Italian Weddings (Part 2 of 2)

Like I said, Bananas and I attended our friend's wedding recently. I knew it would be a great wedding for a few reasons: 1. Bananas and I decided not to bring dates in order to maximize the fun. 2. Angela (pronounced On-gela by her mother) is about as Italian as they get, this guaranteed everything from the previous post on weddings and more. 3. This was Bananas first Italian wedding.


When we arrived to Glen Island Harbor Club, the car was valeted and we were ready for some action. At first we were greeted by Angela's mother who only made small talk and demanded that we eat. Bananas took my advice and starved herself all day, so she was ready for cocktail hour. Before getting our food and drinks, we got our table cards. Believe it or not Bananas had the only last name that didn't end in a vowel. We signed the guest book right below "Rocco." We found the only other people we would know at this wedding, Angela's brother and fiance, and got something to eat. As any novice attendee during cocktail hour, Bananas went bananas during cocktail hour. I can't say I didn't warn her.

We were very curious as to who would be at Table #14 with us. It was looking like it would be a crap shoot and when we finally arrived at our table in the main dining room we were greeted by Angela's college friends. For those that do not know about NYU, it has a high Asian population. So here I am sitting at my table thinking the following: I just signed my name in the guest book below "Rocco", ate some prosciutto and a rice ball at cocktail hour, and now I am sitting at the Asian table. Please be advised that I have nothing against Asians, but how did I end up at a table that was 50% Asian, 20% Canadian, 20% confused (Bananas falls under this), and 10% Italian (me only) at an Italian wedding?? Maybe Angela felt I could take all these people under my wing for their first Italian wedding experience...it was evident the entire table was losing their wedding virginity together.

white chocolate fondue

Bananas and I had no other choice but to dance the night away. We danced with Ang's brothers, one of which I taught in Somers for a brief period. We decided that we had one mission at this wedding (no, not to score with THE GUYS taking shots of SoCo), but to be all over the professional wedding video. We were fools on that dance floor, doing the lawnmower, the shopping cart, the fishing pole, and even the one where you put your hands on your knees and move your knees back and forth. All this dancing allowed us to stuff our faces a little more.

One rather nice part of the wedding was the centerpiece that Bananas had her heart set on. There were perhaps 60 red roses sitting high up on each table. It was at the point where she probably would have fought for it, but I insisted that the florists would take the centerpieces back. At the point where we were saying good-bye, Bananas notices an older couple take their centerpiece. She ran to take ours at table #14 (since all the Asians were gone) and realized the entire arrangement was about 30lbs. After giving me a look that signaled we can take this entire thing out together, I convinced her to take individual roses and make her own bouquet.

Ribods, Angela and Bananas

So after Venetian hour, we said our good-byes and worked our way to the door (a little slow in walking because of all the food we had). It was at the door where a man offered us some lemon ices to cleanse our palate. Bananas was a little repulsed by any more food, but she truly enjoyed herself at such an event. Not only did we walk out stuffed holding a bouquet of flowers, but we left with the feeling that there are still great guys to meet... at even the crappiest of bars in NYC.