Jeff and Holly Got Hitched

A week ago we packed up and headed off to Ocean City to watch Jeff and Holly say "I do." And by pack up I mean frantically run around throwing things into suitcases and bags while checking email and answering questions on conference calls. To say I was a sweaty mess would be an understatement. We had to get on the road by noon in order to get there in time for the rehearsal dinner, which we had already RSVPed yes to. I stupidly chose sleep over packing the night before and silently cursed myself Friday morning once I realized how much time packing takes up. It didn't help much that I decided to keep Tommy home that morning since he was coming with us.

I finally managed to get everything packed and stuffed in the car with a few minutes to spare, but not enough to do my hair or makeup. Oh well, I figured I'd just do both in the car. The ride up there was pretty nice and went by fast and we ended up getting to the hotel with enough time to get checked in, freshened up and dressed before heading out to the dinner. I tried and failed at putting my hair in one of those hair donut thingys. When we got to the restaurant I saw my cousin, Alexis, and she had perfected the hair donut bun. Of course. I'm hiring her to do my hair for events from now on.

Tom and I had a fantastic time as we usually do at family weddings. They're our favorite type of wedding, outside of our own, obviously. I love catching up and hanging out with family at weddings. We're all so goofy, which makes the reception part so.much.fun. One of the best parts was having so many people want to hold Tommy. We actually got to eat our dinner with both hands, like normal adults.

Holly was a beautiful bride and I've never seen Jeff happier than he was on that day. I hope they have many many happy years ahead of them.

Pankaj + Pooja's wedding

We spent this past Saturday at the Grand Hyatt in D.C. for Pooja's wedding. We got there just in time to get ready and watch the Barat - they closed down 10th Street for it and everyone stopped on the sidewalks and streets to take pictures and watch and celebrate. 

















The bridesmaids wore beautiful sarees for the ceremony - here's the back of a few of them.



Pankaj rode with his sarbala during the Barat.






He was then carried inside for more dancing and celebrating.






After the Barat we made our way downstairs for the Milni, but mostly hung out with friends since everything was a couple of hours behind. 


My camera battery started dying at this point since I forgot to recharge it, so I only got a few more pictures with it before having to rely on my cell phone. And since it was a pretty confined area, we let Stasa loose to burn off some energy. We were hoping she would wear herself out and take a nap during the ceremony, but she had other plans, which included staying awake ALL DAY LONG.









Tom tried to get a good picture of me and Stasa, but she and the camera refused to cooperate.









After the Milni, we made our way into the ballroom for the ceremony. It was so odd because people were coming in and out the whole time and eating and drinking and talking and walking up to the altar and taking pictures. Or standing right in the middle of the aisle to take pictures as Pooja walked in. 


Here are the groomsmen dancing in:



And Pankaj walking in with his parents:



I didn't get one of Pooja walking because it was CROWDED, but I did get some of her and Pankaj on the altar.









We left about halfway through the ceremony since Stasa was getting super fussy (which seemed normal - even some of the bridesmaids left) and went to get a bite to eat across the street. 


We came back to cocktail hour, which I didn't get any pictures of, but was beautiful, and had a few snacks and drinks with our friends before heading down to the main ballroom for the reception. The reception was supposed to start at 8:30, but they were running late again, so we didn't really head down until closer to 9:00 and even then they were just finishing set up since the morning ran 2 hours over. 


I have never before (and will probably never again) seen a wedding reception as large as this one. It took up three giant ballrooms, basically the entire bottom floor of the hotel. There were FIFTY-SIX tables of 10. FIFTY-SIX. That's 560 people. I don't even know that many people. It was also beautiful - crystals and pretty light everywhere.








We were at table 36:



And Stasa FINALLY fell asleep:



Only to wake up again when they introduced the family and bride and groom. When they introduced the sisters, they popped champagne in an arc as they walked in. And then the emcee said "follow the light as we welcome Mr. and Mrs. Pankaj and Pooja Malhotra!" We followed the light and saw this - a human-drawn carriage with the bride and groom standing and waving.






At that point it was already pushing 10:30 and Stasa was upset and awake, so we decided to call it a night and head home. I can't wait to see all of the pictures everyone else took. I'm still kicking myself for forgetting to charge my camera battery. 


Updated: more pictures of Pooja's wedding
The bride and her "brothers":



One of the bridesmaids making her entrance: 



The bride and groom at the reception:



The bride's sister:

Our Indian Princess

Our friend, Pooja, is getting married this Saturday (with 600+ guests attending!) and while she was in India buying her wedding wardrobe, she bought Stasa a lengha to wear for the event, too. So of course I had to try it on her right away. She is going to be 100 times more fancy and adorable than both Tom and me together. And she didn't seem to mind the piece that ties around her neck. 


I'm going to stop by the Indian store in Herndon to pick up new bangles and bindi for both of us. I'll have to dig through my closet to find something colorful and fun instead of my traditional little black dress.

Mark and Dianna's Wedding, belated, I know

I was cleaning our office last night and came across the photo booth pictures Tom and I took at Mark and Dianna's wedding last month and remembered the online photo gallery of ALL of the snapshots that were taken that night. We each got 2 hard copies; 1 to keep and 1 to tape in a memory book for Mark and Dianna. 


Here are a few of the happy couple, me and Tom, Aunt Peggy and Uncle Pat and a bunch of our crazy friends.
Mark and Dianna Wells:



In their memory book, I wrote "It's not always easy, but it's always worth it."



Aunt Peggy and Uncle Pat:



And our crazy friends:
James and his dad:



Jason and Stacy, who will tie the knot this August:



Ben and Miranda, who were married the year after us:



Annnnnnnnd Kool and the Gang:



To view all of the photo booth pictures, go to this site, click on Dianna and Mark's Wedding and enter Gallery Code 052910.

Our trip to L.A.

I was definitely nervous about flying with Stasa since she hates sitting still and doesn't nap very long when in someone's arms, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easy our plane ride to California (and back) was. We flew Virgin America and had the good fortune of getting our own row, so Stas had a little more room to run around and play. We packed lots of snacks, milk, toys, books and Sesame Street DVDs and of course she was most interested in playing with the TVs on the back of the chairs and the tethered remote/game controllers in our armrests.

This hotel stay was almost a 180 from our trip to VA Beach for Kurt's wedding. Stasa had no problems sleeping in the same room with us and didn't whine at all when we put her in the crib. I'm not sure if it's because we used an actual crib instead of the pack-n-play or if the time difference just made it easier for her to go to sleep. Whatever the reason, we were definitely grateful.

The wedding itself was great and Stasa was ridiculously cute in her flower girl dress and Jennifer was a beautiful bride. There were a lot of fun surprises during the wedding: nacho cheese fountain, mariachi band, schoolbuses for shuttles and jointly written vows. Stasa's becoming an expert wedding attendee.

And some photos taken by other guests.