September, 2009
New York: Cory and Davina's Wedding
Thursday, September 24, 2009 I'm off to New York (flying, this time)
I flew into Albany, where Danni was waiting for me, and we headed south and checked into our hotel in Kingston. We then drove down the New York Turnpike to the next exit, New Paltz, and caught up with Cory for dinner. He's getting married on Saturday, but is very calm and confident. Davina is having dinner with her family, and we will meet them tomorrow at the rehearsal.
In the morning Danni and I took a quick drive-by tour of New Paltz's historic Huguenot Street. don't know if we'll have time to walk the tour on this trip,but at least she'll get a glimpse of it. I'm sure we'll be back to the area some time, as it will be cory and Davina's home. We meet Cory for lunch at a nice little restaurant in town. On the wait out I told the waitress that my son was getting married in the morning - he was mortified. Mission accomplished.
After lunch, we hit the turnpike and headed back to Kingston and then over to Woodstock, the sight of tomorrow's wedding. We've got a little bit of time to kill before the rehearsal, so we park and walk around the downtown area. We ran into the hippy-storekeeper that Cory and I encountered last year. She's memorable because she was clearly stoned on the morning we visited her shop. She had trouble deciding the prices of the 2 magnets I was purchasing, and then was absolutely delighted when she added $3 and $4, arriving at $7. There's a wonderful little store with LOTS of Woodstock festival memorabilia, fully stocked for the recent 40th anniversary. I have time to peruse about half the store, when Cory retrieves me to get to the rehearsal. I could have spent another 1/2 hour in there, at least.
At the rehearsal we meet Davina's family, her Mom and Dad, Erika and Jay, and her sister, Ariana. Everyone is sooooo excited. Their friend, Jerry, is a minister and will be performing the ceremony. He's excited, too. He's all decked out in a tie dye shirt, ready for Woodstock. During rehearsal, we all practiced coming down the aisle. Erika and Ariana practiced spinning around and tossing rose petals, and at one point Ariana said she was tossing fairy dust. It looks to me like she has Tinkerbell in her hand.
Cory had asked me to be the Best Man, a little unusual, but, hey, why not? I had expected to be standing during the ceremony, and was wishing I had a spy camera to I could shoot the wedding unnoticed. But, Jerry to the rescue. He wanted me to sit in the front pew, as Mother of the Groom. Perfect! I can hand the rings to my son from there, and, best of all, I'm sitting in the Front Row.
After the rehearsal, we all headed down to New Paltz for dinner at a local Indian Restaurant. The food was great, and we were joined there by some wedding guests who had arrived in town that day.
Then, back up the Turnpike to Kingston for the night. Selecting a hotel mid-way, sort of, between New Paltz and Woodstock was not my best idea. Each time we went to Woodstock, we had to go to New Paltz first, and come back via Kingston. I'll do better next time.
Saturday, September 26, 2009 Wedding Day
The wedding was really great. It was at a little church in Woodstock. The weather was cloudy, but no rain, so the wedding was held in a beautiful garden and was quite intimate. The leaves were just starting to change. The wedding was very small, with a total of maybe 25 people, including the bridal party. I got Cory to the church 1/2 hour early, as requested. At 3:00 the guests were seated and we were all wondering where the bride was. At 3:15 we were still wondering. Someone mentioned "Runaway Bride". I mentioned that if this were one of their college classes, everyone would have left by now. Jerry was considering going ahead with the ceremony using a stand-in. After a while the photographer showed up (he had been taking photos of Davina elsewhere), and said that the traffic through little tiny Woodstock was really bad. Lots of visitors celebrating the 40th anniversay of the famed festival. A litle later, the bride arrives, and the ceremony starts.
Cory walked me down the aisle (or vice versa?) and the tears started. I joined Danni, who had my camera.What a great seat I have! Erika and Ariana were so much fun, dancing down the aisle, tossing rose petals. My favorite moment of the wedding was when Cory caught his first glimpse of his bride. Davina was radiant, in a beautiful dress, as she walked the aisle on her father's arm.
Davina's mother is from Germany and her father is from India, and they incorporated some of their cultures into the ceremony. Her sister, Ariana, sang a German song, and did so quite beautifully. Then her mother, Erika, read a poem. She's QUITE theatrical. Then her father, Jay, said 3 mantras. He referred to Cory (everyone calls him Corwin these days) as "Ariana". Quite an ice breaker. Unfortunately, I couldn't carry any spare batteries with me, and my camera died right after their vows and before the end of the ceremony. I rushed out to the car later and replaced it, but I missed some important shots. Good thing no one is depending on me. When the ceremony was finished and the bridal party had gone back down the aisle, I let out a whoop and then Erika, Jay, Ariana, and I had a group hug, whoop, and kisses. It was a wonderful moment.
After the ceremony, Cory and Davina took a short break from us in the church and then returned to the garden to greet their guests. Then the photographer had a photo session and I grabbed a lot more shots. In addition to the photos of the bridal party, they had pictures taken of them with each of the guests.
The reception was also in Woodstock, at the Bear Cafe. It was previously owned by the manager of Janis Joplin, The Band, and Bob Dylan. There was a wonderful little patio overlooking a stream. The food was really great. We had slideshows of Davina's and Cory's baby pictures, I muddled through the Best Man's speech, and then the dancing began. Jay made some special sticks for the Stick Dance (Indian tradition) and one of his nephews played a drum. Nearly everyone participated in the Stick Dance.
Erika and I got along wonderfully. We had a blast! Lost of dancing, too. I don't think anyone had a better time at the reception than the Mothers. Cory included some of my old favorites in the song list, including Louie, Louie, Feelin' Alright, and Werewolf in London. He knows I always howl when I hear the latter, but somehow he expected me to be low key this time. Didn't happen. Later, a friend of his, Alex, taught me the macarena. Cool!
Cory and Davina are chocolate aficionados. Their wedding cake was delicious - a wonderful rich chocolate with a raspberry filling. Incredible edible. I was sneaking bites of Cory's cake when he wasn't looking. Luckily, he seemed pre-occupied.
The wedding was beautiful, and I had an absolutely wonderful time and really, really like Davina and her family. PHOTO GALLERY
Sunday, September 27, 2009 The City
On Sunday Danni and I went to NYC - it was her first time there. The day was overcast, and sometimes rainy, but I didn't care - I was happy that the weather held for the wedding. We caught a Trailways bus out of New Paltz, which took us to the Port Authority bus station in Manhattan, near Times Square. MUCH easier than driving to town, and just as fast. We had lunch near Times Square and then hit the subways, first heading to Battery Park. Had a nice time, taking in views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Brooklyn Bridge via the Staten Island Ferry. The price for the ferry was pretty good: $.00. As in Free. Then we wandered around Central Park for awhile, and finished with Times Square after dark. It seemed like a really long day, coming on the heels of the wedding day.
