A Texas Wedding Pt. 2

The big day took place just under a month ago in an Episcopalian church across the street from where the festivities took place. But let's rewind a bit.

The day started out with a delicious continental breakfast at the hotel we stayed at. When Shruti and I went downstairs after 10 AM, the entire family was already there enjoying their breakfast. We grabbed some scrambled eggs, country biscuits, jelly and butter over toast, and the crispiest bacon I've had in a while. I'm not huge on bacon, but this was one was worth mentioning. The real highlight of what eventually became brunch were the waffles.

After brunch, my dad drove all the women from my family to the mall so they could shop around. Shruti had yet to find a dress, so she spent a long afternoon finding one, and it was beautiful. While the ladies were probably arguing and criticizing themselves in a clothing store, I went to pick up my tuxedo which still had huge shoes and pants made for an NBA player, but we managed.

After spending a pretty relaxing day in the mall and hotel, we got dressed and headed over to the wedding. Angel, Franz, and I headed over early since we were groomsmen so we could make this a smooth day for Eric. We all wore matching outfits and complained about how uncomfortable the shoes were (every woman around found this hilarious). Our dressing room had Subway sandwiches, chips, cookies, and sodas to calm everyone down. There was also a piano downstairs that Franz and Angel kept playing to get themselves in a festive mood.

We headed over to the church and some of us worked as ushers as the people started arriving. I couldn't help but notice that I didn't know anyone who was coming in because they were all Meg's friend and families--most of my family was late. After sitting people down, we went backstage and waited for the ceremony to begin. 

Having only attended Catholic weddings in the past, I found the Episcopalian ceremony quite entertaining. The priest did all of the wedding formalities, but he was more laid-back and personable than your average priest. Giving Eric and Meg a speech on love and devotion didn't seem as boring and contrived as most--it was tailor-made to them specifically, and it had a light tone that diffused the crowd's tension.

The ceremony was a beautiful one, and most of the female population shed a few tears. After the church, we headed over to the ballroom of Rice University where the party was taking place, and there was an intense session of photos that took place for over an hour. Most of the pictures were taken in the garden behind the ballroom with trees in full bloom and a fountain designed for such occasions.

The party itself was a true spectacle. We were blown away by how fancy it all was--white tablecloth, classy band, great open bar with a true Southern bartender who loved whiskey, a full buffet, four different cakes, and lots of dancing. The food was delicious, the toasts were good, and the intermingling of the two families seemed to happen naturally--the mixture of Southern and Latino flavors that both parties brought created a diverse atmosphere which everyone seemed to enjoy.

This ceremonious union had a farewell that was as grandiose and fitting as the rest of the day. They left from the party in what I think was a Porsche borrowed from someone in Meg's family--her uncle I think--and made their way to their secret getaway for the night (we all saw them in the hotel the next morning so that kind of gave it away).

There's not much else to say except that it was a pretty perfect evening for Eric and Meg (even though the stress leading up to the ceremony was probably less than perfect), and anyone would be lucky to have a night like that.

A Texas Wedding Pt. 1

Saturday marked a momentous occasion for my older brother Eric--he got married. After several years dating and living together with his Texas gal Meg, they finally tied the knot(weddings are all about cliches, right?).

I flew in to Houston on Thursday with my younger brother Franz and my girlfriend Shruti to attend the festivities. My first impression of Texas was filled with many of the stereotypes concocted by pop culture and George W. Bush's entire existence. There were signs for gun shows, Tex-Mex restaurants at every corner, and cutouts of the actual state's shape drawn in graffiti in every wall (my aunt even decided to wear her cowboy boots for the joyous occasion). Nevertheless, the experience was still different from what I expected.

The first thing you notice about Houston after being there for half an hour or so is how spread out it is. It does not have the laid-back, beach atmosphere of Miami, or the simple and compact layout of Lego buildings that New York City has. Houston's identity is harder to identify due to the fact that it's HUGE. It's spread out with freeways connecting major parts of the city, so getting from place to place always seemed like an ordeal compared to most large cities. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the fact that it didn't have the same hectic feeling that the streets of New York City do.

We got back from the airport in the afternoon and checked into the hotel. Whereas Franz and I got to go to Eric's house for our own makeshift bachelor party that included a Will Ferrell movie, pizza, and mixed drinks, Shruti was subjected to the torture of a dinner out with my entire family followed by drinks at the hotel. My family is very friendly and all, but meeting them all at once has to be the most overwhelming feeling in the world. I finally got back late at night to save her from her distress, but she seemed to survive just fine without any help from me.

After a long day of traveling and rejoicing, we prepared ourselves for the rehearsal dinner Friday night. We went to Jos A. Bank to check out our brand-new rental tuxedos with fancy shoes and stuff, and they screwed up the very measurements they made. My pants were ridiculously long, and my shoes were huge on me, but whatever. They said I'd have replacements that would fit me early on Saturday after making me wait for about twenty minutes despite the fact that the store was empty (I was very pleased with their customer service if you can't tell).

After spending the day ice-skating, browsing through Hot Topic, and checking out the mall like misunderstood teenagers, we got ready for the dinner. Realizing that none of us had shaving cream, we split an overpriced, tiny bottle of it--courtesy of the lobby. We all scrambled to get ready as soon as possible before heading out to the Episcopalian church. The service at the church was pretty straightforward, but I'll talk more about that when I get to Saturday.

We figured everything we had to do before heading out to Saint Arnold's, a tasty micro-brewery where the rehearsal dinner took place. They had a wide variety of beers that we got to sample throughout the night for free, which was pretty sweet. The actual dining room was filled with large, wooden tables next to each other in order to create a family atmosphere. Speaking of family, whereas Meg's family got there before 7, my family didn't arrive until close to 8 (typical Dominicans).

Accompanying the brews that were being served, there was a delicious buffet. They had chicken, steak, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, bread, and a decadent dessert menu of chocolate cream pie, a blondie-brownie hybrid, and a mouth-watering pecan pie. After over-stuffing ourselves and pounding beers like true Texans, the night took a more emotional turn. My dad started out with a speech he co-wrote with my mom about the joining of the two families and the pride they felt over having such a lovely daughter-in-law for years to come. Meg's father followed suit and talked about how Eric has won him over and how excited they were about the rest of Eric and Meg's lives.

The weekend had been successful so far, and everyone was eagerly anticipating what Saturday would bring. Overall, it seemed like the beginning of one of those movies about big weddings where families got together and a combination of nerves, stress, and excitement built up as the big day approached.