My friend Chris called me last year and asked me if I would be a groomsman in his wedding. It's always an honor to be considered for that, and about a year later, Chris married Priya in Princeton, NJ.
It's been a while since I've flown out to the East coast to visit Chris. I visited him while he still lived in Manhattan, and there were other times he'd coordinate visits to see Mike with me. So I decided to fly into Jersey a little early and hang out a night with Chris in Hoboken where he and Priya currently live. I got in around 7pm on Thursday night and had heard about how Hoboken was one of the top cities in the nation for singles to mingle. Hoboken is really, really small (1 square mile), so everything is pretty much walking distance from Chris's apartment. When we left apartment, we were immediately called upon by a girl in her early 20's who had just parked her car across the street and was asking if she could get a help carrying her beer and boxed wine. She was walking in the same direction as us, so we offered her a hand and as we were walking, she was very friendly, saying how she was having a bunch of her girlfriends over for drinks. We dropped the beer and wine off with her at an intersection a block later where her friends were just about to pull up and went on our way to dinner. It made for a funny story. Chris says that has never happened to him, but the one day Single Andy comes to visit, go figure! Lol. Hoboken was pretty much what I expected and lived up to it's standards: lots of young people, most of them you could tell were fresh out of the college scene. If I were maybe 10 years younger, I probably would want to live here myself! After hitting a couple bars and scouting the environment, we turned in...with Chris forcing me to go to bed early at around 2am EST, which is 11pm back in AZ! Oy, somehow I managed to get a full night of rest and set myself to the east coast schedule.
On Friday, Chris and I hopped a train to Princeton, which is about 45 minutes away. We were greeted by his father and brother, who gave us a ride to the Mens Wearhouse to grab our tuxes and then we checked into the hotel around 4pm. I grabbed a couple Yuenglings at the bar and then the had dinner with Chris's family and relatives at Tre Piani, a nice restaurant inside the same plaza as the Westin. After dinner, Chris and I stayed up and had some drinks at the Salt Creek Grille, but called it a night fairly early since there aren't really any bars in that plaza and they aren't open very late. :(
Saturday morning, the groomsmen were scheduled to play a round of golf at the TPC Jasna Polana, the same venue where the American Ceremony and reception was to be held. When we arrived, I was immediately told that I couldn't play with cargo shorts on (I don't own any other khaki pants), so I had to buy a pair of shorts from the pro shop. :( The golf course is a really beautiful course, it's just too bad I suck at golf! There were 6 of us playing, all individual stroke play, and Chris ended up with the best score of 82, with his father shortly behind at 84. Yours truly shot a 139, but I did manage to hit my first par ever on hole 11, a par 3 where I shot into the rough, chipped it onto the green, and then sank a 12-foot putt for par! Hey, for $170 (the shorts were $70) I made sure I was going to enjoy this round of golf and I did! :) In fact, I actually think I played better than I usually do!
Saturday evening was the rehearsal and dinner at Salt Creek Grille. Mike & Keri, Nate & Elizabeth, and Kyle & Jamie were the other friends from Scottsdale who came to Chris and Priya's wedding. There's not a whole lot to do in that plaza, no real bars other than the hotel lobby, but I guess it wasn't the night to stay out late and get hammered with a long wedding day ahead the next day.
Chris and Priya had two ceremonies arranged on their wedding day: a Hindu ceremony in the morning and a Christian ceremony in the evening. The Hindu ceremony was really interesting and something I have never experienced before, so to be also in it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It started with a Barrat, where the groom traditionally rides on a chariot pulled by a stallion, is accompanied by his family and friends, and the entire crowd walks over to greet the bride's family and friends. However, in the modern world we live in, Priya chose to have Chris ride in on the back of a Lamborghini, which was absolutely hilarious! Then all of Chris's family and friends danced in the street and parking lot outside the Westin for about 30 minutes, LOL. I felt kind of bad for them since they had no idea what they were getting into, but they were all champs and danced for the entire period!
When the groom meets the bride, apparently he's supposed to be carried up and in. This wasn't part of the rehearsal, but I was standing next to Chris at the time the MC asked me to pick him up, so I had to carry him for a good 5 minutes for the ceremony as you can see below. Pretty interesting and funny stuff for sure!
There was a beautiful arrangement set up for the Hindu ceremony at the Princeton Westin. I stood to the right of the main seating area where Chris and Priya and their parents all partook in a series of symbolic traditions. There was a lot of flicking rice on the couple, sprinkling spices into a fire, passing around a coconut to both sides of the family and in the audience to receive everyone's blessing, and placing a toe ring on Priya's foot. It ran for about an hour (which was pretty intense to stand the whole time through), but apparently it was even shorter than most traditional Hindu ceremonies that usually run over 2 hours.
After the Hindu ceremony, a catered lunch buffet of Indian food was provided and I was so impressed by the quality and variety of choices. I for one love Indian food and wish I had the stomach (and time) to have eaten more than one plate. After I scarfed down what I could, I went out for pictures and went up to my room to shower and change into my tuxedo for the evening. The American ceremony was only a couple hours a away and at a different venue, so we had to be ready to be picked up by the limousine in almost no time.
The Christian ceremony would be held at the Jasna Polana, which is where the groomsmen played a round of golf the day earlier. It was pretty standard and more of what you're used to. Quick 20-minute ceremony that I think got shortened because it was really humid and everyone was sweating. The reception followed shortly after and was a blast, mostly because weddings are slightly more fun when you're in them than when you're just spectating. Having Mike, Kyle, and Nate there also made it more enjoyable as well! I don't remember drinking that much to be honest, but apparently I did. I sometimes think that I drink so much on a regular basis where it becomes harder and harder to actually get drunk...is that possible? Anyway, a long and busy day for me but an amazing and excellent wedding to be a part of. Thanks and congratulations to Chris and Priya!
