The amazing journey to Sunisa + Nat's wedding celebration in Pennsylvania took us leaping across the sleepy, long caress of the Brandywine River, sauntering through perfumed woods of pine and oak, and loping across a wide clearing with a vista of the green valley below, to encounter the sound of laughter drifting from a white pavilion pitched near the groom's childhood home. Although the magical last leg of the journey was experienced by all, guests came from the most diverse corners of the world: hailing taxis below the looming high-rises of NYC to join southbound carpools with friends, escaping the swampy glades of Florida for the dappled shade of the woods, and leaving the waterway canals of Bangkok for the hills and hidden swimming holes of the East Coast.
After an epic, fairy-tale wedding in Thailand (where a long saber was needed to cut the cake), the rural Pennsylvania setting provided the perfect destination for an intimate, encore celebration for even more dancing, drinking, and rejoicing. With the formal solemnities of the wedding out of the way, all that was left to do was to have fun! Family friends swapped stories of when Nat + Sunisa were toddlers, the bride's brothers played piano in the parlor, the children staked out the territory of their own personal kingdoms on the large lawn, and old friends sat on hay bales and caught up on stories that hadn't made it on Facebook.
When the encircling wood retired into cozy darkness, and the guests tucked under the pavilion and into the feast, the fireflies awoke, gawking with blinking eyes at the edges of the party like flitting fairies.
Soon, the music, like a rising tide, washed over the party, bringing everyone to the dance floor. Cousins rocked out together; the groom's family took the arms of the bride's family in theirs, singing aloud; and Grandma gave a dervish spin exhausting her partners. All the while, the family dog weaved its way between the legs of couples adding his own rhythmic paw-steps to the party.
So engrossed in the delights of the celebration, every time we stepped out to take a breath, the moon seemed to have hiccuped further up the sky. Yet, when looking at it, it stood stock-still like a yellow toad on a dark pond: lazy, full, and contented.
As if to provide the lonely moon some company, guests lit paper lanterns, sailing their wishes like a fleet of ships on the night sky. Such was the wonder and beauty that imbued and kissed each detail of the gathering for Sunisa + Nat: a testament to the love they have for each other, and that their friends and families have for them.
