The long-awaited and much-anticipated wedding of C+T finally arrived! And if there ever was a whirlwind of a wedding... THIS WAS IT!
The Holly Farm in Carmel was ab-so-lute-ly gorgeous. I was thinking it would be a rustic, drought-stricken farm (LOL), but it was actually much more like a lush jungle. Very Jurassic Park-esque.
The Seattle people arrived late to the celebrations, and missed the Thursday BBQ (as well as the bubble soccer early Friday). WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. We flew into SJC on Friday at noon, happened to lunch at Chez Sovan becuase of a last minute rec from Alan. HOLY moly, the amok (fish wrapped in leaves) was so tasty! We actually showed up after they had closed for the day, which was my bad because I didn't check the hours, but the owner was SO nice he seated and served us anyway. We ended up getting to chat with him and he was super friendly with tons of jokes. Such a treat.
The drive to Monterey wasn't bad, but the traffic after we had settled in to our hotel was. So we stayed at our hotels until dinner, and met up to dine Nan for her belated. The food at Jeninni Kitchen & Wine Bar was hit or miss. I did love the eggplant fries, a whole lot. I didn't love the steak. And their customized cocktails made with wine (but tastes like classic liquor mixes) were really good. The Mule. MHM! After dinner, we headed to the farm where I was so happy to see everyone!
I spent more time catching up with people than getting trashed -- thank goodness I stayed sober enough to drive back to the hotel! Running around on the farm, at night, in the darkness, and getting lost between sections, was pretty exciting. The farm is a crazy cool wedding venue. And EVERYONE was there! The first night was my favorite night, even though it was probably the shortest night.
On Saturday morning, Matt was hungober, and I got up late... as usual. We got dressed and headed into town to get some coffee. I wanted a quick manicure, but I was out of luck - no last min walk-ins! When we got to the farm, we had some beers and hung out while Nan curled my hair. We eventually got seated for the ceremony, where C+T married under a gigantic mystical tree. It was so Fern Gully! Gary was a great officiator, and T looked so freaking happy. I cried, of course -- I couldn't not.
We gathered for photos with groups, with friends, and even had an aeriel drone shot. Go technology!
Cocktail hour was AMAZING with a wide variety of hors deourves. Lots more photos and chatting, and so much merrymaking.
At dinner, our table was the last to be called. And by the time we were called, I wasn't even hungry anymore. I ate some mac 'n cheese and a few roasted veggies. but that was about it.
And then after dinner and the heartfelt speeches, came the dancing!
And after the dancing, and before more dancing, came the DESSERT!!!! Ice cream and waffles and topping and OMG. That was my favorite food of the wedding.. HAHAHA. Saturday was a long day, but it was so much fun. A gazillion awesome pictures were taken and happy moments were made. C+T looked ecstatic. And relieved actually, as the night wound down.
On Sunday, we checked out of our hotel and went to Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Santa Cruz. Freaking Charles asked Nan to get Thai food, which took like 40 mins (instead of just agreeing with sandwiches which take ten minutes tops LOL). The beer that I sampled from people, was ok. I didn't drink because of the long drive ahead. I didn't want to stop every 30 minutes.
When we got back to the city, we ended up just getting ready at Nan's because we had our luggage anyway. Nan did mah hair again! Off to SSF we went, to Grand Palace which was not grand at all. Not one bit. The dishes were so dirty. The employees weren't nice. BUT THE LION DANCERS WERE SO COOL!! And they played the 'who is more _____' game where the couple sat back to back, which is always interesting. They did really well, which isn't surprising! I also got to see Andy's sister's baby. Such a cutie. And Andy's mom, who I haven't seen in at least four years! And then, after the dinners many courses, there were sesame balls for dessert. YES!!!!!! Way better than red bean soup!
And the dancing. Oh the dancing. People got a little wild, Chad's dad was tearing up the dance floor. So were many others. It was exciting! I wish more people had stayed to dance, but I suppose it was a Sunday night.
People cleared out early, and we went to In 'n Out to get some more food. It felt like old times!! I used to go to In 'n Our and Carl's JR. in Daly City all the time... when I had better metabolism. HAHA. We went back to Nan's place and hung out for a while longer.
Monday flew by so quickly. Matt and I got ready, picked up lunch at Cafe Darwin (per Nan's rec, and what a great rec), and then picked up my mom from work. She and I ate at home while Matt went shopping with Charles and Alom. I was worried about my mom, that she's getting older and her health is deterioriating; however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she's doing just fine. We gossiped about my friends and her current language student. It was not as long of a lunch as I wanted, but she had to go back to work for a meeting. It was so nice though!
When we were taking hte AirTrain to the terminal at SFO, after dropping off the rental car, the train door closed on me. I was like in the door, and it closed. DO THEY NOT HAVE SENSORS. And Charles laughed at me. BOO!!!!!! If he had walked FASTER then I wouldn't been in the door on time. Luckily I jumped into the next door that was just closing. So stressful.
What a great trip, and to see everyone together and have a nice long weekend with them... I couldn't ask for me. I thought Kay was the happiest bride I've ever seen, but I think T rivaled her.
See?
