Maine Wedding: Part 2

The morning of the wedding, Ezra and Ryan wanted to jump into the lake.  Mind you, the water was about 65 degrees.  That’s FREEZING.

Doris and I walked over to the bridal suite where Kate and her party were getting ready.  We arrived just in time to see them heading out into the forest to meet Ryan for a first look!
I snuck between some trees to snap a few photos of my own 🙂 Then it was back to our cabin, which doubled as the groom’s cabin for the afternoon.  A few last minute drinks before the big ceremony! The ceremony was beautiful, here’s the groom walking down the aisle with his mom!Then came the bride with her father It was a fantastic place for a wedding. The view was amazing, and the ceremony itself was really wonderful.  Here’s a shot of Ryan and Kate, when Ryan’s best friend Tigner was playing guitar and singing.  I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I have to say, weddings are the place where you really feel the love from everyone!  Ryan and Kate had about as many people as we did for the wedding (around 100), and it was the perfect amount.   The best man, maid of honor, bride, groom, and their dog Liberty! The Goldmans Time to dance 🙂 I love this photo.  I snapped this just as Ryan and Kate told Ryan’s parents that they were giving them a slice from the top of their cake.  Eric and me dancing.  Apparently I thought I was a better dancer than I really am… Noah, busting a move… Doris and Ezra and the bride and groom.  I think this may have been Ryan trying to “twerk”?  Really great weekend.  The weather ended up being perfect for the wedding day (after raining all the previous days)! Congratulations to Ryan and Kate.  We wish them all the best!!!

Maine wedding: Part 1

Thursday, September 12th, Noah, Danielle, Ezra and I drove up to Sidney, Maine for our friends’ wedding!  Ryan and Kate both went to Oberlin College with Noah, Ezra and me.

Ryan, Ezra and Noah, upon our arrival 🙂

That evening there was a small get together at Kate’s parents’ house.  They live just a short drive away from the music camp that we were staying at (NEMC: New England Music Camp).

Kate’s dad making a speech…
They live right on a lake, so the four of us went down to take some photos before dinner
Friday afternoon was the rehearsal dinner.  Ezra was the best man, so I tagged along to take some pictures of the bride and groom.  Kate’s mom officiated the wedding! The rehearsal dinner was held at the camp, and included lobster!!!  We ate SO much lobster on the trip, it was ridiculous…Kate and Ryan!The four of us and the bride and groom!Then we had to get one photo of all the Obies that came to the wedding.  Including Ezra’s dad!!

Germany: Stefan + Andrea’s wedding

I’m BACK…

We arrived in Germany the morning of Friday April 26th.  Ezra’s uncle, Franz, decided to pit-stop on the way to the farm and took us to an old village called Klosterdorf.

Random sheep with 4 horns???

Sunday we went to the Sassens for some dinner.  They made an amazing spread with bread and tons of different toppings!!

The raisin bread

During the week, there were lots of mini parties for the soon-to-be-married couple.  One of the ones we went to involved cutting down a tree and re-planting it!  There’s Ezra, playing with Jimmy…

The whole town came 🙂

Our wagon of refreshments

All the moms decided Ezra needed some practice pushing a stroller/wagon full of toddlers…

P.S. the 3 moms closest to Ezra are the moms of the 4 children 🙂

The tree cutting

and replanting it!

Wednesday May 1st was Eric’s birthday, so we celebrated with presents and cake!

Another pre-wedding party

One of the traditions of Oldendorf is to take down the village flag and put it up the night before the wedding.

Doris with the bride: Andrea!

Apparently Ezra decided it was time to rake the lawn…

Friday morning: wedding day!

Stefan and Andrea heading to the church…

First there was a church ceremony

Then we were at the reception hall by 7 or so.

Some friends of the bride and groom did a fun dance with black and white leggings…

and of course TONS of dancing ensued 🙂

The parents’ first visit to Dongguan!

Here I am Monday morning after the wedding; calm before the storm…we were trying to get everything from our hotel suite down to the lobby to load into the van!  We ended up leaving some stuff with Ezra’s parents since we were seeing them the following weekend in Macau.

Even with a huge van, mom was stuck in a little hole in the back of the van!  She still fell asleep though 🙂

Almost there!

When we arrived back in Dongguan, Ezra and I were showing mom and dad around when we saw this had been done to our bedroom!  Turns out Debora came in to the apartment (with the key we left her), and redecorated 🙂  It was beautiful!!

