The Wedding(s)

Geez, you people are impatient!

So this year I am attending three weddings. It's kind of exciting because each of them is quite unique compared to most of the weddings I have attended in my lifetime. In November, I am attending Daniel's wedding in Brazil. 14 siblings, Italian family, Brazilian wedding - yea, that should be a fun one. Next month, I am attending Ewa's wedding in Poland. Uhh....X siblings, Polish family, Polish wedding, vodka - yea, that should be a fun one too ;o) . This past weekend, I attended a Jewish wedding. Chuppah (say: Ho-pa [yes, you know this from Meet the Parents]), yarmulke (say: Ya-mu-ka), the breaking of glass, and countless other customs - yea, it was a fun one!

So Saturday I met up with Joclyn down in Hell's Kitchen for some grubbing before we headed over to Jersey for the wedding. Paul and I have been talking about taking a trip to Nook for a long time, since it caught our eye while perusing the dining guide that we both own. The guide made mention of various interesting cuisine types, such as Eastern European and Asian, which always makes things interesting. He and a friend checked it out one Sunday for Brunch and raved about it, so I decided that I had to experience this place as well. And what an appropriate name! There was space for about 20 people in this dinky place but the food was fabulous! The waiter (/ owner?) had a thick accent that we think was French but how many French restauranters do you know who make a goulash and Russian burgundy tenderloin? So that's suspicious.

After dinner, we headed down to Penn Station to catch our 11:00pm train to Jersey. Those Jersey people sure are predictable - sure enough we got the drunkest guy on the train sitting next to us. He asked me what school I went to (about three times) and then said he thought I went to University of Pennslyvania. I took it as a compliment but apparently it wasn't offered as one ;o) . He talked to Joclyn about her alma mater Columbia and all the bars near there and frequently repeated himself. Thanks allah that we were getting off on the first stop in Jersey and could let that guy go ahead and pass out on the bench seat!

Arriving at the hotel (in Jersey) at a late hour, we shouldn't have been surprised by our check-in experience. After talking to the chatty receptionists, we got our keys and headed upstairs. Just before I put my key in the door, I heard people talking - from my room. I knocked on the door and didn't get a response. I turned around to make sure I had my bearings right and knocked on the door again. I heard a lady inside say to the other person inside "who the is at the door?" and knew this could get interesting. A guy opened up the door and I punched him in the face before he had a chance to hit me. Well, not exactly. It was more like "Can I help you?" and I was like "Umm, they gave us this room" and he was all like "They gave us this room too" and I was like "Okay, sorry to bother you". And so we headed downstairs. Back to the chatty receptionists. They quickly blamed each other for the fiasco and apologized and gave us the correct room - on a different floor. Not sure how that happened in the first place, but whatever. So we got our keys and went back upstairs. We get to our room and listen closely to make sure there's no one in this one. We got the mental green light and so we went ahead and put the key in. Sure enough, it didn't work. Figures. So after five minutes of utilizing various pressure points on the card-key (a skill I became accustomed to frequently at my old job), I got annoyed and we headed back downstairs. You should have seen how big Tatiana's eyes were when she saw us (again) from behind the registration desk. Again, they apologized profusely and gave us our new keys. At least they put us on the "special people" floor, which means that they give us free mouthwash. I am a total pack-rat when it comes to the free mouthwash, so I was stoked enough by that....

The next morning, bright and early, we were heading off to West Orange, NJ for the wedding. Neither of us knew anyone at the wedding except for the bride and the bride's brother and sister-in-law, who are Joclyn's good friends. Being a Sunday morning wedding, there was no cocktail hour prior to the event, but rather a coffee and pastry hour. Which was fine, because I was starving! The ceremony itself was short and succinct, which was fine with me. I was stoked that this was a Jewish wedding though because I got to wear a yarmulke. Stefan always said he was going to buy me one of those because I'm cheap. Sorry dude, I've got my own now (not that he reads my blog anyway)! And I'm frugal, not cheap!

There were subtle differences in the wedding and the couple were well-prepared for us Gentiles by publishing cliff-notes on Jewish wedding terminology and customs on the inside of the wedding program. It explained the historical reasons behind stepping on and crushing a glass, the shawl that is put over the husband and wife's shoulders, etc. It was very cool, though not terribly different from a "normal" WASP wedding ;o).

I was slightly disappointed that the appetizers following the event were not kosher (I mean comon, they had cheese in the room across from the meat!), but I soon got over that as I dug in and warmed up my morning with a few Bloody Marys. I wasn't sure if that was going to be the main meal or not, but we correctly calculated that there would probably be some more eating later on, so I didn't fill up on the cheese, sushi, and corned beef....

And the eating was good. We were set up at table right next to the dance floor so we got the full view of the various wedding customs, such as the carrying of the husband and wife around in chairs and, my favorite, honoring the father and mother of the bride, who was the last child in the family to be married off. I think that's something that should be incorporated in all weddings where appropriate, regardless of culture.

The rest of the event pretty much involved more eating and drinking and every now and then a little dancing. I don't fancy myself as much of a dancer, especially during daylight hours. But I did do a little jig when the swing songs and the cha-cha came on. I gotta teach these girls at least how to swing - that's crucial! Right Summer?

I got a ride back to the city after the wedding from Joclyn's friends, which was a much better alternative than riding the Jersey train back to Penn Station. I had enough of that from Saturday's experience :o) !

It's been hot and nasty here, really nasty. It's taken it's toll on me and my muscular bod, so I'm off to bed early. Tomorrow is Cathy's birthday, which means, according to the customs of my people, we've got a fancy dinner to go to. Paul has chosen the Gramercy Tavern for this year's inaugural event, so expect a full report...at sometime in the near future!

J. Riley, dreaming of Smoked paprika-rubbed quail atop buttery polenta