Weddingbee

Last night Mr. Bee and I attended a wedding at a unique and intimate Manhattan venue called the Explorers Club. Mr. Bee called it an “intellectual wedding” because it was a wedding between two lawyers, presided over by a judge. There was also very little dancing and partying as the focus was on eloquent and heartfelt speeches by the father of the groom, father and mother of the bride, best man, maid of honor, the mc, and the groom interspersed throughout the evening.

Despite my not even knowing anyone there and Mr. Bee not being a big fan of weddings in general, we both agreed that it was one of the best weddings we’ve ever attended.

It was perfect weather for an outdoor ceremony. This intimate venue seats a maximum of about 100 people.

No pictures of the happy couple, unfortunately, because I didn’t get their permission yet.

Cocktail hour munchies

The cocktail hour room…

Which was later transformed to the dance floor (though only a small handful of guests danced, and none of the wedding party did!)

I duked it out with this polar bear.

Tables were named after animals to stay within the Explorer Club’s theme. The couple are also headed to Africa for their honeymoon.

We were seated at Table Gazzelle.

A cozy 9 tables fit in this room.

Towering berry covered branches were placed on each table…

…with loose arrangements of flowers in antique vases and pitchers surrounding them.

Though there were many great moments, the best part of the entire evening was the father of the groom’s speech. He brought out a book of poems the groom had written when he was 9 years old, and read a couple of them out loud. He prefaced them by mentioning the adage that “the child is father to the man”, and proceeded to analyze the deep meaning behind each poem. It was so funny… unfortunately at the expense of the groom.

The ceremony courtyard was transformed into a casual outdoor seating area where everyone enjoyed cigars after dinner.

It was gorgeous, warm and inviting.

Instead of a guestbook, each of these four frames had a line on top asking guests to leave marriage advice, a favorite memory of the couple, etc.

All paper items and decor by Artfool.

The groom doesn’t like to dance, so in lieu of a first dance he commissioned singer/songwriter Corey Dargel to compose and perform a love song during the reception. Corey, whose work has received rave reviews from the New York Times among many others, composes a three-minute love song based on your personalities, interests, love story, etc. It was so sweet and funny and perfect.

It’s hard to be impressed when you live, eat, breathe weddings… but this was truly one of the best weddings I’ve ever attended. They didn’t include a lot of “traditional” wedding elements, as there were no dances, favors, bouquet toss… but no one noticed at all. It was a beautiful wedding so very rich in feeling and meaning.

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