Into the Woods

This past weekend I officiated at a wedding for a family member.  This professional couple in their thirties had each taken their time in choosing a mate.  The bride, a cousin of mine, had dated several men, a few of whom we all liked, but the one she married last week was definitely "a keeper".  And as many professional folks do when they finally decide to tie the knot, theirs was a "destination wedding".


"Destination weddings" have come into vogue in the past ten years. As is my wont, I have again consulted Wikipedia for a simple, and easy to understand definition of "destination wedding"; it points out; " Not to be confused with an elopement, a destination wedding is one in which a wedding is hosted, often in a vacation-like setting, at a location to which most of the invited guests must travel and often stay for several days. This could be a beach ceremony in the tropics, a lavish event in a metropolitan resort, or a simple ceremony at the home of a geographically distant friend or relative. During the recession of 2009, destination weddings continued to see growth compared to traditional weddings, as the typically smaller size results in lower costs."

The Clooney-Alamuddin wedding also happened this last weekend, and it was also a "destination wedding"...but one on steroids: three days of festivities in Venice of several parties, receptions and ceremonies.  Somehow, I don't thing this Clooney family feast was a low-cost affair; I suspect that once one tots up the amount of money spent by guests at the event on lodging, meals and transport, the cost of the wedding is quite high.       

We, on the other hand, did two days of cocktail parties and wedding ceremony and reception in lovely Roxbury, NY located in the middle of the Catskills and near by  ski country. The leaves were just at their first color turn, and the glowing reds and yellows mingled with the remaining green and the early morning mists gaving the place a surreal feel.

I stayed with three other family members in a rented weekend home tucked away, in the words of my cousin, "In the middle of frigging nowhere" over fifty miles from the New York Thruway which would bring us back to civilization once the festivities were over. The décor was...well, to put it nicely "rustic chic" with an homage to local fauna: bear skin rug, mounted antliers and deer skin stapled to a wall. 

A pre- wedding cocktail hour was in "downtown" Roxbury...an area about the size of two city blocks, at  local art gallery. 

The wedding was the next day at "Roxbury Barn" the reception in the bi-level barn, the cocktail hour in a pergola on the edge of a wood, and the ceremony within the woods itself. The majestic stand of trees surrounding the ceremony was kind of like a metaphor for marriage itself. Those of us who have ever entered into the state of matrimony can attest to the fact that it is like navigating through a dappled forest in which we discover and learn about oneself, one's partner and the fellow travelers along the way.
                                       

Oh, I also have a bit of advice for those attending an event that involves forest floors, gravel trails and old wooden barn planks: Do not wear four inch stiletto "do-me" shoes.  They impale leaves, get stuck in old barn floors and can cause an ankle to twist on a gravelly filled hillside path.  Just sayin'.
And oh, by the way: good luck to all the newlyweds: George Clooney included.