So I thought I would give a quick recap of the long weekend that I just had. On Thursday, I slept in a bit so I could get some energy up for the festivities. On my way north to check-in to the hotel, I stopped at my Father’s final resting place to pay my respects. After checking into the hotel, I jumped into the pool (a recurring event for the weekend). Later in the night I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at The Outback with my Mom, younger brother, his girlfriend, and her child. My older brother was bartending that night so the entire family was hanging out.
On Friday, (after a quick swim in the pool) I did some shopping with my Mom and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding rehearsal. After a few more dips in the pool, I went to the rehearsal at the Meadow Wood Manor in Randolph, Morris County, New Jersey (which is a beautiful facility, by the way). The rehearsal dinner was at La Strada (in the same town) and the food was outstanding. At the rehearsal dinner, the bride and groom-to-be gave the bridal party and the groomsmen some presents. I got some funny gag gifts – How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) by Ann Coulter, an Obama for President deck of cards, a Snuggie, and Go Dog Go (my favorite children’s book). I also was given a really nice pen, which is great because it’s really something that I needed.
On Saturday, I slept in a little bit before spending some time in the pool with the groom and his brothers (the other groomsmen). To the bride and grooms’ great credit, the entire day of the wedding was planned down to the minute so after I cleaned up after the pool and got lunch, the guys were transported to the Meadow Wood Manor and sent down to the game room. As the guests filed in upstairs and the bride arrived, the guys played some Wii and had a toast to the groom.
The there was the wedding, which I don’t think I need to get into too much detail on. It was a spectacular wedding – definitely the best wedding I’ve ever attended (and that’s not just because I was the best man – it really was that good). I can’t say enough good things about the Meadow Wood Manor and how amazing their service was, how delicious the food was, how elegant the decor was – it was just perfect. On top of that, the owner of the facility was on hand and personally attending to each of the tables to be sure that everyone was satisfied. You honestly don’t get that type of service any more. Very impressive facility and very impressive service.
To let you know how good the wedding was, I thought I’d share this picture of me and one of the guys that I advised in college:
Yeah. A little alcohol, a little Bon Jovi, and a lot of good people and that’s what you get! No complaints from this end, though.
Both the bride and the groom have amazing families and I was honored to meet and become friends with them. I was also honored to stand up and say a few words after the bridesmaid (the bride’s sister) gave a speech. It was a great wedding.
The next day I suffered from some pretty severe heartburn (pounding Yuenglings will do that to you), which I actually was battling through this morning. But, today was back to work and – as such – back to putting new content on this blog!
