The Wedding

This weekend was my son's and new daughter-in-law's wedding, so no golf to report. I (and SO) was in charge of the rehearsal dinner on New Year's Eve at The Parlor, which is a cool retro-style pizza parlor at 19th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix. If you like California Pizza Kitchen or Sauce, this is a higher-end version with much more style. The restaurant used to be a beauty parlor and the owner kept some of the salon chairs as bar stools and has old pictures of the beauty parlor lining the walkway to the restroom. We had about 35 people in the enclosed patio. It was a great opportunity for the wedding attendees to meet one another before the wedding. There was a lot of pressure on us because Sydney, the bride, is a great cook and has the coolest cooking blog, crepesofwrath.net, and her mother is the consummate entertainer and I knew the wedding was going to be perfect!

The wedding ceremony may have been the shortest in recorded history. If you blinked you missed it (and some of the late arrivers did)! The wedding ceremony was outdoors in the late afternoon on Saturday, January 2, at the Wrigley Mansion, which overlooks the city. From our seats at the wedding ceremony you could see the praying monk on the side of Camelback Mountain, which is one of the most beautiful and unique sites in the Valley. Sydney had to walk down about 20 very steep stairs with her father and we all held our collective breath praying that she would not fall. She looked beautiful in a long white strapless wedding dress and train. She has jet black hair and beautiful porcelain skin. My son, "Kramer", and his bride, Sydney, prepared their own vows, which were beautiful and clearly heartfelt. The wedding party members were all dressed in black tuxedos with green vests and the groom had a black tuxedo with yellow vest. Sydney's two brothers were her "bridesmen".

The Wrigley Mansion was built by chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley, Jr., between 1929 and 1931. It overlooks the venerable Arizona Biltmore Hotel. The Mansion is 16,850 square feet, with 24 rooms and 17 bathrooms. It was ultimately purchased by Geordie Hormel, one of the heirs to the Hormel meats fortune, and is now a dining club and location for special events such as weddings. It was a great choice for the wedding!

The wedding reception was beautifully planned and orchestrated by Sydney's mother, who looked beautiful in her gown and was glowing all night. The hors d'oeuvres, table settings, centerpieces, napkins, match boxes, Wrigley's chewing gum, dinner, music, wedding cake, everything, was spot on! Everyone had a great time! Sydney and Kramer's friends and relatives came from as far away as New York, Florida, Georgia, Canada and the United Kingdom to attend the wedding. All of the toasts were well-done (if I have to say so myself!). The kids (saying that makes me feel old!) danced frenetically all night to DJ Epidemic (who grew up next door to us as an orthodox Jewish kid and is now spinning records like Dr. Dre!). After the wedding reception some of the kids went to an after-party but we were not invited!