Saturday, April 4, 2009

It was finally here, the official day 1 of our wedding weekend. With the exception of a couple from San Francisco, the rabbi and the photographers, everyone would be on the island by Saturday.

Our welcome event was a barbecue on the beach at the Gansevoort Hotel. The Bagatelle restaurant did all the catering and set-up and did a really great job. All photos by me unless otherwise noted:







The grilled local fish listed in the menu was Mahi Mahi and it bothers me to this day that I didn't get to try it (I was busy and chose to eat hot dogs and hamburgers for reasons unclear to me right now) as it got rave reviews from our guests.



IC and I got there first, and hung out on the Gansevoort's signature round lounge couches waiting for our guests:

It was nice to spend some time together before everyone arrived because it turned out that we barely saw each other for the rest of the bbq. Unlike at, say the wedding reception, we felt like we had to separate and mingle with our guests independently so that we spent a little time with everyone. The music was all-Reggae, selected by IC. We got a million compliments on the music, it was just so perfect and fitting for a beach setting. At one point, though, the random playlist played *our* song, "Love Sponge" by Buju Banton and IC and I could only look over at each other from afar, each engrossed in conversations with different groups of guests.





We timed the BBQ to begin at 6 as sunset was a little after 7 and it proved to be a good idea. The sun setting was really beautiful:



Our official drinks of the bbq were mojitos and cocopolitans, a delicious vodka and rum drink which is Bagatelle's spin on the pina colada. IC is holding my cocopolitan, the only one I had time to have that night, in this shot taken by our friend Carly:



The BBQ would also be the last time I got to take my own pictures which, as I was the bride, I suppose makes sense. I love playing photographer, though, so it was kind of hard for me to let go. My friends did a phenomenal job taking shots (I've collected about 1200 so far and haven't even picked up a zip drive from IC's father containing many, many more).

Some great shots taken by friends:

From Dawn Summers:













The rest are from Cora:



















IC+me thanking everyone for joining us for our wedding weekend kick-off:



Toward the end of the night someone got out a guitar and my friend PN played the violin:







The drinks flowed, the music played and everyone definitely seemed like they were having a good time.

IC and I finally found each other toward the end of the night and went back to the round couch, ate dessert and enjoyed the music:



This was the last shot I took to end a beautiful night: