"This 4th of February will be the mightiest day in the history of our lives, the holiest; the most generous toward us both -- for it makes of two fractional lives a whole; it gives to two purposeless lives a work; doubles the strength of each whereby to perform it; it gives to two questioning natures a reason for living; something to live for; it will give a new gladness to the sunshine, a new fragrance to the flowers, a new beauty to the earth, a new mystery to life; Livy it will give a new revelation to love, a new depth to sorrow, a new impulse to worship. In that day the scales will fall from our eyes; we shall look upon a new world. Speed it!"
- An
excerpt of a letter from Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain) to
his wife Olivia Langdon five months before their wedding. Thanks to Mark and Ashley for introducing me to this passage at their wedding.
On April 13, 2012, my best friend Ricardo married a wonderful woman named Kate in Austin, Texas. It was one of the most beautiful weddings I had ever been to and was truly a testament to the hard work they put into it. It was a fitting celebration of their relationship, love and commitment.
I was honored to have been selected as Ricardo's best man. I had never been a best man before and I did not take the privilege lightly. The wedding was also a big moment for me because I was watching my best friend who I had known since we were little taking what I consider to be the most important step in his life. The feelings of joy, pride and admiration continue to fill me.
I was lucky enough to have been kept apprise of stories about the trials of some of the planning process, but it wasn't until the big day did I fully recognize the amazing feat that Ricardo and Kate pulled off. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, with the outdoor gardens as the backdrop and the perfectly set tables with carefully selected flower arrangements. It was the perfect tribute to their union. I was happy to play a small role in helping select the whiskey for the event, and that was an experience in itself that I'll never forgot.
The wedding was on a Friday in April here in Austin, TX at a very nice sculpture garden. Thursday evening was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, Friday the wedding, and Saturday, an assortment of enjoyable events the couple planned in Austin for their guests.
I was given the wedding rings during the rehearsal to hold on to. I felt very important to be able to hold for 24 hours to the symbols of their love that they will wear for the rest of their lives. Needless to say, I took special care of them. At the rehearsal dinner I was able to meet Kate's family, who were some of the nicest people I had ever met. I'm always impressed by very smart, thoughtful and caring people. I also got to meet Kate's little sister and Maid of Honor Emily. She was as sweet as described and had an air of gentle kindness about her. I also got to spend time with Ricardo's family who I hadn't seen in quite some time and who have always been so great to me over the years. I especially enjoyed seeing how happy they looked to be celebrating their son's marriage.
One of my favorite parts of the wedding was that so many friends I hadn't seen in so many years gathered together for this great occasion. It was a pleasure catching up on people's stories and great lives. Kids, careers and love. There was a lot of reminiscing about old times. I enjoyed my time with friends like Juan, his wife Vanessa, Jerry, his girlfriend Leonor, Carlos, his girlfriend Isis, Brad, his wife Rose, Itamar, his fiance Kelly, Ben, J.R., Sam and Rebecca. I even got to meet a lot of Ricardo and Kate's friends and co-workers.
My dear friend Christina accompanied me as my date and I was very lucky to have her there celebrating with me. Even though she had only met some of my friends briefly in the past, she got along so great with them. It is always advisable to have a person that can class you up.
My duties during the wedding were easy, I had to walk up to the alter, stand, smile and hand the rings to the officiant. I did my best to knock it out of the park knowing that I and the Maid of Honor were setting the background for the event unfolding before us. The string orchestra they had playing was superb and something I think every wedding should have. There was nothing like the moment of the bride coming out and watching the groom set his eyes on his wife to be in her beautiful white dress. Kate looked stunning and you could really see the joy in Ricardo's eyes and the awe in the audience. There were two readings which were both poetic and humorous. Kate's friend has the most enchanting British accent that made her words sound even more profound and Sandy's recital of Ricardo's selection really captured the humor.
The highlight, of course, was when the couple was pronounced man and wife and they shared their first kiss as a married couple before they walked down the aisle together. There was such a great feeling of happiness and joy in the air.
After the ceremony, there was a cocktail hour and reception. I was a bit nervous because I would be sharing my best man toast/speech, so I tried not to drink too much. In the end, it ended up going well, but there is always the feeling that you could do better or have said more. Since the speech captured a lot of my feelings about Ricardo and Kate, I decided I'd share an excerpt here which is a rough estimation of what I tried to say.
[Click’s champagne glass] I hope everyone is having a great evening tonight.
