I wish I could Groundhog Day the whole Wedding Weekend so that I can relive it over and over and over again – it was the greatest most incredible weekend of my entire life. It was so much fun and almost everything was perfect!

Bill and I decided to have our wedding on New Year’s Eve day because we love a good party, and because most of my Hungarian family would have time off work. Most Europeans have the week between Christmas and New Year’s off, and because New Year’s Day was on a Tuesday, most people would be taking the last three days of that week off as well, making for a nice amount of time for a trip to New York!

Christmas day was on a Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning my family and I jumped into action despite my dad having strained his knee by accidentally missing the last step walking to the driveway and my mom having an almost broken finger thanks to the car door. We dropped off a million boxes of things I had been organizing for the weekend events with our event manager Erica. I don’t even remember what all was in those boxes, but we sure had a lot of stuff! Everything was organized and labeled by date and event and location.

In the morning on Thursday before everyone’s flights landed, I went to get a mani-pedi, a hair trim, and a soup from Hale & Hearty which is a very non-special New York chain lunch place. When I worked in New York I would go to Hale & Hearty almost every day and get their non-special chicken vegetable soup with noodles. It was my favorite lunch because, as the name suggests, it was hearty, and also delicious. They put dill in the chicken soup which, in my humble opinion, is the most underutilized herb in general. But dill really makes a big flavor difference. I encourage you all to use more of it. They also have those delicious hexagonal oyster crackers – which you used to not have to pay for but now you do – that get the good kind of soggy in your soup and it adds to the heartiness. Anyway, this post is about Wedding Weekend, not soup.

After my errands, Bill and I met up at the marriage bureau by city hall to submit our application for our marriage license! He came straight from the airport, as we spent Christmas with our respective families. It was the longest stretch of time we had not been together, and that was really hard and I didn’t enjoy him being away from me for so long. But now he’s legally bound to be with me forever. Hooray!!!

We checked in to our hotel suite on Thursday after we got back from the city and went straight to the hotel restaurant for dinner. My mom had organized a 15 passenger fancy car to pick up my Hungarian family from the airport who were all on the same flight to bring them to the hotel. They had arrived and checked in by the time Bill and I made it there, so we had dinner together, along with Bill’s aunt Laurie and uncle Kevin. It was wonderful! Upon arrival to the hotel, all our guests were given a welcome bag with lots of chocolates and other slightly healthier snacks, a postcard sized magnetic calendar with our picture on it so everyone has to look at us everyday on their refrigerators, small waters, hand sanitizer and tissues because it is winter and germs are everywhere. I hope people liked those bags.

 

On Friday morning, Bill and I host breakfast in our suite. Huge shoutout to my mom who made multiple food runs and made sure everyone had the kind of food they like to eat for breakfast (chestnut puree for my uncle, olives for my cousin’s kids, etc.). She also purchased a Keurig coffee maker and a 4-piece toaster so coffee and toast is easy and fast. She had Hungarian sausage, LOTS of bread, lots of spreads for the bread, cheese, meats, juices, milk, coffee, veggies, and a bunch of other stuff I can’t remember. The point is, no one went hungry.

Friday was the first full day of Wedding Weekend, which was called Ferry Friday. I had perfectly scheduled a sight-seeing morning on two of NYC’s ferries and an afternoon downtown for whomever wanted to join. And it was perfect – except that it rained all day. And at times it poured. But I like to think that it made us even closer – the experience of toughing out the rain together made for a real bonding day. We were a group of 20 people, with a mix of Bill’s family and mine, and friends. We took the train from White Plains station to Grand Central. From there we walked to the East River Ferry terminal at 35th street. This was about a 20 minute walk and we JUST made the ferry. The next one wouldn’t come for another 40 minutes and I didn’t have a backup plan if we missed the boat. The train ride was about 35 minutes, and we arrived to Grand Central about 40 minutes before the ferry departure time. I thought 20 minutes in Grand Central would be enough time – for pictures and peeing – and if we had another 5 minutes we wouldn’t have had to run the last block to get the boat. But we made it! We are now on the East River Ferry with an opportunity to dry off. The second half of the ride is the most impressive as we go underneath the Williamsburg Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Brooklyn Bridge, and we get amazing views of the financial district skyline. Even with the rain and overcast fog, it was still impressive. We get off the ferry at the Wall Street pier and walk 5-10 minutes to our indoor lunch destination. During this walk my umbrella breaks because it was so windy. I was using it as my tour guide stick, holding it up so that group members further behind me could still see where to go. Even after it broke, I held it up as we walked for the rest of the day – unopened – in the rain so that people could see where I was. I think it confused strangers to see a person holding an unopened umbrella up in the pouring rain.

