Making a Partnership
Thursday, October 7th was Marriage day! We both felt it was important to celebrate the legal act of committing our partnership in a way that felt true to who we are as people. This, of course, meant eschewing many "traditional" wedding elements, and focusing the ceremony on family, friends, and the values we believed most important to us as individuals and a couple. And it worked wonderfully!
The
Ceremony
We had our ceremony in City Park, where we went on our first date! Instead of worrying about renting a space or anything, we decided to show up at a beautiful fountain in the park. Marc, Linda, and Steve went early to clean the space and set up, and they did a wonderful job making it look even more special than it already did.
Our great friend Aly acted as our officiant, and she did a wonderful job. Her speech truly helped make the ceremony feel as important as we wanted it to, all while keeping it short, personal, funny, and specific to us.
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14/10, would ask to officiate the next wedding.
Our parents escorted us both to the spot we decided to marry while Tanya, a friend of the family and very gifted violinist, played for us all.
​As part of her marrying us, Aly had the brilliant idea to "tie us together" -literally and figuratively- with Cyril's leash. Cyril is THE REASON we met, so this was an adorably amazing thought that resonated with us, and everyone else there!
"We're Married!"
Thanks to everyone there that made it feel so special!
The
Luncheon
After the ceremony in City Park, we sent the crew over to start the celebrations at Ralph's on the Park, but first, we had some business to take care of...
Debbie and Linda made sure to have Ralph's looking its best for us!
They, along with Mary and Jessica, put together the flowers, ribbons, and decor.
We started off with some drinks, a cheese and charcuterie board, and pass-arounds of fried boudin balls, artichoke fritters, and salmon mousse on crisps. DELICIOUS, and good company!
As we sat down to lunch, Brian, Jeremy, Linda, Marc, Steve, and Alex & Emily all offered toasts to us (at different times)! Their speeches had us laughing, tearing up, and even eye rolling at a few points. Brian told everyone how he loved watching us make our partnership on our own terms and time; Jeremy made sure to let everyone know how badass Olivia is (and that Jeremy is the best gift she's ever received). Linda welcomed Olivia to the family as a daughter; Marc talked up the wonderful people in the room and how great it was to share the
events with everyone; Steve shared the funny and touching moments of getting to know Michael; and Alex & Emily described how Olivia and Michael worked to perfectly fit into each other's lives (and Alex made sure to drop some good ribbing in, as only good friends can).
Now for the important part: the food! We picked out a great menu, with everyone getting beautifully seared scallops atop a cauliflower puree, a buttery rich cauliflower bisque that tricked the non-cauliflower fans into liking it, a choice of NOLA BBQ Shrimp or Mushroom Cavatappi (both wonderfully flavorful and glowing in spices), with a impeccably tart satsuma ice box pie with a graham cracker crust on a bed on a candied satsuma zest.
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As expected, Ralph's absolutely knocked it out the park (this analogy is for Olivia, go Yankees)!
After lunch, we barely had time to let our hair down and relax, before we were on to the next event... (although Aly and Joel did pull up some chairs outside for Michael and Olivia to take a quick sit while the rest of the party went ahead)
To The
Grandparents
After lunch, many of the crew joined us in heading over to Boompa and Mamere's, Michael's paternal grandparents. We weren't able to have grandfolks at the ceremony, but fortunately we were able to celebrate with some after, and Nana, Michael's maternal grandmother, planning to come celebrate later on! And, being who they are, of course Boompa and Mamer had more food for everyone to share, including two of Olivia's favorite cake: tiramisu from Angelo Brocato's!
Sharing stories
Mamere still had Boompa's mother's wedding dress, which she had Jerome help pull out to show us.
Boompa and Mamere also had a fountain made by the same artist who made the fountain in City Park that we got married at!
Cake time!
The Friedlanders
Newest & Oldest
Looking for more? Check below, and/or explore our daily adventures with our Month of Marriage!
Special
Thanks
All photos we used here from October 7th were taken by a great photographer and family friend, Richard Vallon. His generous assistance in photographing for us allowed us to have a present and unplugged wedding, with everyone there enjoying the moments and each other.
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And, if you didn't get your fill of photos of us, Richard has ALL of them on his website here. There are many more wonderful photos of everyone, so please enjoy! And thanks again Richard.