Randomosity on Fridays: Ode to a Friend and A Wedding!

Looks like Alz's last Name that Book challenge was a bit harder than usual. So we're giving you the weekend to ponder on it and will have the answers up on Wednesday.

[Warning: Picture heavy post ahead!]

Today, we're going to reminisce about a recent wedding that was, in short, awesome. I may be biased though since it was the wedding of one of my best friends since childhood. Alz has known her since those hazy golden days too and was also in attendance. There were confetti cannons, high school reunions, and unintended celebrity run-ins, I kid you not.

Photo: Gennia

It was also ridiculously gorgeous thanks to the sunny weather of Palm Springs, the oasis-like setting of The Parker, and the fact that my friend is an accomplished artist, designer, and photographer (as is her hubs and therefore, they have a fine eye for style). In fact, I featured her on this blog a while back as part of our AAPI Month celebrations: Feature Friday with LA-based graphic designer & photographer Gennia.

Gennia is one of my nearest and dearest friends, the one who got me into like half the fandoms I've ever been in and had 2nd breakfast and Elevensies with me throughout high school. Foodies + media junkies for life! I'd wax more poetic, but she reads this blog sometimes and is so not into cheesiness. So I'm going to stop now before I bring out the cheese fountain. Just know that she is amazing, funny, and tall (grr!), and she and her hubs (who is undeniably one of us) made their Big Day one of the best weekends ever for all of us. I couldn't be happier for them.

So I think it's best to sum up my sentimental thoughts with this ode I wrote for laughs sometime in high school, and it's all still true!

Oh Gennia!

How you inspire me

with your sharp wit

and impeccable

                                 timing.

How you can turn

the most idiotic of subjects

and make it sound

worthwhile.

How you can find

the deepest of meanings

in words and phrases

that make no

                       lalalala—sense.

Oh Gennia!

How irreplaceable you are

to not only our dinky town

but also the world at

                                   LARGE!

Now, the wedding in pictures!

Getting ready & sitting pretty. We played our favorite songs and drank mimosas.

Bridesmaid gift. *hearts*

Me and the Maid of Honor.   Photo: Gennia

Wedding attire: shades of coral + gold heels. Getting dressed & ready for photos, then show time!

Photo: the Sister

Bride and her mother.

The ceremony: Their vows, guys, were enviably good: sweet, genuine, and funny without being cheesy. Not gonna lie, made me a little misty & others outright shed tears (of joy!).

Photo: N. Jin

Photo: M. Nelson

Bride with her dad.    Photo: T. Kiefer

Husband and wife.   Photo: M. Nelson

Cocktail hour: catching up with old friends (some high school friends we hadn't seen since HS were there. Plus, we hogged the polaroid camera & spammed the wedding guestbook.

Photo: the Sister

Me + Sister before stuffing our faces. Photo: the Sister

I should not at this point that during the "getting ready" part of the day, one of the girls and I went to the pool to get something from her bf. Little did we know that Cameron Diaz and her crew were chilling poolside that day. We didn't recognize her, but she asked us if we were part of a wedding. We answered, but we were in a hurry so we were probably a bit brusque. Sorry, Cameron D!

The reception: Gorgeous decorations + ridiculously good food. Like literally one of the best meals I have ever eaten. (Can you say lobster macaroni? Duck? Short rib?)

Hall of lights.     Photo: M. Nelson

Dancing: Lots and lots of dancing. I'm not one for dancing, but I partied like it was 1999!

The First Dance.    Photo: the Sister

Bridesmaid bride circle!   Photo: the Sister

One of the best moments of the night: the groom's knee-slide across the dance floor to Footloose. It's because he resembles Kevin Bacon.

And I do believe I mentioned something about confetti cannons...

CONFETTI CANNONS!!!

The whole confetti cannon thing literally started as a joke. The groom thought it'd be awesome to have confetti cannons going off at relevant points, and my Sister was the staunchest supporter of the whole confetti cannon idea. The rest of us thought it was hilarious, but we didn't think it was actually going to happen.

IT HAPPENED. BOOM! *mic drop*

Ending: The night ended with a special live performance from 2 of the bridesmaids. They sang Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman's "Time to Say Goodbye" in the original Italian.

With interpretative dance too!

The next morning: Farewell Brunch. We took pics with our HS friends. (Alz is not in these photos because she's camera shy.)

"Act casual!"

We were re-enacting our HS prom photos.

Oh and I danced so much at the reception, I broke my shoe. Really. Now I know what the 12 dancing princesses felt like... That's also why I was in flip-flops in the brunch pics above.

Goodbye, flats! You've had a good run!

There was also a PHOTOBOOTH at the reception, and we took a lot of photos, so I'll save them for later. It was fun and ridiculous and there were lightsabers involved.

In the meantime, happy weekend, friends! And go see Jurassic Park in 3D or something because a T-REX coming at you would be all kinds of cool!

Sister's excellent lonely raptor impression.

Q4U: What is/would be a MUST-HAVE song on your wedding reception playlist? For us, it was I WANT IT THAT WAY by the Backstreet Boys. The second that song came on, practically all the young women in the room rushed the dance floor to dance and sing it at the top of our lungs. It was magical.