Randolph, New Jersey
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I've never been to New Jersey before. And I don't
know when I'll be back. But there's no better reason to drive cross-country than to see two close friends
become one. And with my usual driving speeds, I managed to make the trip from Raleigh in under 8 hours.
I'm now up to 30,000 miles on my car for the first year of having it. Lots of travelling! I arrived in Parsippany, NJ, on Thursday night. Nothing to do but catch up on some homework and sleep. On Friday, I met up with David & Jonathan to go try on tuxedos. Everything fit, so Jonathan & company (Roy, Ann, Melissa, Jonathan & myself) made plans to go into New York for the afternoon. David had to go sign the marriage license with Kathy, so he couldn't join us. (Similar to a hunting license, but the limit for a marriage license is one catch. No weight limit!) New York, the Bad Apple, or Big Apple... It's just inconceivable that there are that many people crammed into something the size of a shoebox. And the funny thing is just watching everyone go from one end of the box to the other as fast as possible. If you're not in a hurry, you're either a tourist or about to rob a tourist. Fortunately we didn't have any problems along those lines. We didn't get to travel to the top of the Empire State building, but we did get to see several other buildings and relax a little. Next time, I'll take a trip through the financial district and Central Park. | 
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So back to the whole wedding thing. Friday night we arrived back from New York
in time to practice the ritual and go to dinnner. My camera batteries were dead, so I don't have any pictures
of the rehearsal. I stopped to pick some up from the store on the way to dinner, which gave me a chance to talk
to Kathy and see how well she was doing. Everything seemed to be in order and everyone seemed to be in
really good spirits. The rehearsal was light-hearted, we still did not know exactly everything, which just
made it easier on Saturday. Just make it up as we go! And those who weren't in good spirits fixed it through the use of good spirits. I must say that I completely enjoyed this trip and ate more than my share of everything! These photos are from the rehearsal dinner:
1. David & Kathleen |
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Saturday was the big
day. I was responsible for getting the groom to the wedding on time. We
had breakfast in the morning with Ben & Ashley. For those that don't
know Ben, he was roommate to David and I for about three years. I
met Ben through David. During Ben's senior year, he met Ashley and
they got married after they graduated. Ben & Ash are living in
Apex, which averages about 20 minutes from my house in Raleigh. Anyway, on the way back to the hotel we stopped
and picked up Jonathan. We got back to my room, relaxed with some good Kung Fu and then made our way to the wedding. The wedding went extremely smooth. Everyone made it and nothing caught on fire that wasn't supposed to. (Some ceremonies can get a little wierd.) Just sitting there looking at David and Kathy across the altar about made me cry. I could tell that David was a little overwhelmed by having all of his close friends & family there to witness, but he made it through without cracking under the pressure. Kathy's vows were heard by almost everyone and even the Unity candle stayed lit at the end. The ring bearer got a little carried away, but pulled it through (and off of the pillow!) in the end. I don't have any pictures from during the wedding. I was busy with escorting and making sure everyone was in their proper places. I hope Grandma MacArthur can forgive me for almost seating her on the wrong side of the congregation. Whoops!
The Boaz family. (Warren - Ringbearer, Tamsen - Flower Girl) | 
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After the wedding, we received all the family in friends and enjoyed
some time outside. Bubbles abound and lots of friends showed up that I haven't seen in years. All
of the roommates from 862 Rutherford were back in one location. This hasn't happened for 4 years and
possibly won't happen again. Well, at least until Andy or Brian get married. The five of us, Ben,
Brian, Andy, David, and myself shared a house for a little over 2 years. It worked out really well.
