So… we did it! Three months ago, on October 3rd, 2015, Matt and I tied the knot.
Mother Nature threw us a last-minute curve ball with an unexpected hurricane that flooded our ceremony site and brought unseasonably cold weather, but not even she could disrupt our incredible day.
The entire weekend was full of unforgettable memories and so so many emotions… and we’re so lucky to have been able to capture each and every one of them on film.
The night before Matt and I got engaged, he stayed out all night drinking with his friends at Bon Chon… a Korean fried chicken fast-food joint.
I knew something was up. Bon Chon is only for special occasions.
But my Bon Chon suspicions aside, I was very excited when I woke up that Saturday morning, October 19, 2013. Matt had just returned from a week-long work trip in Iceland, and to celebrate his return, we were going to go for a beautiful Autumn hike on Bear Mountain AND stay the night in a local B&B (suspicion #2).
During our drive Upstate, I noticed Matt was really on edge (suspicion #3). Perhaps it was just a hangover, but every time Jason Derulo’s “Marry Me” came on– which was about every 5 minutes– he would get particularly agitated and change the station (suspicion #4). And in changing the station about 40 times in that two hour drive, instead of “Marry Me” on repeat, we heard Avicii’s “Wake Me Up.” This will become a reoccurring theme of the weekend.
So we get to Bear Mountain, we hike it (as one does), and when we finally get to the top, I suggest to Matt that we eat the lunch that we packed.
“NO!,” he practically yelled, “Let’s just sit here. And, like, look out for a little bit.”
So we sat there, in silence, and looked out “for a bit.” We’d been doing this for a few minutes when I started to hear really deep breaths coming from Matt, who was siting slightly behind me. It was less of an “out of breath” sound and more like what I can only describe as Lamaze breathing technique.
(suspicion # 5)
Then Matt says, “Okay. Let’s take a picture. Stand up.”
At this point, I knew what was happening. But I obliged and stood up “for a picture” while Matt rummaged in his bag for “a camera.”
When Matt found what he was looking for, he turned to me, on one knee, and even though I was fully aware of the words he was about to say, I just lost it. Completely lost it. Because in that moment, I was struck by the intensity of the situation and the reality that the words that were about to be spoken would change things forever. I had wanted this, asked for it, and had even planned out my cinematic reaction, and now in the moment all I could do was cry and nod. And not sweet happy tears, but, like, ugly face-scrunching tears.
After I caught my breath, and stopped staring at the foreign piece of jewelry on my left hand, I looked up to notice that the top of the mountain was packed. It was swarming with tourists and cameras and…. not a single person batted an eye at the ridiculous scene Matt and I had just played out. NOT A SINGLE PERSON. Which, I mean, was cool that Matt and I were able to have that private moment in such a public space, but what if those weird sobs and yells of mine had been because I was being murdered?!
We then had a “what now” moment where we weren’t quite sure how to follow that emotional roller coaster we had just gone through, but made the logical decision to phone a few family members. Highlights below:
“Well oh my god.” – my mom, matter-of-factly (note: I first sent her a ring pic, thinking she’d call immediately, but after 5 minutes, I called her to discover she hadn’t yet called because she was “downloading the ring pic to make it bigger”)
“Oh! I can’t afford three weddings!!” – Matt’s gram
“Soooo… you’re engaged. Does that mean you’re… pregnant?” – my dad
On the way back down the mountain, Matt told me the story of my ring, which was custom-made by my best friend/MOH’s, uncle in Israel, then transported here on a chain around someone’s neck. I feel like I shouldn’t publish the full details of this transaction on the internet, but buy him a beer gluten-free cider sometime if you ever want to hear the tale.
My Instagram post from that perfect Fall day
When we finally reached the base of the mountain, we were pleasantly surprised by an Oktoberfest celebration, complete with steins the size of my torso, men in lederhosen, and of course, Avicii’s “Wake Me Up.”
A perfect day.
The B&B, Hudson River Crest, turned out to be equally as perfect. Highlights include: two talking parrots, a giant cat that thought it was a parrot, an unbelievable homemade breakfast, and an even better view.
We closed out the weekend by stopping by our friends Jeff & Mike’s Brooklyn rooftop where many of our friends had gathered to help celebrate the news. This soundtrack of this impromptu party was of course Avicii’s “Wake Me Up.”
Celebrating a perfect weekend against a perfect Brooklyn sunset
So that’s the story. That’s how it all went down. It’s our version of perfect.
While Matt was off celebrating his bachelor party in Nawlins this weekend, the cats and I got to work on the wedding invitations. Tiny helped by keeping all the hand-stamped envelopes flat (sorry to those who may receive smudges…) and Bear helped by weeding out the those with a less-than-navy-grade knot (sorry to those who may receive chew marks…). All in all, a true team effort.
But despite Matt not being here to stuff envelopes and run quality control with the cats, he did help. Quite a bit, actually. Matt has spent the past several weeks hand-drawing every last detail of our invitation suite. Ya know, the kind of thing that sounds like a great idea when you decide on a two-year engagement, but in actuality ends up draining the life out of you.
But in the end, it was all worth it, and we’re really proud of how this invitation suite turned out. Each little drawing is packed with so much meaning and love, right down to the custom Larry the Turtle stamp 🙂
This has been our (really long and painful) labor of love. So much love.
Jordan Getting Married 
