Dear Junior,
I wanted to tell you about Dad and Mom's wedding day before it becomes too far in the past and I forget the details. I wrote the below on our baby moon last week. Enjoy!
We started our day at 9:30am at the steps of city hall, enjoying the
glorious winter weather. We shed our jackets and took pictures till
10:30am while sipping down a little Starbucks to jump start our day. Our
loving families escorted us into the Marriage Bureau on Worth St withits golden halls, porcelain columns and vintage-inspired lamp fixtures.
Surrounding us was every walk of life. Asian lady with cowboy boots with her older Caucasian partner .
Hispanic couple with their children. Russian mail order brides. Husbands
getting married with their chic bridesmaids in pink frou frou outfits
and fur shoulder shrugs. The diversity of the scene was the perfect
backdrop to our NYC weddings.
Dad was dressed in a perfect blue
suit that Auntie Katie and Grandma Helen help pick out. I was dressed in a gold
dress that Auntie Sandy and Auntie April help me pick out. I told them
that I wanted to look like a celebrity, not a bride. There are not many
places that I can wear a gold skin tight dress and feel like I won the Oscars. My hair was done the night before in a local salon in Sunnyside.
I went to Sephora on two occasion to learn how to apply my own make up.
I believe that weddings are a very important day but it should not have to
break the bank in the name of a wedding. My bouquet was purchased in the
florist down the street where dad buys me beautiful flowers. It has
these wonderful like thistle flowers that I used in a boutonnière at a
friends wedding early the previous year.
City hall was a dream
of mine. Originally, to be just with your dad but it evolved to include
our families. It's quiet. It's simple and generally meant
to be stress free. And I wanted it in the city that your dad and I loved
each other in and continued to grow our relationship. It was low
maintenance affair and just the way we like things. The quiet nature brings into
focus, 'us' in our big day.
Within city hall, the building has
been redone so that old looks new. The decor has a 1920s look with the
gold columns and black marble table tops. The process took 40 minutes
which was just enough time to enjoy the atmosphere without the insanely long queue. If your dad has taught me anything, we
don't queue for anything anymore.
Katie was our
witness-reliable and someone we both love. She held our rings. With all
the kindness in her heart, she left her baby boy and other half in
London to be a part of our small ceremony.
The
grandparents and siblings stood sweetly and quietly by as we took a
million photos and danced around with anticipation for the ceremony. We
waiting in line for 20 minutes and the ceremony lasted no more than 2
min.
Our judge was this African-American woman with great directions and a
hairdo that your dad thought looked like something out of Battlestar
Galatica. She asked for our rings. We said our 'I do's.' At some point,
the judge caught your dad in the middle of placing the ring on my finger
and said if he had anything to say to me. In a fashion that is true to
your dad, he said 'hang on. I can only do one thing at a time.' After
that he said something along the lines of looking forward to spending
the rest of my life with your mom. I don't remember a word that I said. I
only remember trying hard hold back my sob in front of everyone. Marrying your
dad and becoming his wife has made me incredibly happy. There are days
that I want to kill your dad but happy to say our wedding day wasn't one
of them.
We lunched at the French cafe that your dad and I dined in
after choosing our engagement and wedding rings. In the evening, we
surrounded ourselves and celebrated our day with friends and family at the local
beer garden, Bierocracy that just opened that month. A perfect day for a
wedding. I was lucky it happened to me.
Grandma Helen made us our wedding cake, which was De-LIC-IOUS!
