congrats to the Bride and Groom!!