The indoor lunch spot was in the basement level of an office building, so it had a variety of fast yet good lunch options. My Hungarian family opted for Chipotle, and obviously they loved it. After an hour for lunch, we walk across the street to the Staten Island Ferry. We actually let one ferry go in the hopes that Bill’s brother, his wife, their 4 kids, and his parents make it down to take the ferry with us. But after many mishaps with NYC public transportation (subway stations are not stroller friendly and signs can be confusing and there are always delays around the holidays) they did not make it to the ferry on Friday. Our group rides the free ferry and we get our close up views of the beautiful and strong Statue of Liberty. It is unfortunate that her words no longer ring true for our country.

After a round trip on the Staten Island Ferry, we walk up to Ground Zero, passing the Bull (waiting in line to take a picture with the back end), the NY Stock Exchange, Wall Street, pass through the Oculus, and visit the reflecting pools and the survivor tree. After nearly an hour or two of walking in the rain and fighting crowds, we are ready to sit inside. The original plan was to go up to Rockafeller to see the tree and the lights, but it is too wet at this point. Instead, we head up to a food and drink hall 2 hours before I had scheduled near Grand Central called Urbanspace. But it was great because we were able to get two big tables, and we snack and drink and dry off. The time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to take the train back up to the hotel. We had purchased “off-peak” train tickets, so we spent all that time sitting and eating and drinking to pass the time until it became off-peak time. Plus, it was happy hour so my dad bought a few rounds of oysters!! (I don’t like seafood, but I was happy that those who enjoy it got to eat it, and some of my Hungarian family tried it for the first time to mixed reviews.)

 

Bill and I host breakfast in our room again on Saturday morning. This time there are even more people as more family and friends start arriving. Today was Skating Saturday, as we had made a reservation to ice skate in Bryant Park in the morning. We had a big group of 35 or so people today, but we all made it on the train to Grand Central! Bryant Park is a 5 minute walk from Grand Central so I lead the big group with the broken umbrella to the park. I jump to the front of the line, and after a few minutes the staff at the skating rink give us our wristbands and we go inside to get our skates. It was a bit chaotic with the lines and the tickets, but the point was we had pre-paid so we really didn’t have to wait. The party people who were not skating found chairs and tables near the edge of the rink which was awesome because they could see all the skating action! It was fun skating by them waving to all the cameras, like they were the paparazzi! Plus the weather was BEAUTIFUL so sitting outside in the sunshine in this park oasis in the middle of the city was awesome. We had more friends meet us there too, so that was a lot of fun! AND! My nephews and niece, and brother-in-law, sister-in-law, mom-in-law, and dad-in-law came too! The ice rink has these snowperson and penguin plastic skating buddies so that kids can hold the handles and the adult pushes them. That made it fun for everyone! We skate for an hour or so, I don’t exactly know. It was pretty free flowing, in that people could do whatever they wanted when they felt like they skated enough. After skating, people went off in groups to see and do what they wanted before our joint bachelor-bachelorette party later in the early evening. I got to hang out with Colin, my oldest nephew. When we were hanging out in Chicago we talked about the fun things we could do in New York, and I told him that the two of us would eat pizza. But not just any pizza – a real New York slice. The kind that costs $0.99 and is classically delicious. He and I walk to a place a few blocks south of Bryant Park, get our 2 slices and a water for $2.75, and eat standing up at the counter because there are no chairs in 99 cent pizza establishments. We talk all things Harry Potter and I hope he thinks I’m cool because I can geek out about HP with the best of them. On the way back to the park to meet back up with Bill and the gang, we get distracted by a NY gift shop so we peak around in there but don’t buy anything.

