"In his domestic administration my father had this system . . . to keep a journal and insert in it all occurrences of any note . . . A record very pleasant to look at when time begins to efface the memory of events, and very well suited to get us out of perplexity: When was such and such a thing begun? When completed? What retinues came? How long did they stay? Our trips, our absences; marriages; deaths; the receipt of happy or unhappy news . . . An ancient custom, which I think it would be good to revive, each man in each man's home. And I think I am a fool to have neglected it." (Montaigne, Book I, Essay 35 (publ. 1580))
Monday, April 17, 2017
K&L get married (2 of 2)
[This post covers Kerry & Luis wedding day and thereafter; prior post (via this link) covers the week prior, through rehearsal day.]
Friday March 24 – the big day finally is here!! Breakfast with Dad, Therese & Mark, Barb/Emily/Alison, Carol & Jim at the “Breakfast Club” – nice. Continually running into folks and talk-talk-talking – nice. The girls are doing all of their prep stuff over at 706 (where PJ had a sleepover with N & K).
Morning: getting things just right (Friday 24 March)
706 prep continues . . . (Friday 24 March)
Eventually I join the guys in the wedding party up in Luis’s suite for some photos and prep stuff. Superhero socks are displayed.
Pedro doing work (Friday 24 March)
Ready to roll (EPG selfie work in Palomar elevator) . . .
. . . at least once the bus arrives (waiting a bit in Palomar lobby) (Friday 24 March)
Then we jump on a double-decker “007” bus – girls in upper level – and drive down to “Scorpion Gulch” – for an extended picture session.
On bus. NOC did a great job. (Friday 24 March)
Scorpion Gulch (Friday 24 March)
Scorpion Gulch (Friday 24 March)
Scorpion Gulch (Friday 24 March)
K looks as great as one would expect – the dress was pretty incredible (later, someone at the wedding venue is pestering to buy it). Pedro and I don’t have much to do here, so it’s a good chance for us to sit and chat in the bus while the photos are being snapped.
The Entire Crew (Scorpion Gulch, Friday 24 March)
Onto the Croft for more wedding photos; then the families arrive for another round of photos; yes the excitement is building. (See prior post for a few larger-group family photos.)
Parents! (Friday 24 March)
Outlaws! (Friday 24 March)
Cousins! (Friday 24 March)
Us! (Friday 24 March)
Ceremony starts at 5p. So many lovely-personal touches by K&L – including a handkerchief with a touching embroidered message that K hands me moments before we walk up the aisle – yes this took a little while to recover from. But away we go. The string quartet does a lovely job,
I like this photo a lot. (Friday 24 March)
You think of a lot of things on this kind of a walk, with a fine daughter. (Friday 24 March)
EPG and PJ (lovely dress!) walk in, the wedding party heads inside, and then I get to walk my little girl up the aisle. And happily turn her over to Luis. Amazing. As mentioned in prior post, EPG does a remarkable job. Among other nice touches – Luiso recites a lovely poem.
The singers do a wonderful rendition of Panis Angelicus and it’s quite fine to have Linda and Anne working with them. Ceremony was touching, fun, memorable.
[Side note: I loved that K&L used the very traditional wedding vows. There’s something powerful there – how about “’til death do us part”? That’s quite a statement, actually, and worth pausing to think through.]
Cocktail reception in the courtyard area (another nice touch: K&L uses the “Bormann bourbon” recipe for one of the two “signature cocktails” – they had to work with Cecilia and Steve G to line up one ingredient not available in VA or AZ); folks move through the reception line; we meet many more folks, including some DC friends we hadn’t previously met. Jeff Ward works his magic – the Fuego Bistro food travels so well for catered events!
Reception (Friday 24 March)
Reception (Friday 24 March)
Patricia and I greet the guests via a few remarks – with an assist from EMG, who interjects a few well-received thoughts. We also had EMG lead the traditional “grace” for the meal. Very fine toasts by NOC and Dan. Wedding anniversaries for PJR/NRG and POC/NOC are recognized. I have a little daddy-daughter dance with K!
long-time wedding promoters in celebratory mood (Friday 24 March)
EMG leads grace (Friday 24 March)
The main dancing starts; the reception time flies by way too quickly. Goodbyes for those calling it a night.
We walk back to the Palomar – such a convenient location! – a very nice chunk of the wedding guests hang around in the lobby/bar area late into the evening, including some well into the morning. Yes it’s fun to rehash the previous 24 hours, and to talk about whatever and everything, with folks we don’t see nearly often enough.
