Sunday, September 22, 2002
Attended the wedding of my friends Pete Williams and Kim Vu at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California. The ceremony took place around 11:00 AM on the bluff looking out across the Pacific Ocean. Pete and I have been friends for over 10 years, since we met while working at the software company called Borland International in Scotts Valley, California. The sky was overcast, but bright—perfect lighting for photographs. I got teary-eyed with romanticism when they shared their personal messages to each other with everyone during the vows. Kim's wedding dress was a bright white, strapless, form-fitting gown studded with pearlescent beads on the front. The guest list was about 60 people—a comfortable size. We met plenty of friends and family of the bride and groom. Except for it being the Ritz, the rest of the ceremony was not ostentatious at all, which I prefer because it focused the importance on the people, the food, and the music to create an enjoyable time, which Patrick and I certainly had. Also a guest at the wedding was my former Borland co-worker Bruneau Babet, who attended with (we think his wife) Linda. I hadn't seen him in perhaps 10 years since his short stint at Microsoft, and was surprised to learn that he's back at Borland and also living in downtown Santa Cruz. The pre-reception hors d'oeurves were: egg rolls, mini crab cakes, and breaded shrimp skewers. The reception was a seated affair with full table service (not buffet) in a corner room of the Ritz with large windows and panoramic views of the ocean. Kim had changed into a silky, bright red traditional Asian wedding dress—Vietnamese?... we're not sure. Small boxes of Godiva chocolates tied with blue ribbon greeted each guest at his or her seat. Crab corn chowder; breadsticks; salad with spinach, frisee, asparagus on a slice of mango (or was it papaya?) and a tangy, beige-colored dressing we couldn't identify exactly; teriyaki sea bass over rice with baby bok choy, French string beans, carrots, yellow and red bell peppers. Dancing followed the meal, with a DJ and small dance floor. The wedding cake was two-tiered white in a seashore motif styled with frosting piped into nautical rope, white chocolate seashells, and a bed of "sand" made from a grainlike, sugary invention. Tiramisu on top, and butter creme with 2 different fillings (mango and ?) on bottom. Coffee and tea at caketime. Of the food, Patrick said: "the soup and main course were very good, the salad was very plain, overall it was adequate food although the fish was excellently prepared, the service was very good and matched my expectations of the Ritz." I thought that although all the food was prepared well (with one exception) it wasn't as creative as it could have been to bring out all the flavors of the foods. The notable exception was the breadsticks: everyone seemed to agree they were inedible, as they were hard on the outside as well as the inside, and it was clearly intended to be the freshly baked kind of breadstick, not the thin, hard, and crunchy kind like you'd see sitting in a tall glass. The sea bass was especially delicious, I thought, which made it all the better, as it's a favorite food of Kim's. As we finished our cake, Kim and Peter were chauffered to their limousine in a golf cart that passed outside the dining room. They waved and we waved back, watching them head for their honeymoon destinations of island-hopping in the French Polynesia (Tahiti). Picked up a movie and q-tips and a frozen pizza in West Portal. Dinner at home with Patrick: Amy's pizza and macaroni and cheese. Patrick studied Mandarin and worked on Second Island final final edits. Watched Monsters, Inc. on DVD with Patrick. It was very entertaining. Excellent animation! Highly recommended.