For those of you that I haven’t met, my name is Marty and I am the incredibly lucky person who is honored to be Ricardo’s best man. I first want to congratulate the parents of these two wonderful people for having raised such caring, thoughtful and accomplished individuals.
Kate you look absolutely amazing today. Ricardo you look sharp as ever my friend. You two look so great together and I hope you remember this moment always.
I also want to take a second to say thanks to all the friends of the bride and groom that made it out to celebrate. As the old saying goes, “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.” And judging by the many of you that I know, that statement couldn’t be more true.
Now my original plan was to just play it by year, but instead I decided to prepare a few quick words.
I have been friends with Ricardo since we were in the second grade which Ricardo likes to refer to as his “glory years.” Growing up, Ricardo and I did a lot of things together like defending our lunchtime pington champion status, an elementary game that is basically just badminton with small tennis rackets. It was the beginning of a great team. As we got older, we even once decided to do a magic show in the 6th grade with the tricks we learned from his father. Since Ricardo was the magician, in retrospect I guess my role was more of the lovely assistant who got to point to stuff. The show almost got canceled when we almost burned his house down when we plugged in the “magic radio” into a power outlet making it explode. We have come a long way since then.
I could talk to you all about memories at length, from various summer camps away from home, his love for 80s music, our trips to Valley Bowl, the hyadus club lunch meetings or even our one comical attempt at cruising on 10th street. But I would be remiss to not mention high school cross-examination debate. Ricardo was so talented that our senior year a school even violated its own rules to allow him to be a judge. There was no question Ricardo would become a great lawyer.
Ricardo, you have been a friend, competitor, mentor and role model my entire life. You taught me important lessons like how to play chess while talking smack, tell an interesting story, but most important about the value of loyalty and friendship.
Now being the best friend of the groom for so long, there may have been a time or two over the years that we talked about women and relationships while drinking.
There is one story I’d like to share. One time when we were younger, Ricardo shared with me what he thought was important in relationships. He said, “the ideal couple are NOT two people that need each other to be strong, but instead two independently strong people that are now stronger because they are together.” He was wise even then. But the thing that I really took to heart was when he summed it up what he was looking for by saying, “the most important thing for me is that I find a woman who is lovely.”
Kate, you are one of the loveliest people I have ever known.
From my experience, Kate really understands Ricardo for who he is and when you factor that in with her kindness, her warmth, and her patience, it brings me great joy to know that Ricardo has found the lovely woman he was always looking for.
Kate, You two really do make a great team. You have definitely found the smart, funny and charming guy. I’m proud of you Ricardo for finding and marrying someone as smart, thoughtful and beautiful as Kate.
May you never forget that you are each other's greatest gifts.
I would now like to propose a toast to Mr. and Mrs. Ricardo and Kate [last name]. [lifts glass] Here’s to their happiness and all of yours. Cheers!
Emily, the Maid of Honor, went up and did her speech after and it was great, heartfelt and funny. The memorable part for me was when I learned that Kate was a formerly a vegetarian before she met Ricardo. After the speeches, I felt a lot better, and the rest of the night we just danced the night away with Ricardo and Kate and had a great time.
As the night came to a close, everyone lined up and threw flower petals as the bride and groom entered their gateaway car. It was a fun send off.
Considering the night was still relatively young and we were all dressed up, a group of us headed to the W hotel bar downtown to have a few drinks. It was a fun night of hanging out, talking about the wedding, sharing old stories and creating new ones.
The next morning there was a brunch cruise on Town Lake/Lady Bird Lake. It was my first time on Town Lake and I enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere as the Beatles played in the background.
My friend Sam whose wedding I attended last summer in San Diego stayed with me for the weekend. It was great getting to spend time with him and catching up. That Saturday night there was a beer social event at the Gingerman downtown for all the wedding guests. The beer selection was great and I got to see even more friends that didn't make it to the wedding. It was a perfect way to end the weekend and a lot of fun.
I put a lot of my photos on Facebook, but here are more of my photos of the weekend on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyadus/sets/72157629463251444/
It was an amazing weekend I'll never forget. I am very happy for Ricardo and Kate. There is something about being able to look back on a person's life and see them in your mind's eye as a young kid and watching through the years what he has done, what he has accomplished and ultimately how he ended up finding the love of his life. I know this isn't the end of the story, much more like the middle, but it has a storybook feel to it.
absolutely honored