We also unloaded the ridiculous amount of chocolate that was given to us by all the Germans…

We took mom and dad for some shopping in Guangzhou, so we stopped by Susan’s Kitchen in Houjie for lunch beforehand!

fried rice

chive pancakes

beef stir fry

We also took my parents to my favorite store in Dongguan: Factory Outlet!  That’s where we found our first Christmas tree as a married couple 🙂

All decorated!

LOVE my parents.

For my parents’ last meal in Dongguan, we had an amazing dinner at home!  Ezra’s dad was in town for business, so he joined us too

My parents had a great time, which means they’ll be back soon!  Hopefully 🙂

Wedding festivities: Ceremony + Reception

Ok, finally back for more wedding posts!  We took a ton of pre-wedding photos with the photographers…I was wearing my veil for the photos, but it was so windy that I ended up taking it off for the family photos and ceremony.  Best decision I made all day!

Everyone with last-minute touches

I currently have NO pictures of Dad and me walking down the aisle!  Hoping the photographer gets those to me soon…then I can do a full post of the all photos!

Here’s dad giving the message,

And my little bro who did a GREAT job with the readings 🙂

Kira’s husband Dave played guitar and sang “The Book of Love”!

Clearly the happiest day of my life 😉

One of the highlights of the ceremony: Ezra and my high-five as soon as we reached the end of the aisle 🙂

Of course we had to have a photo with the 2 people who helped make the wedding possible!  Awkward mid-action shot…

Mom, Dad, and Steff during cocktail hour!

Towards the end of cocktail hour we made our way upstairs and I sat down to take off my shoes and show Dick how awesome they were!  We also were changing into some different clothes for the beginning of the reception…

Before we started dinner, Ezra and I performed a traditional Korean wedding ceremony for both our parents.

There was bowing involved…

and piggy-back riding!

Then dinner and cake cutting!

Then it was time to DANCE!

We started off with a slow song, and tricked people into thinking that was the only song we’d dance to…

Then we busted out a dance to Sugarhill’s “Apache”, and finally Gangnam Style (I AM half Korean after all!)

Then everyone hit the dance floor to bust their moves

I got a chance to dance with dad 🙂

THEN, no joke, dad dropped to the floor and did the worm!!!!  I hope someone has a photo of that!

Initially Steff and I thought dad had a heart attack, or tripped or something, and then he threw his hands up in the air while he was on the ground and busted a move!!!

Highlight of the wedding.

Wedding Festivities: Getting Ready

Saturday morning I was up around 9 so I could have breakfast and a shower before heading to the Country Club at 10:45.  We had very generous friends who offered to have their driver pick us up in a Bentley.  Woot woot!

Here are my wedding shoes that my friend Diego made for the wedding!  They are TOTALLY gorgeous and I love them…

He even created a special label on the inside for me 🙂

and on the bottom:

Calm before the chaos…

Linda brought her steamer which was a huge help, we were able to steam all the bridesmaids dresses and parts of mine!

Doris arranged to have food brought to the bridal suite where we were getting ready, although I was so excited/nervous that I really didn’t eat anything.

Mom had a chance to take a short nap before she had her makeup done

Diane and her assistant with all the flowers!

I loved all the arrangements, especially the navy blue/yellow/white color combinations

Debora doing mom’s makeup

All finished!

Special thanks to Hair Corner, especially Kate, who came to the Country Club to do everyone’s hair. They did completely different hairstyles for everyone, based on what each person wanted, and everyone looked amazing!

Here they are!

Pre-ceremony champagne toast!

Then it was my time to get my hair/makeup done.

Jewelry for the evening 🙂

and my dress, hanging and ready to be worn!

Up next: pre-wedding photos and ceremony!!

Wedding Festivities: Pampering + Rehearsal dinner

Friday started with some manicures and pedicures with mom and Steff!  Mom tried to take a picture of all the ladies doing my nails.  I think there were 4 total…talk about total pampering!

Then I took them for Japanese lunch at Tokyo Joe! Have I mentioned that I love Japanese food?  SO good…

I spent a little bit of time working on the programs (READ: 5 minutes) but Steff, mom, Debora, and Geri really did all the work.  Thanks again ladies!!

Then it was time to head to the Country Club for the rehearsal dinner.  Ezra and I left around 4:30 so we could meet the photographer and DJ.  After some business, we met up with the family and got started on the official rehearsal.

Ez and Me pre-rehearsal

A view from the lawn, where the ceremony was to be held..

Since my dad was marrying us on Saturday (AWESOME, I know!), he gave us a run through of the program and how everyone should walk down the aisle, stand at the altar, etc.

Waiting for their cues 🙂

Mom and mom practicing the lighting of the unity candle, with an extra hug  😉

Finally finished with that!

