Autumn Weddings!

How do I love fall in New England? Let me count the ways...This year we have been able to enjoy autumn in New England for the first time since we moved to Dubai thanks to a plethora of weddings (3!) from October 1st through November 5th. Luckily, two of the three were on back-to-back weekends, so we only needed to make the trip home twice within a month.... Some people thought we were crazy, but my response was always the same... We are very very good friends. I'm just hoping our friends are all equally good friends when we get married next summer (more on that later...).

Our first trip home of the fall was from September 29th to October 9th. On October 1st we attended our good friends Steve & Lyndsay's wedding and then the following weekend on October 8th, we attended my best friend Jess and her (now) husband Matt's wedding. We love weddings and all that goes along with them (dancing + free-flowing booze always makes for a good time), so it didn't feel like a hardship at all (once we got over the jet-lag)... The week in between we had a great time catching up with friends and family and even spent a day looking at wedding venues of our own.

Our second trip home was a bit briefer, from November 3rd through the 7th. Fortunately, Eid Al Adha fell during that time so we didn't have to take any time off of work and then I actually had the remainder of the week off once we returned to Dubai on the 8th. We attended our good friends Justin & Michele's wedding on November 5th. I felt a special affinity to attending their wedding because I actually set them up when they started dating in 2005. Apparently I am a phenomenal match-maker because the only couple I have ever introduced got married! I'm 1/1! I think I'll stop there since I'm batting 1.00. :)

Below is a visual representation of our autumn wedding bonanza...

I love love love wedding cake, so I just had to take photos of all three. Steve and Lyndsay's cake: simple yet beautiful and very autumn-y.

Sadly, I didn't end up getting a photo of the bride and groom at this one, but did get the lovely centerpieces. It was an orange and brown color scheme which worked really well for an October wedding.

Jared, Jenn, and Brad at the cocktail hour. Lyndsay and Steve's 'signature' drink was a Dark & Stormy (very Dux), although afterward Steve advised everyone to "Never have a signature drink at your wedding!"... Hmm. We enjoyed it at least.

Jared & Jenn G. again at the cocktail hour.

Justin & Michele (Nov. 5th bride & groom) with Emily & John (July '11 bride & groom from the wedding we attended over 4th of July weekend in Buffalo)

Charles & Brianne at the reception.

Bradford & Jenn G. again, at the reception.

Me & Jared at the reception (I need to have this dress tailored due to the excessive amount of cleavage... oops).

Jared & Jenn: drinking to each other??

Emily & John getting down on the dance floor. Jared hates wedding bands with a passion, but I think this one won him over when they started playing James "Laid." An essential song on the repertoire at every wedding (in our opinion)...

After the reception we headed to the Hong Kong in Harvard Square which was conveniently located right across the street (the wedding and reception were both held at the absolutely beautiful Harvard Faculty Club [the bride Lyndsay attended Harvard - a nice perk for alums]).

And you can't go to the Hong Kong without indulging in Scorpion Bowls...

Me & Bradford.

I think approximately 10-12 Scorpion Bowls were consumed following the wedding... Quite a classy way to end the night.

So with one wedding down we recovered from our inevitable hangovers and had a lovely week bopping around Boston Metro West and the South Shore (with stops to see my fam in Wellesley and a few days in Duxbury to see Jared's fam). On Thursday night, Oct. 6th, we headed up to New Hampshire for wedding #2, my best friend Jess's wedding, in which I was the Maid of Honor. I ran errands with Jess during the day on Friday and then we attended the Rehearsal Dinner on Friday night.

The Whole Wedding Party at the Rehearsal Dinner.

Me & Jess (the blushing bride).

The Lamb Sisters + Me (honorary Lamb sister).

Jess & Matty: the bride and groom.

Jess's sister Jen is a fantastic baker and made caramel apple cupcakes for the occasion (Jess's color was green and green apple was the theme).

Morning of 'before' picture... All wearing our matching sweatpants embroidered with our role in the wedding. Mine say "Maid of Honor."

Bouquet of ribbons from the shower (used to practice at the rehearsal the day before).

Just Married! The bride & groom in the limo after the ceremony.

Bridesmaids in the Limo: Jess's sisters Kristen and Shannon and Matt's sister Kate.

The Jen's in the limo.

Wedding Cake #2: Jess wanted to incorporate green apples into the presentation.

Me & Jared at the reception, which was held at The Derryfield Country Club in Manchester, NH. Notice the favors on the table: Lindt Golf Balls. A super cute touch since Matt is a golf pro.

Me & Jess. Cleavage seemed to be a major issue for me at these two weddings.

Showing off my hair updo.

Father-Daughter Dance: Jess danced with her Dad (fondly known as Tom, Esq. [although he's not actually a lawyer]) to Paul Simon's song "Father and Daughter," which I just love!

Me & Jared out on the deck. I appreciated Jared's willingness to wear his green tie to coordinate with my dress.

Another of us out on the deck, later in the night.

NESL (New England School of Law) Reunion! Jess, Adam, and I. We also got to meet Adam's awesome boyfriend Joe DiMaggio (his real name, he's a great grandson of Joltin' Joe) at the wedding.

Green Apple Centerpieces too! Jess was a big DIY bride and she was very creative in incorporating green apples into everything. I loved it!

Wedding #3 was Justin & Michele's on November 5th. Michele was the first friend I made in law school and Justin is one of Jared's Duxbury friends (and roommates for 3 years during law school). As I mentioned before, I introduced them in November 2005, and the rest is history... I did get a shout-out by the priest during his homily though at the ceremony, which totally made my day.

The beautiful bride and groom. I loved Michele's dress. Very original with the lace cap sleeves.

Their ceremony was held at a lovely Catholic Church in Cambridge and then the reception was held at the MIT Faculty Club. It's a fairly modern building on the MIT campus (Justin attended Sloan Business School) with beautiful views down over the Charles River.

Wedding Cake #3. Michele's colors were navy blue with orange accents. I never really thought I would want a fall wedding, but I love all the possibilities in terms of harvest-y colors and decorations.

John & Emily (aka Mr. & Mrs. Truelove).

Jared with John & Brad (two of his best friends who were also roommates during law school).

Me & Jared at the Cocktail Hour.

Jenn G. & Brad. They were our partners in crime at both the Duxbury weddings, and at some point in the course of our drunken wedding banter we convinced them that they should come and visit us in Dubai, so they've booked tickets to come see us in March!

JB, Jenn G, and Jared.

The Jen(n)'s.

Another NESL Reunion. Kim and Michele were the first two friends I made in law school (although Kim transferred after 1st year to American University in DC). We haven't all been together since the night our bar exam ended in July 2008.

So concludes our 2011 wedding schedule. It was probably our biggest wedding year yet, with 5 (of which we were able to attend 4). So far we only have one on the docket for 2012, other than our own of course... Until next year...