Posts before this one: A Running Engagement / Engagement Pictures / I get married today!!!

In case you missed it, because this is going really fast, I got engaged two weeks ago.  You don’t want to miss those pictures if you are a runner, and also, in there there is a link to how Juan and I met. Through Running. Of course.

On August 21st, we got engaged, Monday September 2nd we did our engagement pictures, which I don’t have yet (will share, but we have this one!) and by Tuesday September 3rd, we were married! Not world record fast, but I’d say an age group win for sure!!! That’s just how we roll (sometimes!).

We spent the weekend excited about it, and also looking for shoes. I know I have said this before, but I wanted hot pink shoes. Oh well. No such luck. Poor Juan walked with me and carried my purse and graham crackers and gave me his opinion on approximately 200 shoes I tried on. So not worth our time. Live and learn.

Monday we did our thing. We wanted to make sure we had our time with this. These ceremonies go so fast, they are gone in a second and we did a Life Objectives list, like an adventure plan, and our secret vows no one will ever hear. We had a great time with it. For us, that was the point of committing to each other. The rest was the fun and the cute rituals.

Tuesday came around, the morning flew by. We were going to meet some friends at City Hall at 2:30, so at 1:20 we got in a cab, at 12 we started getting ready, had lunch at 11! Didn’t want to run out of energy on a day like this, for sure! Juan and I kept looking at each other like we didn’t believe we were really doing this… It was so fun and surreal and exciting!

Weather turned sunny as soon as we stepped outside, for some weird coincidence; it had been muggy and cloudy for DAYS. My friend Maricela was coming from Philly to be our witness at City Hall, and she offered to get me the bouquet; I said thanks, but I thought a bouquet? I need a bouquet???  I hadn’t even thought about it!! When we got to City Hall, she had just gotten there too..

All photos in this post by our amazing friend and megawatt photographer Ben Ko. If you need pics, he’s your guy, tell him you know me 😉 Also many thanks to Tessa Benau for looking for spots and angles, and to Bryan Dulog and Kenneth Tom for helping with the flashes and all Ben needed. Such an amazing team of friends I have..

Maricela and I have been really close friends since 2001, even when I moved to NYC. I was just so happy that she took a day off work to come be with us. It’s funny how as soon as she met Juan in July she and her hubby thought we had to get married because we were perfect for each other. I called her a lunatic.

We got in line. And then we did another magic shot with no people 😉

So, once we got our number, we thought we’d have like a half hour for pictures, or to have fun. No such thing!!! They called us to get our license and pay and then in to the chapel. All in a matter of 10 minutes. We barely got a few shots (well, we are FAST!)

Then, two minutes later, we were in the chapel. The officer asked if we’d do rings, OF COURSE, and told my friends to all get behind him so they could get better pictures… We were READY and giddy!!!

This is my “I am too excited to look normal” face

Luckily, Tessa had gotten lost on her way to City Hall so she had seen a lot of spots to take pictures… This spot was amazing. Not only because the stairs looked amazing, but also because our view from up there was UNBELIEVABLE…

We then walked over to the park that is in Park Row… I had no idea it was called City Hall Park, and I always loved the fountain there. I think it is gorgeous, mostly because of the architecture surrounding it. If you’re in NYC, it’s a tiny little park to see, and it’s close to so many spots you’d visit (Ground Zero, Century 21). So cute.

After those shots, came time to have some more relaxing fun. It was around 3:30 or 4 so we headed to a restaurant, and had food, which was great. It was just a small group so it was nice to take a little nice relaxing break. After some laughs and food, we headed over to the Terrace at Yotel, the biggest rooftop in the city, and a gorgeous view without the place being crowded or pretentious. Perfect. My friend Kettia found it, booked it and got it all set up. I really do have the best friends! REALLY.

After a few hours of chatting with everyone as much as we could, and me begging for water (without even lemon, stupid ulcer!) and stealing every french fry I saw, we headed home. It was way past my 10:30 pm bedtime and I was sleepy. We stayed up for a bit because we were so so so excited. It felt a little unreal, and it still does. Our whole story and every day is still unreal. We just get along so well, when people would ask Juan about the honeymoon, he’d say we’ve been on a honeymoon since we met. Even if we live in a tiny studio apartment.

It was a really great day and I am very happy about where we are. We cared a lot more about the marriage than the wedding, and we want to make sure we’re doing all we can to be fair, honest, respectful and loving to each other. This decision just made it much more of a commitment, but I am very excited about what we just started. Even if calling someone husband is still pretty weird…

Post following this one: Our Central Park Wedding Ceremony / NYRR Fifth Avenue Mile – the Wedding Version