The Goldman siblings

The Goldmans and their spouses

We had some extra time before we were allowed to be seated at the restaurant in the club, so we sat on the garden terrace and had some drinks

Then it was time to drink eat dinner!  Doris made a cute frame full of little pictures of Ez and me, a save-the-date postcard, and the invitation we sent to everyone

Since I couldn’t wear sandals, and I only had super high, not-matching-with-my-dress shoes, I decided to wear my traditional Korean Hanbok shoes!

Me, mom, and Imo (my aunt), who is hiding a little 🙂

Me and Steff showing off these cute little mini Jägermeister shots that Ezra’s aunt made and brought from Germany.  I forgot how much I don’t like Jägermeister…

Mom decided to give one a try…

and definitely feels the same way I do about them….

Good thing there was water nearby!

Me and Debora, who is awesome and literally made the wedding go as smooth as possible!

And because my parents are amazing (and the cutest couple ever), I have a few pictures for you 🙂

L. O. V. E.

Wedding festivities: Lamma Island!

Before I start with the Lamma Island trip, I thought it’d be worthwhile to include this photo of everyone who came for the Big Buddha trip!

OK.  So Thursday morning we left Central around 11am and made the 1 hour boat ride to Lamma

and celebrated my mom’s 60th birthday on the way!

Cake for everyone 🙂

The day ended up being really beautiful (the days before and after this day were pretty rainy and overcast), which made for a VERY hot hike across the island…

We stopped for cocktails and photo opps 😉

about an hour later, we arrived at the restaurant sweaty and hungry.  There was a sign waiting for us upon our arrival…

also a personalized menu, with all my favorite dishes!

As per the German tradition, I was up and serving schnapps to everyone 🙂

We all managed to roll walk ourselves back to the boat, and survived the shorter 40 minute boat ride back to the Aberdeen Marina.  We passed by the Jumbo Deck, which I still haven’t been to yet (it’s on my list of things to do in Hong Kong)!

I’ll have more photos in the next few posts 🙂

Wedding festivities: Bridal shower + bachelorette/bachelor party

I spent Wednesday morning with mom, dad and Steff!  I took them to the jade market on Kowloon, then showed them the Christmas decorations in Ocean Terminal, before eating a sushi lunch…

Then it was time to ride the Star Ferry back to the Island

Me and Steff!

We were back by 3 so I could get ready for my bridal shower at 4!  There was coffee and tea available…

Obviously I chose champagne. And shots.

Props to my amazing sister who did all the decorations!

The ladies had to guess how old I was in each of the photos behind me.  Even I didn’t know how old I was in some of them!

Debora and me!

As a gift from the German ladies, they bought me a Dirndl!  It’s basically a lady’s version of the men’s lederhosen.  Since Ezra got lederhosen from the guys, we met up and took photos 🙂

After the shower Steff, me, Debora and Danielle got ready up in the room

and then I got a phone call from Ezra begging me to wear my lederhosen when we all went out for our joint bachelor/bachelorette party.  I figured, sure why not…!

So, off we went to Schnorrbart.  A German bar 🙂

I got the whole family to come out!  At least, for part 1…

Then we changed locations around 11pm.  We decided to go to Amazonia!

Best bachelorette/bachelor party EVER!

Wedding festivities: Big Buddha + Tai O

Tuesday we invited all the overseas guests for a trip to visit the Big Buddha and Tai O!  I think there were about 30+ people in total 🙂  We lined up to wait for cable cars to the other side of the island!

I got to ride with the ‘rents

We rode in a “Crystal Cabin”, which meant the gondola had a glass bottom.  Mom didn’t like that too much!

We walked around a little tourist area, before headed on a bus to Tai O.  Tai O is a fishing village built on stilts. We got to see the area via boat, and look for dolphins.  Sadly, no dolphins.  I think it was too cold!

Walking around, soaking up the sights.  Dried fish, anyone?

Mom, Dad, and I had a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant: fried rice and dumplings!

We had to get back to the hotel by 5, to get ready for a dinner with the Hodels!  It was the Goldman family, Mr. Kroos, me, and my parents.  Dinner was at Shek-O Golf & Country Club.  This club has only 300 members, and was really outside of the city.  I think it took us a good 30 minutes from the hotel (which is already outside the city) to get there!  Totally worth it thought 🙂

Ez, me and Linda

Group photo!

Doris played host, and gave us a rundown of the menu…

I started with a goat cheese/prosciutto ham salad

and had the grilled Barramundi with veggies for my main course

followed by the club’s specialty, Apple Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream!  Ridiculously filling, but completely worth it 🙂

Up next: Bachelor/bachelorette party!