My trip to New York back in July wasn’t just a tourist jaunt. The main point of the weekend was to attend a wedding – something that will probably become the most spectacular event I’ll ever attend in my life (seriously, I’m not sure why they even let me in.)
There was a “heatpocalypse” raging through the city, the temperatures were hitting 100 every day and we were sweating like pigs. We had no preconceptions before the day of the wedding; the only details we knew were the time and date of said event and that it was black tie attire. Oh, and that the reception was being held in the most famous hotel in New York City: The Plaza. I mean, that pretty much sealed the deal.
Luckily for the bridal party and guests, the ceremony wasn’t beginning until 4pm, giving the temperatures time to drop slightly. The ceremony itself was held in St Patrick’s Cathedral on Madison Avenue. You know – that big looking church where famous people get married every now and then and where masses of an epic proportion are held. So, no big deal really. Just a normal weekend for me *ahem*. We were one of the first couples there and were surprised to see tourists and visitors sat at the back of the church praying whilst we were sat at the front in an area which was sectioned off. As St Patrick’s is open to the public, they too are allowed to sit in on wedding ceremonies, which resulted in a hilarious situation when most of the tourists assumed that it must be a celebrity couple getting married and thus proceeded to take pictures of everyone attending the wedding. We even heard one kid shouting “I think that’s Jack Black” in reference to the groom. Who looks nothing like Jack Black.
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After a wonderful, if un-air-conditioned, ceremony we headed off to the reception – marching down Madison Avenue in all our finery, following a procession led by a man playing the bagpipes and continuing to strut our stuff like celebrities into the Plaza.
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We were met by the sight of a buffet that can only be described as magnificent. We all assumed the buffet was being offered in place of a sit-down meal. But no. “This is just the appetiser hour”, the cheery Plaza employee informed us. Fast forward to me suddenly declining the roast pig and pasta I’d been eyeing up – we still had a three course meal to come!
But the extravagance of the buffet was nothing compared to how beautiful the main ballroom looked, where the formal meal and dancing took place. It was literally like stepping into a fairytale, it just seemed to sparkle. There was a live band, there was a towering cake (quite possibly the most delicious melt-in-your-mouth cake I’ve ever tasted) and there were flower centrepieces that were bigger than my bedroom. We danced, we ate, we drank (probably me more than others, the sneaky waiter kept topping up my glass every time it was nearly empty). Every now and then I tried to stop and take it all in, knowing that I would never attend an event as lavish and simply awe-inspiring as this wedding. The only word to describe it would be stunning.
I’m so thankful for being given the opportunity to attend the wedding and because of attending it I also managed to have an amazing weekend in New York during one of the hottest weekends of the year.
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