This weekend was Jorge and Michelle's wedding in California. I was honored to be one of the Groomsmen. I purchased my suit, booked my hotel and took my flight to LA on Thursday night. I left town during ACL here in Austin, which I heard was fun. It was a memorable time.
Jorge is my good friend from college, the same place he met Michelle his Junior year. It has been a pleasure to watch them grow from just meeting to getting married.

Thursday night, Efrain picked me up from the airport. He was a great host while I was visiting. We headed back to his place to watch the Dodgers celebrate winning the pennant on TV. We picked up some late night food and I crashed out on the living room floor. I was still wearing my work clothes and everything, but I was so very tired. Ef is currently working for Apple which is really impressive. He likes it a lot. He is Jorge's best friend growing up and was very much ready for his best man duties.
Friday morning, I woke up really early and tried to adapt to the time difference of being on the West coast. Efrain drove us up to Los Olivos where the wedding was going to be. I met his friend Stephanie who was his plus one for the trip. We stopped off in Santa Barbara for lunch. The route was very scenic and the ocean view was beautiful. We arrived at the rehearsal at Crossroads just as it was finishing up. It had been a while since I had seen Jorge and Michelle. Michelle looked great, it must be all the crazy running her and Jorge do. Herbert was there with his fiance Carolina. It was the first time I got to meet her. She was very nice and we would come to hang out a lot more as the trip progressed. We got to scope out where the wedding would be. It was at this place called Crossroads, I think a winery, under this beautiful oak tree. It was actually two oak trees that twisted together to make one. It made for quite a sight.
From the rehearsal we took off to the wine tasting at Firestone. This winery was very nice and the tour was interesting. This is where we met up with everyone. I got to meet the bridesmaids and old friends I hadn't seen in years. There were Jorge's med school friends and some of his LA friends like Fernando and Claire. They both graduated from American Law and live in DC. We hung out one time before I moved to Miami and it had been like 4 years since I had seen them. I also got to meet Tex and her boyfriend, Michelle's high school friend. She was a really cool down to earth girl who was one of the bridesmaids. I guess I met lots of new cool friends, like Katie who is Jorge's med school friend. She is getting married in 6 months. The one thing I will tell you about everyone I met was how accomplished they all were. So many doctors (med school friends) and Phds and all kinds of impressive professions or tracks. We ended up staying for the two scheduled wine tastings. It was at this point I found out that my digital camera was broken. I think it had some water damage. I wasn't able to take pictures of the trip, but I'm sure there will be so many.
From there we went to the Hotel to check in. We stayed at the Marriott, which was a bit pricey I have to say. I watched the beginning of the presidential debate before we headed out for the dinner. Here we met up with more friends and I got to see Maria and Clay. They live in LA. I hadn't seen them since they visited DC. There was an open bar which is always good. As the night closed down, it was time for an afterparty. Since I was still on Central time, I decided to pass and instead hitched a ride to the hotel and crashed out. I missed out on what I hear to be an interesting situation which ended with everyone in the hotel bar. Everyone had a great time I hear.Saturday morning, the big day! We had our continental breakfast (what does that even mean?). Now there was a huge concern that our grey suits would not match. I felt that we were told to get "grey" whereas everyone else said it was "charcoal grey," which in my opinion is actually black. I actually found a charcoal grey suit I really liked, but thought that there was no way I could get away with wearing it since it was so dark. In the end we all ended up matching well with our cornflower blue ties. (a shade of light blue with relatively little green compared to blue I read.) That was a much discussed topic. Ravi had a pretty cool cornflower blue turban too. So we started the day by taking Jorge to a wine testing at Ef's favorite place to get some drinking in before the wedding. It was a very nice winery even though I'll admit I don't know much about wine nor do I yet have much interest in it. I was educated while on the trip though. The plan was to go and get dressed after, but we found out we forgot something very important...the rings. They headed back to pick them up while we all finished a bottle we had purchased. Oh, quick note, on the way over, we passed the Hitching Post from the movie Sideways. That was pretty cool.
After, we all went to the house that Jorge's family rented and got dressed and took pictures. We all got in the limo once we were done and headed to the wedding at Crossroads. It was this moment that Juan Carlos' presence was truly missed. I wish he could of made it, but he had two exams that weekend. We arrived at the wedding site. Jorge wasn't as nervous as I thought he would be. After more pictures, we got ready for the big moment. I was second in line and my bridesmaid was Michelle's friend Bender. Noe was first in line with the two flower girls, a punishment for making Jorge walk alone at his wedding. The ceremony was held under this large oak tree and there was a cool breeze. As I walked in, I was to hug Jorge or do something creative, I went with the hug. I thought everyone would be creative so my embrace would look more heartfelt. Well it didn't work out that way, everyone else gave hugs too, well except Ravi who did an awesome shoulder bump with Jorge. Norm was going to do one too, but that didn't happen. Then came in the best man Efrian (with the rings safely in his pocket). Michelle was escorted by her parents and looked truly lovely...and more than that, just genuinely happy and excited. The ceremony wasn't too long and Jorge never laughed which I had a feeling he might do cause it doesn't that when he gets nervous. They make a very good couple.
After exchanging vows and rings they were now married. So grown up they seemed. It was such a nice ceremony. We then headed out and to the open bar before the reception. Here I ran into Adri who I had not seen since college. Her husband Gil wasn't able to make it. They currently live in Dallas. She had exciting news, she is going to have a baby. I'm so very happy for them.
The reception started and my groomsman duties were now over. I went to my table to sit with Herbert and Carolina. Michelle's dad made a toast and speech, followed by Michelle's sister and then Efrian's best man speech. Ef did a great job and the speech was pretty funny. After was a photo slide show to Beatles music which was very nice.
The rest was your run of the mill wedding reception. The DJ wasn't too great, but considering the crowd, I guess playing Celebration and Grease type songs was ok. We lifted Jorge up in a chair and then after just lifted him up and threw him into the air, pretty high I might add. It was fun. Michelle was lifted up in a chair as well. Everyone had a good time. I drank Pacifico since it was Jorge's favorite beer and one of the few things he actually requested be at his wedding. I think it was Herbert who was drinking wine and said I was an idiot for drinking something I could drink anytime. I don't know, I mean I was introduced to that beer because of Jorge so it felt right drinking it at his wedding.
After the reception, we all headed to the hotel bar which was closed. We had them open it up and had our small after party there. A lot of people were done and just called it a night before even getting there. A few of us went to hang out in Norm's room where Ef was talking to one very, shall I say determined, woman. This made for a funny story when another friend went on and on about his love for puppies and his instantaneous conversion to any interests she seemed to mention. I was tired and called it a night from there.
Sunday morning I wasn't hungover which is a good feeling. We all met up at the brunch and goodbyes were shared. We then headed on a long road trip back to LA where we stopped in Hollywood for a bit at Stephs place to eat and watch the Cowboys play. After, Ef drove me to LAX and I arrived home at almost midnight. I always find it interesting when I wake up in one state and go to bed in another. It was nice to be back home, but I'm going to miss everyone. The trip went by so very fast. I'm glad I went.
And that is the end of my subjective summary of the weekend.
I'm going to miss Jasper