Monday, August 11, 2008

The Wedding

So the weekend is over, we said goodbye to our friends, and now it really begins.
Well, sort of - I'm on a bus on the way to Ithaca while Uri is still in NYC with our friends. Tomorrow they are going to 6 Flags - Great adventure, home of the Kinda Ka. Of all the things I'm missing out on, I think this is the one I'm most jealous of.
This weekend was all about Marc and Wolly's wedding. It was probably the biggest wedding I've been to, not in terms of the amount of people (no one can compete with Israelis there), but it terms of production.
The wedding began on Thursday with the rehearsal dinner that took place in the basement floor of a cool place called The Smith.
The wedding itself was Friday night. We both got dressed up. For Uri this meant wearing a suit for the first time. I think that I can objectively say that the suit suited him well, but I'll add a picture so you can judge for yourselves.

The venue was Tribeca Rooftop and it was amazing. When we got there it was still light out, but as the cocktail hour(s) went on the sun set and all the while we had an awe inspiring view of the Hudson and the Brooklyn skyline. The food was fabulous (and plentiful). Opening cocktail included, a cheese bar (with an amazing aged cheddar), a cold seafood bar, a sushi bar, a martini bar and an alcohol bar. Even the peanuts at the bar were great. Afterward there was a buffet that featured an amazing Chilean Sea-bass (I'm pretty sure it was marinated in milk) and pork-chops (I think) which I didn't try, but I'm told were really good too.
There was a fantastic three tier wedding cake and assorted tarts and truffles for dessert. Marc and Wolly will have to forgive me that I'm not describing every little thing in detail, but if I do this post will never end. If you really want to know, your can check out their blog Gromzilla & I, maybe they will have it there. Add for those of you that want the story in picture's you can check out Lior's Flickr page (besides the batteries in our camera ran out, we were too lazy to bring in to all these events - it didn't really go with the suit).
Anyway, back to the important stuff - the ceremony way beautiful mainly because of the beautiful vows Marc wrote for Wolly and the funny (yet still touching) vows Wolly wrote for Marc. The ceremony was presided by a reform (woman) Rabbi who reminded me of a character in a movie, but I still can't place my finger on exactly who. Her part of the ceremony was a bit strange to me, since she kept going back and forth between speaking in English and blessing/singing in Hebrew. There is a certain sacredness that comes from the fact that to American Jews, Hebrew is the language of the holy texts, and not an everyday language. In Israel we understand every word said by itself. Thus a single word might start a random line of thought or a line can be played with, its meaning changed (like Yehuda Amichai did in El Male Rachamim). Here it was different, Hafrada Bein Kodesh Le'Chol.
Of course there was also speeches, dancing, and the obligatory video montage AND also something called a Mazinka. I would appreciate any information any of you have on this thing. Apparently, the Mazinka in a Jewish-American tradition that celebrates the wedding of the last child. The proud parents (who now don't have to worry about who the kids are going to bring home) sit with floral writhes on their head while their family and friends dance around them. Strange but true.
I will say again that it was THE wedding. I know that Americans have different standard than Israelis, and if we continue to live here, we'll probably be invited to other impressive weddings, but I doubt any will match this one. It's all in the details, and Wolly and Marc (I assume especially Marc) paid a lot of attention to a lot of details - from the "save the date" magnets, to the decor, to the suits they wore, and the outfits they changed into after the ceremony, all the way to the Bagelworks muffins that waited for the guests when we exited the venue.
Oh - and on Saturday there was brunch at a Dim Sum place in Chinatown called Golden Unicorn.
I'm getting tiered of writing, I can only imagine how the two of you who really got all the way here are tiered of reading, so in bullets - things we did in the city, in between the wedding events, while saying goodbye to our friends (mainly food related):
- Friday: Went to Houston's to eat the grilled chicken salad. Uri claims it's worth the $16. I'm not sure I agree, but it is very good. Conclusion: Don't trust Eitan's uncle when he calls something a "diner".
- Saturday: Went jogging in Central Park: I'm really proud of myself, I kept up with Uri and Eitan (who didn't even brake a sweat) as we ran through the park a whole hour.
- Saturday: Went with all the friends (sans grooms) to Hill Country. Cool BBQ place meant for menly-men.

Now, as I said in the beginning, I'm on the bus to Ithaca. It started raining before, but now it stopped. The driver keeps stopping by the side of the road (literally, on the side of the road, not in rest-stops) to go to the toilet. Hopefully I'll be home in an hour.

1 comment:

Kalugny said...

הקטע הזה של להסתכל קצת באלכסון לאופק הולך לך טוב :)