Maureen + Chandler = Love!!!

I could not be happier for my dear friend Maureen and her new HUSBAND Chandler Withington! What an incredible couple this pair makes! Benner and I had the pleasure to fly home a couple weeks ago to celebrate Maureen and Chandler and be a part of their wedding. It was an honor. A little crazy....pouring rain and a couple visits to the ER for the the bridesmaids....but it all worked out beautifully in the end!

The day before the wedding Rhi attended to Maureen's pre wedding needs by getting a pedicure and lunch! But then it was all business as they checked off the final items of the to do list and got ready for the rehearsal dinner. Maureen can drive her mini like its nascar if she's running late.

The rehearsal dinner was a sweet night. Chandler shared his love for Maureen in a very emotional and moving speech. My favorite thing about Mo and Chan (!) is how well they compliment each other's personalities. Chandler is a self proclaimed "sap" and toward the end of his discourse we all heard Maureen whisper "wrap it up:)" which was a highlight of the weekend. Chandler's dad who worked for with the Billy Graham ministry talked about what God did in their lives and it was such an awesome testimony to what God can do in the life of someone with an open heart. And Maggianos is delicious.

Despite the rain and a head injury resulting in an ER trip (no, not me this time! Maureen's sister Kristin!--- who by the way is just about the most awesome maid of honor EVER! I seriously think she should consider doing it freelance for cash. Any bride would be lucky to have her.) The wedding day was perfect. The wedding photos came out beautifully I think BECAUSE of the rain and overcast skies. Maureen has NEVER LOOKED SO GORGEOUS IN HER LIFE. I kept finding myself staring at her she looked so incredible! Chandler knows he good he's got it. You can just tell by the way he looks at her! The only real disappointment of the ceremony is that the music system failed and we had to scrap our intensely rehearsed Chris Brown choreography. Sigh.

We all got a chance to boogie at the reception of course. Kristin and her dad both delivered speeches. (I heart Maureen's dad.) From this we learned that Maureen always looks for ways to support and affirm the kids that struggle more in school, that on occasion she likes lollipops for dinner and if Chandler messes up he can win her over with chocolate:)

Let's see, this is getting long so I'll wrap up a few highlights from the night: the band was great, Greg almost ate Benner's face, we got to reconnect with old faces from the past, (Julie and Danielle are preggers!!!) the cake was amazing. (I still wished I had finished Maureen's since she didnt.) And Maureen's creative crafty touches all came together in a most beautiful way. Oh and the candy bar was awesome.

We got to drop the happy couple off at their hotel and had them all to ourselves on the ride there. I'm sure they were thrilled to hang with us:)

Maureen and Chandler, we love you to pieces and are such awesome friends to us. We loved sharing your special day with you. We can't wait to see what God has in store for your lives!!! Congratulations!

Two Years of Wonderfulness

Last week, on August 26, Rhianwen and I celebrated two wonderful years of marriage. It's really hard to believe that it's been that long. It alternatively feels longer or shorter, depending on the day really. But all in all, it's been amazing sharing a life with Rhianwen for the past nearly 800 days.

We've been through so many changes, and the fact that I have her as a constant keeps me sane. She knows how to love me, and take care of me, and I thank God everyday that he gave me a wife that knows how to manage a budget (just as I'm sure she's thankful God sent her a husband that can cook). I'm so thankful that Rhianwen knows how to make me laugh, and indulges me in all the nicknames I've given her (we're up to about 200 now). Even in our worst moments, when we argue about things that don't even matter, I can't help but love her with all my heart for her determination and intelligence.

We are perfectly suited for each other, and as we've grown together for the past two years, it has only made me look forward to the next 80.

So, anyways, back to the celebration. Rhi put on a cute little dress that I love and I wore a tuxedo shirt (to commemorate the wedding). I made a fancy pants meal of fillet Mignon with a delicious sauce (Rhianwen said she would put it on cereal, she loved it so much), mashed potatoes and asparagus. Rhianwen, bless her heart, took every single photo of us together in existence and made a collage out of them. I cried just a little. (Does that make me more or less of a man? Discuss.)

