Summer Wedding Season Has Begun!

Summer wedding season has officially begun! This past weekend, we headed up to Santa Barbara to celebrate Rami’s best friend Frank’s marriage to Rachel and a grand old time was had by all :)

We arrived in SB on Friday afternoon, checked into our hotel, and reunited with all of Ram’s friends from Columbia who had traveled in for the wedding. That night we headed out to their wedding mass – Rachel wore an AMAZING feather in her hair and that marked the first time of many times that weekend I cried.

After the ceremony, which was awesome AND only my second time in a church (I was full of questions about the wafer and the sacrament and the Virgin Mary), Frank’s parents hosted a cocktail hour on the roof of an absolutely gorgeous hotel. I made Ram pose for a pic and it ended up being fabulous – total framer!!!

Ram and his bestie, the groom!

On Saturday I was on my own for a bit as Ram had groomsmanlike duties to attend to (including figuring out how to tie his bowtie, a process that I believe took upwards of two hours), so I lounged in the sun, ate some tacos with pals, and got my hair blown out before the big night. Then it was time to head over to the Santa Barbara Courthouse, where the wedding was held on the steps. It was an absolutely gorgeous venue and the ceremony was even more beautiful, especially with their personal vows! I cried through the whole thing... AGAIN.

The beautiful beaming bride coming down the aisle!

After the ceremony ended with some of R’s best gal pals:

My cute groomsman – more framers! #greatweekendforcouplesphotos

Then it was time to head on down the street so the party could get started! The reception was held in a dance hall where the venue is FAMOUS for having the bounciest dance floor in the country. I am not exaggerating when I say when everyone was dancing, I was flying up two feet in the air. It was crazy and awesome!

Also crazy and awesome? The fact that Ram was the MC for the wedding and HE KILLED IT. Couldn’t have been prouder. Everyone loved his jokes and comments and introductions, but nothing beat his own toast… after he spoke, HE PERFORMED A SONG IN SPANISH. A LANGUAGE HE DOES NOT SPEAK. HE LEARNED A SONG IN SPANISH FOR HIS FRIENDS.

Is he cute or what?! I love that man.

The bride loves this picture – the new husband and wife DJ team during the party!

But the fun wasn’t over yet! Sunday morning we woke up and before we headed home, I convinced Ram to bribe the bike shop lady to let us go on a spin around the block on a good ol’ fashioned Santa Barbara SURREY!

It was so fun. I demanded a photoshoot before I would get off the bike. I used to ride these all the time when I was little with the whole fam packed onto one surrey. Memories!

It was a beautiful weekend that I’ll never forget…. I can honestly say that Frank and Rachel are soulmates. I don’t know many people who have that kind of connection with their partner… but they are absolutely amazing together and I have no doubt in my mind they will be together forever. It’s kind of amazing to see. Mazel Tov you guys! So glad we got to celebrate with you!