The younger kids are now due for a nap, so Bill and I walk his brother’s family and his parents back to Grand Central so they can go back to their AirBnB near the hotel. As we are crossing the street with like 100 other people, a car tries to make a left turn and gets really close to hitting the stroller and other pedestrians. This enraged me and Bill’s dad who were right behind the stroller and we both yell at the driver who had his window down and I repeatedly smack his car with my huge but broken umbrella. Just being in New York brings out the New Yorker in everyone and I love that.

The afternoon passed quickly and it was time to go to Bill’s and my joint bachelor-bachelorette party. It was at the newest location of this board game beer bar called Clinton Hall, and it was AWESOME and I got to wear new outfit number 1! We got the whole upstairs for our group, and people could come and go, get food or drinks as they wanted, and we played lots of fun games like giant Uno and Hungry Hungry Hippos to name a few. It was really really fun! We started early so that we were able to end at a normal time and not get back to the hotel in the suburbs at a crazy hour. Lots of family and friends rolled through, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves! Two of my bridesmaids organized the reservation and organized and led some really fun games. They were those Newlywed Show type games where questions are asked about one person to be answered by the other. I think Bill and I did really well, and I was so thankful for my friends to have provided fun entertainment and made sure we had a great party. #thanksemilyandmia

Sunday Funday was left open with no planned group events. I wanted to sleep in a bit, which I didn’t, because I wanted to hang out with people at breakfast! By Sunday we had checked in to our party suite, which the hotel gave to us for free. It was great because the room was open all weekend for hanging out, playing games, eating, and drinking. The room had a mini-kitchen, a big couch, a dining table and obviously a bathroom. It was perfect. And it was always stocked with food and coffee and chocolate (thanks mom!) and beer (thanks Robbie and mom and Geoff and whoever else!). My Sunday was spent going back to my parents house to get the rest of the stuff needed for the wedding – I packed the car full of stuff. Back at the hotel, Bill and I unpack the stuff and set up the ceremony room. We also discussed other set up stuff with the event managers. Also the flowers were delivered and they were beautiful! In the early afternoon, after decorating ugly sweater cookies, we go swimming with our nephews and niece. I really wanted to go swimming all weekend and I’m glad there was time to! Then the three masseuses I hired on Thumbtack arrive for massages for my ladies who wanted them. After an hour of being pampered in essential oils, I jump in the shower, put on new outfit number 2 which was made in Kenya, and run down to the rehearsal ceremony! Bill was in charge of the rehearsal and it was great! We had a lot of people there because we had asked 15 people, family and friends, to say a pre-determined saying during the ceremony so we had to practice the order and the timing. We had all different words of wisdoms being spoken, from light hearted, to poetic, to loving and heartstring pulling, and in English and Hungarian. It was a great way to involve the whole audience. After we practice the ceremony, we head to dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant with a group of 70 people and new outfit number 3. This technically was part of new outfit number 2 because I had three pieces made in Kenya –  one short sweetheart cut tubetop underdress to be the layering base, a short lace dress to put on top of the underdress, and a big poofy tulle skirt to layer on top. Dinner was great, the wine was flowing, and I tried to make my way around the room to chat with family and friends. Even though the big day wasn’t until tomorrow, there were already 70 out of 120 people in town ready to celebrate!

Monday, December 31st, was the day we were all here for, and it was finally here!! …But you all will have to wait for Wedding Weekend (Part 2 of 2) to drop so that you can read all about it…