a la kimi: Words & Photos_A Porkchop Wedding

It was an amazingly fun wedding weekend celebrating Marc & Dani who tied the Prokopchak knot on Saturday night. There was old friends, new friends, accordion playing, wedding farts, nonstop dancing, Arcade Fire, the Star Spangled Banner, 4 a.m. bedtimes, and a surprise cameo of Luke Foley's bare chest during the last dance song (probably not a surprise at all).

The Wedding Deets
The couple married at the Cork Factory Ballroom in Lancaster, PA, a perfect locale blending rustic and industrial modern with romantic a la Dani touches (case and point: candlelit and rose-petaled lined walkways). The ceremony and reception spread into three intimate open rooms free for mingling, eating, and drinking (emphasis on the drinking for many).

Finally!
I finally finally finally met the band members (minus David) of The Young International (formerly Lorien) and their former leading lady Cara (who, according to reputable sources, makes the most delicious curry chicken salad and other to-die-for menu items). It was sort of like reuniting with old friends but you're meeting them for the first time (except you usually don't meet two of the guys while standing on a balcony concerned they can see up your dress while waving and suctioned to the furthest wall side-stepping it to the nearest escape trying to be totally normal).

The Ceremony
Teeny tiny beautiful Dani walked down the aisle to DeVotchKa's "How It Ends" and she and Marc, as an official betrothed couple, walked out to Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" (quite the crowd pleaser). Someone sitting on the bride's side definitely let a fart escape during the exchange of rings which was hilarious to witness her parents trying to keep it together during such an intimate moment.
I must say I got choked up a handful of times:
1. watching Dani come down aisle
2. her Dad giving her away
3. the handwritten vows
4. watching Dani smile numerous times at Marc's parents
5. watching Marc's parents smile at each other when Dani smiled at them.
To be honest, I was pulling for Marc to shed a tear or two during his vows as I've never seen him worked up on the romantic level before but alas, no tears from his end. I suppose I did enough tearing up for the both of us.

Favorite Parts

Post-ceremony, the cocktail and hors d'ouevres hour was musically accompanied by someone they hired to play Latin American background music which was a-w-e-s-o-m-e.
Even more awesome was Marc's grandfather who had a solo performance on the accordion! Adorable doesn't even begin to describe it.
Reuniting and hanging with NYC friends and videographers Mark & Marisa and discussing the intricacies of Hypothetically Speaking
Pretending I was in a music video when a song I knew came on (I honestly can't even remember what song it was) and determinedly sought out videographer Mark to make sure my lip syncing was filmed... sometimes I make bad decisions
A glass broke on the floor and one of the caterer workers came out to clean it up. As he approached the dance floor, I got everyone (6 people) to start chanting "Go! Go! Go! Go!" (to the beat of the song of course) hoping that he would maybe moonwalk his way to sweeping up the glass. He started laughing realizing what we were doing and then quickly backed away. Later when I asked him why he didn't take advantage of such a crucial moment, he used the excuse: "I don't think my boss would have liked that." Psh. Workers these days. So concerned about being professional. Lame.
During the dollar dance, Luke and Rabbit played "Just to be the next to be with you" by Mr. Big. All of us are of course singing along (those key changes are rough, son!) and I hear Robbe say to me: "Look at Mike." I follow Robbe's nod to his college friend Mike whose eyes are closed, his knees bent, and his face red while belting out a passionate string of lyrics. Were they the right lyrics? Definitely not. Were they in the right timing? Not even close. I'm pretty sure I saw him say the word "ghost."
Marc dancing with his grandmother
Heart to hearts with Cara & David
The boys singing The Star Spangled Banner at midnight in the parking lot
Everything G-nice (Mike)

Weird Parts

Seeing bridesmaid Ashley flash her underwear while doing a solo dance in the middle of the floor. The girl's got moves and sass in the form of pink polkadots.
Allowing Ali to almost drop me three times while dancing and bend my back in ways I still didn't know were possible. My back still hurts. Yes, I know, that's what...
Witnessing a member of the groom's family encroach upon not one, or two, but three much younger wedding guests
Eating Burger King before the wedding and greeting Marc's dad with a breath of onions, burger, and fries
Thinking I looked really good when people snapped pictures of me or me with Robbey on the dance floor and then seeing proof that I was completely misinformed.
In the last minute of the last song, Luke ended up removing his tuxedo shirt and waving it around like a terrible towel. For some reason I didn't think this was weird at all until today when Robbe asked about it and couldn't stop laughing. I suppose I'm immune now to Luke's antics which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing...