Over a month has passed since we returned from a week in NYC for my BIL’s wedding to his beautiful bride, Anuja. This post has been hanging over my head and I forced myself to hit “Publish” and not let the draft sit another day. I haven’t posted it sooner because I wanted to have the time to sit and reflect and cover all the amazing things we did during our travels. The trip was the perfect mix of sightseeing and helping with wedding prep. We wanted to build in a couple extra days for playing tourist, but at the same time wanted to help with all the minor details of coordinating not one, not two, but three special ceremonies ~ one on Friday & two on Sunday}

We flew Virgin America and were extremely pleased with this fairly new carrier. They call themselves “a breath of fresh airline” and I completely agree. Their safety video is THE best and I encourage you to check it out.

After taking a red eye and landing at Kennedy a little before 8am, we were a little tired, but relied on the energy of Manhattan to wake us up and carry us through the day.

{Waiting to check into The Conrad}

Elliott and I joined Anuja and one of her other bridesmaids, Jocelyn, to run errands around town and pick up her wedding dress. It was fun to get a sneak peek at the bride in her gown…

{Hailing a taxi to get the dress home!}

On Thursday morning we walked over to the 9/11 Memorial which was very close to our hotel. I hadn’t been to Ground Zero since July ’02.

{So many emotions, memories, prayers & tears spilling over.}

We then continued our walk to The Brooklyn Bridge and made our way across on foot. This was on our Summer ’14 Bucket List.

Later that evening we enjoyed Prosecco & Ice Pops at sunset…

{Blueberry & Peach w/ St. Germaine liqueur}

The popsicle slowly melts into the prosecco ~ heaven!

{With this as the backdrop!}

Friday morning Rodney and Anuja were married “in the church” by a Catholic priest at a sweet, old parish in Harlem. This was a quick ceremony with just immediate family.

After that, we immediately headed back down to head across the river to the venue for the rehearsal.

{Ferry to Jersey City}

{Limo ride to the rehearsal dinner}

On Saturday, we were up early, grabbed a little Dunkin’ Donuts coffee to wake us up and took the subway up to Central Park.

We strolled through the green, peacefulness of Central Park and then did a little shopping at FAO Schwartz before having lunch down in Rockefeller Center’s Summer Garden & Bar.

Later this evening we attended a dinner hosted by Anuja’s family and prepared for the big day to follow. There were dozens of kids there and Elliott & Holden immediately hit it off with all of them. They literally ditched us at all the events and hung out with their “new cousins”. It made this mama heart happy to see them all get along SO well and add to their group of “cousins-in-law”.

We made Saturday night an early one as we had to be up bright and early and dressed in our gorgeous Indian clothing for the Baraat and Hindu ceremony.

{Photo Credit: Razel Duque}

Later that afternoon was the traditional Catholic ceremony.

{Photo Credit: Greg Steele}

{Photo Credit: Wonder Tiff from Facebook}

The day after the wedding, we planned to relax a little, yet take in a few more sights before taking off the next day. We spent some time wandering around Soho and finished the day joining lots and lots of cousins for dinner, a stroll through Times Square and the M&M World and finally a swim in the hotel pool.

The next morning we were up bright and early to catch our ride back to Kennedy. It was a bittersweet departure from the city that never sleeps…

We had a fantastic time. It’s so hard to capture the magnificence of it all in a little blog post. There are so many more pictures, but I will stop here.

I’ve spent several weeks in NYC over the years and I have to say, it certainly holds a piece of my heart. There is just something about it that makes you appreciate where you come from, yet begs for you to return. The kids LOVED it and we can’t wait to go back and do the things we weren’t able to cross off the list.

But we were there for one reason and that was to celebrate Mr. & Mrs. Rodney Aspiras.

Welcome to the family, Anuja! We couldn’t be more thrilled to have you.

XOXO