Then we drank champagne and slow danced to "As Time Goes By" for hours.


It was a perfect night to kick off the next 80 years.

Trip to Philly, Pt. 1: The Weddening

There are a lot of stories that Rhianwen tells me about her friend Christine. Most of them have to do with dancing in cars, wearing ski masks and making goat noises. I don't understand these stories, and I don't pretend to either. I just smile, nod, and wonder just a little who this person I married is.

Here's a fairly typical interaction, documented on our recent trip to Philly for Christine's wedding:


That was at the rehearsal dinner, and somehow felt appropriate.

Anyways, jetting home from LA to see Christine married off was of course the highest priority, what with Rhi being one of her best friends and all. Christine got her bachelor's and master's from Villanova. Her now-husband Geoff went to Nova for undergrad and is now working on a JD from the fine institution. Oh yeah, and their high school graduation was held there. So it only makes sense that they get married at Villanova, seeing as their entire life has happened there. But the chapel is so beautiful, it's kind of hard to blame 'em.




That's the happy couple practicing their happiness in front of the massive wedding party (there was, like, 43 people total). Afterward, we went to Georges for the rehearsal dinner. It was delicious, and I don't mind saying that people got a little too rowdy for the classy joint, and that's the way we like it.




Sorry for the fuzzy photos, by the way. I was using my great HD camcorder to snap photos, but I haven't exactly learned the best settings to take pictures yet. As a result, many shots came up looking fuzzy. But some came out cool, like that middle one of Rhi and Kendra where the exposure makes it look like a rap video or something.

Anyways, so a day or so later, the bride and groom were feeling all rehearsed up and decided to go through with it. Brad (Kendra from above's husband) and I were glad to see each other pull into the lot at the same time, but mostly because we were happy to see another person wearing a tux. (As it turned out, a lot of people saw "Black Tie optional" on the invitation and went with "optional.") It was a beautiful wedding scheduled for 1:30, though we all worried when the bridal party still hadn't showed up by 1:50. But the bride finally arrived, looking gorgeous and classy with her massive entourage of navy-clad bridesmaids, and they got married. Here's the couple sealing the deal with a kiss.


Afterward, we went to the Overbrook Country Club. I am not a golfer, but looking at the course made me want to mug a few rich people of their clubs and play the back nine in my penguin suit. It was that nice.

What followed was a ridiculously fun night of dinner, cocktails and dancing. Here's a smattering of photos for the morbidly curious.






And finally, because I'm biased, here's video of Rhianwen walking down the aisle as a bridesmaid.


Notice how fast she was walking? It's because of the aforementioned 43 people in the wedding party. If everyone had taken their time, we would still be there. Very beautiful though, huh?

Congratulations Christine and Geoff!

Rhianwen wanted to add a few thoughts to this particularly special blog post as well:
1) Christine was an unterrly stunning bride. Her dress was gorgeous. I especially loved the bottom part which was 8 whopping layers of delicate material with french names that I couldn't convey accurately. She blew us all away.
2) Seeing Christine walk down the aisle was of course a cinematic moment. To my surprise, I totally lost it! Geoff himself had to work hard to hold it together as they approached the altar in good stride.
3) At the reception, Mr. B performed a tear jerking rendition of a song he wrote for his baby "Blue." There wasn't a dry eye in the house of course and he was backed up with an 8 person band so it was even more moving. Seeing the love the Buglione family shares was overwhelming that day and we were honored to celebrate alongside them!
4) In true Buglione fashion we partied like it was 1999! The band was freaking awesome and we rocked out! It was also great to see old high school faces like Robin Mescher and Evan Brownand it had me craving for a real high school reunion....4 more years people.
So she is officially Christine Hill and living it up in Hawaii as we speak! Mazel Tov!