We didn't get on each others nerves that much... Kathy and David had some pictures made inside the chapel and then took a stroll towards the limo. There were still two hours until the reception, so everyone was just taking it easy and talking about the good ol' days. I took the opportunity to meet some new people and catch up with friends. After an hour of socializing, we headed out. Eveyone went separate ways until the reception. Those of us in the bridal party rode in the limo to go have some more pictures taken. Picture Lineup:
1. Ben, Brian & Andy |
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Not much to say here. The Embassy Suites had a great indoor area
for these pictures. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Oh! For all the family & friends... If you haven't noticed, the pictures are just smaller versions of what I actually took. If you want to see the full size picture for yourself (or to save it to disk) you can just click on the picture to view it. To save the picture, right click on it and hit "Save Link As..." Then provide a filename for your local computer. Hope that helps! Picture Lineup:
1 - 5. David & Kathleen
8. David with the Bridesmaids again
10. Bigger picture of the atrium 11. The Groomsmen 12. Kathy waiting for the next pose. 13. Kathy in motion. | 
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After all the pictures were taken, we went for another limo ride. This
time our destination was to the Madison Hotel in Morristown. As you can see from this first picture,
this place is nothing but the highest quality. We sat around and took more pictures while waiting for
the families to arrive. Jonathan entertained us with some good piano music and we all took a tour of
the honeymoon suite. I'll cover the reception in a minute. Here are the pictures from beforehand. Picture Lineup:
1. The Conservatory being prepared
6. David in the Honeymoon Suite 7. Ladies-in-Waiting in the Honeymoon Suite
9. Kathy & Heather
11. Kathy paying attention 12. Kathy 13. Kathy (with poor lighting)
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After all of the family pictures were taken, we celebrated with a happy hour
and some quality appetizers. I pretty much stuffed myself at this point. Being a full day of standing and
being nervous myself, I wasn't ready to handle the amount of food we were exposed to. I must hand it to the
MacArthur's... this was the most extravagant reception I have ever been to and I really appreciate all that they
did (and paid for!) for David and Kathy's big day. Here are some shots from the happy hour. Picture Lineup:
1. The ice sculpture without a flash.
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Once everyone had enough to eat and dinner was ready, we all moved to our
places & tables in the Conservatory. The bridal party entered as announced and we took our seats. The
D.J. did a great job with the announcements, music, and presentation. It all went really well. I was
just anxious I guess. So many friends in one room. I couldn't sit still... I walked around the whole time
and socialized with everyone. I even did some dancing. (I think the alcohol helped quite a bit there.) But I wasn't alone. Everyone seemed to get up and dance at some point or another. The music selection was good and somehow I ended up leading a conga line around the room. (Everyone was stuffed, so I got some complaints about the speed we did around the room....) Even in a conga line, you can't please everyone! But I had my fun and I was tired! I did meet some new people and hopefully made some new friends. I guess time will tell. Picture Lineup:
1. The entrance |
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The food was eaten, the dances were danced. Time for the cake! And after the
cake came the boquet and garter toss. Once the lucky catchers were picked out, the real fun began. Denise Hart
became the lucky recipient of the boquet, and Andy Platt the garter. You'd think that Denise would end up with both,
but Andy ended up wearing the garter after some fun. Picture Lineup:
1 - 3. The cutting of the cake
5. Catching the garter 6. Andy with the garter on Denise
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I want to take this time to honor all of David & Kathy's friends that came up
for the wedding. Since David, Kathy & I are so close, we've shared a lot of friends over the past years. I've
gotten to know many of them really well, and I want to just tell you how happy it made both of them (and myself!) that
all of you showed up to share this occasion. If you could have seen David near the altar, you would not forget the
look of happiness he had. (I couldn't see Kathy due to the big floral arrangements.) From David and Kathy, I thank you!
Picture Lineup:
1. Karen, Jonathan, Melissa
4. Ceci & Alex 5. Brandon, Ceci & Alex 6. My table companions 7. The toast to all
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Update to the page! I stole these pictures from my friend Brian who now lives in
California. Brian was one of mine and David's old roommates back at Virginia Tech. He flew up for the
wedding and took some tours around the local scenes. He also got the chance to capture some good photos
of our friends while he was here. With his permission, I've posted them here:
1. David and Kathy | 
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Another update! These are from Kathy's sister Heather. Some are from her camera, some are
from the table disposable cameras. First, we'll show the serious ones.
1. The Wedding Cake |
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And now some not-so-serious ones...
1. Autumn hitting on the bartenders | 
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