Thursday, August 21, 2008

Completely Over the Top




...that's what the wedding was! I thought I'd been to some fancy weddings in the past but this one was definitely "It."


The entire event--ceremony, reception, and dinner took place at a country club on Long Island. Transportation was provided for the guests from the hotels to the club. Good thing--we never would have found it on our own!


The color palette was definitely minimalist. The flowers were all white: primarily roses and lilies. Lots of them, too. The bridesmaids wore champagne gowns and carried white roses. The bride wore cream Vera Wang. Black tuxedos for all the gentlemen in the wedding. Much black in the audience, too. Yep, this was a Manhattanite wedding. Music was provided by a small chamber ensemble.


After the ceremony, a reception with copious amounts of food, most of which was prepared to order. Shrimp as big as my fist, lamb chops, ravioli, sushi, escabeche, Chinese duck, lobster tails. And a complete open bar. The band at this stage was a jazz combo.


After all of that, the doors opened to the dinner dance, with your choice of filet mignon, Chilean sea bass, or chicken breast as your entree. A large cover band at this stage. This picture shows the bride, groom, the cake (chocolate), and the band:





There was a cigar lounge following the dinner with a guy custom-making the cigars. No, I'm not kidding!


We were sent home with a bags of bagels, cream cheese and Sunday's New York Post, which I found amusing. I always figured the bride as a New York Times kind of girl.


There was also a post-wedding brunch on Sunday. We didn't attend but I imagine it was also incredible. I'll have to ask my sister. Here we are at the big event:





The wedding had around 275 guests, including former NBA stars Dikembe Mutumbo and Patrick Ewing. Here they are with DF:





BTW, the flower arrangement that opens this post is the same one that appears behind Dikembe's head in this picture. There was one of those at each table.


All in all, quite the experience. That's probably the last wedding I'll attend of that magnitude, as I'm all out of wealthy relatives unless DF's niece and nephews marry into money.

5 comments:

Linda said...

One of my best friends grew up on Long Island and moved here in the early 90's. Her family and her DH's family all still live in LI. She tells me that every occasion like this over the top. I have heard stories like this that just shock the hell out of us up here in Hicksville. I'm not surprised at all by your experience. When I hear about these all I can think of is I am glad I live where I do. Oh and my girlfriend and her DH are very, very well grounded. I guess that is why they like it here better. They say they will never, ever go back there to live.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

I have been to one of these and by the end of the night you are exhausted by the amount of food and drink...but mine has never had celebrities! *LOL* I guess Patrick Ewing is really that big!

NancyDaQ said...

Both of them are really tall, but Patrick Ewing is both tall and big like a football player! I mean, DF looks tiny next to them.

I was really surprised they came. The bride and her father are both Georgetown graduates, so that could be part of the connection. Also, factor in that the bride's father is a hand surgeon and the bride works in the media.

Meg said...

Hey, you were in my neck of the woods! Yes, weddings are over the top here, I agree. I much prefer the low-key Southern style wedding. Here's hoping I can prevail on my DD to keep it simple when her big day comes.

Marji said...

Wow!
That's a bit different from the wedding I went to in Northern IL over the weekend.
Those flowers are glorious though - over the top or not.