location: Long Island City, NY

location: New York, NY
reception: The New York Yacht Club

My favorite part about living in Brooklyn is the sense of neighborhood. It’s something palpable to walk, talk, and spend time on your block, and it’s a perfect reminder of what it is that makes community and marriage so special. So starting the day out in Umberto’s childhood home and watching Gigi and Umberto spend time in Carroll Gardens, my neighborhood as well as theirs, was a treat I’d been looking forward to for some time now. It lived up to the expectations. The day couldn’t have gone any better – I don’t think I saw Gigi stop smiling for more than a minute the whole day through. Fantastic!

location: Long Island, NY
reception: Fox Hollow

There’s easy, there’s breezy, and there’s Kate and Dan. Just out and out sweet with non-stop smiles from beginning to end. I stumbled into my home a little past midnight that night, flopping onto the couch, putting up my legs, and smiling the smile of a day well spent.

As an aside, there’s a special magic that happens only on a wedding day. You’ll find a picture of the cake topper that I really couldn’t resist taking. It had nothing to do with Kate and Dan, and, yet, everything to do with what it is about a wedding. A random passerby, in one of the more unusual gestures I’ve seen, pulled up in his car and simply gave it to the two of them for nothing but goodwill will alone. An odd thing to have with you and a bit of anachronism, it’s also one of those unpredictable bits of what it is to have a wedding. A kind thought, a quirky act, and a small story to share of what happens when love makes its way into the world.