After the hotel lobby shuts down, a group of us gather for one last round (and a few snacks) up in the K&L suite – this was quite fun as various folks are in various states of exhaustion, or not.
Last call (invasion of K&L suite, early morning 25 March) (sort of a modern-day charivari?)
Saturday March 25 – breakfast with big family group at “Breakfast Club” – again – after, we wander around talking with folks – Palomar pool area is reserved for us at 11a – great weather, great turnout, great fun. In the early going we spend some time in the Palomar lobby area with Rich Kohlhaas – Yvonne drove him in from his east-side place – fun to sit there with he, Yvonne, EMG as others – Charlie, Mike Hough, Steve, Cecilia, PJ, etc. – move in and out (unexpected reunion).
St. Joe reunion in Palomar lobby (Rich Kohlhaas, Yvonne Kenne) (Saturday 25 March)
Hikers, and some not-hikers (Saturday 25 March)
A large group work their way down to South Mountain for a lovely hike (if perhaps a bit more strenuous than anticipated).
South Mountain (Saturday 25 March)
Early afternoon, EMG and I go over to the Croft to pick up various items that had been left in overnight storage. Back to the pool party; eventually we spend a little time in the water; a fine gathering spot.
O'Connells and cohorts at pool party (Saturday 25 March)
Some swimmers required more or less coaxing to enter the pool. (Palomar pool, Saturday 25 March)
In the evening we walk over to the Duce – another ideal gathering spot – also a very nice turnout, including some folks that were invited here but not to the wedding due to the usual numbers crunch. Could tell that some folks, including me, were feeling a little fatigued at this point!
The Duce! (Saturday 25 March)
Eventually we walk back to the Palomar where a good-sized group keeps going past midnight – after all we needed to properly observe Nick G’s b’day (including NRG’s recitation of “age 31” factoids) – everyone pretty much wrapped up after that (except the indefatigable MG Hough, who I’m told hung around until heading to the airport).
only known photo commemorating #31 (Palomar lobby, early morning, Sunday 26 March)
Sunday March 26 – after early breakfast (Hobbit-style, we ate two breakfasts this day), a Gales-grouping heads over to St. Mary’s Basilica for 10a Mass – yes it was fine to attend with the family members – Mass perhaps a bit overdone, lasted 90+ minutes – but the music generally was good and we got to hear Adoro te Devote in Latin, nice! Then a huge grouping had breakfast at, of course, the Breakfast Club – Carol caught a pretty good selfie of this. We check out, sorry to leave the Palomar, it worked perfectly.
I think I counted 27 breakfasters of our group (Sunday 26 March)
Those not heading quickly to the airport gather at 11419 – PJ throws together some tasty nachos using Honey Bear leftovers, nice! – EMG checks out the shuffleboard action – we watch some NBA, sit out back, sample a couple beers – entirely pleasant. Then I drive EMG, Barb, Emily, Alison out to the airport (while checking on tracking down a lost EMG bag, which turns out fine).
11419 back yard (Sunday 26 March)
Around 5p we were visited by Saeed and Mina – so that was fun. Remaining travelers head to the airport; I think Jenna was the last of this group. Carol & Jim head to Yuma (we see more of them the following week/weekend, which works quite nicely!). UberEats gets us through the dinner hour.
Monday March 27 – Tuesday March 28 – some milling around on Monday morning; to our pleasure-but-not-shock, K&L decide to stay an extra day in Phoenix. So EPG, PJ, and I go to lunch with them at Chelsea’s Kitchen (everyone else back to work). Perfect patio weather and a delightful lunch (though it may have caused, or contributed to, a bit of stomach flu!) EPG hits the road and we’re very sorry to see him leave.
School-mates pleased with Chelsea's lunch (apres le deluge, so to speak?) (Monday 27 March)
NOC and POC come by – eventually they stay overnight (“good sports!”) – low-key evening as K&L are feeling rather poorly, esp. L (we learn EPG also is feeling it as he finishes the drive into Santa Monica; PJ is hit later; but not me!) So enjoyable to just recap the events of the past week-plus, a very nice finale.
Tuesday morning – PJ and I take K&L to the airport – they are on their way to Napa Valley for honeymoon!
Couldn’t have been nicer throughout. K&L got what they deserved. We all feel very blessed.
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Flipbooks were a fun idea at the reception photo booth - here's a sample featuring the stars of the show:
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