Week of July 16: Hot wedding in LA

When I went to college at UC Davis (13 years ago and counting), I lived at the Tercero dorms during my freshman year where I became friends with a great bunch of guys. After freshman year, we moved out of the dorms into off-campus housing, where we remained roommates and friends until graduation. Since then, we all have gone our separate ways but have managed to stay in touch and see one another from time to time. All of us have gotten married, and some even managed to have a kid or two. All except Ian. Ian was the sole bachelor, running his business and livin it up in Los Angeles. But that all ended on Saturday as Ian tied the knot.

From talking to Ian earlier in the year, I knew that he was dating Jennifer but I was shocked (happily surprised) when he told me a couple of months ago that he was engaged. Go Ian! So this weekend, Andrea and I flew down to Los Angeles for Ian and Jennifer's wedding, the first of four weddings we are scheduled to attend this year. For this wedding, I, along with the rest of the gang, was Ian's groomsmen.

The gang from left to right: Scott (winemaker at Hess Winery), Zach (that's Dr. Zach, MD... the surgeon), me, Ian (the groom and owner of Metro Jeans) and Dan (that's Dr. Daniel, MD... the child psychiatrist). We were all chillin in the green room before the wedding making sure that Ian didn't skip town through the back door.

By the way, Ian had picked the hottest day of the year to get married. It was 117 degrees outside and about 90 degrees inside the church with the air conditioner running. With the tux and the flood lights, I was about to burst into flames. It was good that the ceremony was rather short. This is especially amazing considering that every sentence of the ceremony was given in English and immediately followed by the Korean translation. I'm not sure how it happened, but Ian had managed to score big!!! Not only was Jenn beautiful, she was very nice as well. Good job my friend!

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Hong!

Here is a picture (left) of Cathy (Dan's wife) and Laurie (Zach's wife). Even though they suffer very much from living with these clowns, they have managed to still look incredible. The reception following the wedding was held at the church. Thus, no adult beverages were served... although from the picture on right, you would think otherwise.

After the reception, Ian and Jenn held a small traditional Korean wedding ceremony. As you can see, Ian, Jenn and Ian's mom were all decked out in Hanbok. I guess I should be able to tell you what the heck is going on here but your guess is as good as mine... sorry.

After all the official wedding related events, Ian and Jenn threw an "unofficial" post wedding party as the church affair was more or less subdued. They reserved a few tables at the swanky Tokio Bar in West Hollywood where delicious food was plenty and the cocktails were flowing. They left for their honeymoon to Tahiti the following morning... hopefully they weren't too hung over. Jenn and Ian are off to a great start. Bon voyage!