Thursday, June 23, 2005

New Orleans 2005 - Loughran Wedding

I attend many weddings - either as a vendor or as a guest. Budgets have ranged from pathetic to the most splendid imaginable. Often these parties are stiff affairs, with dysfunctional family relationships rearing their ugly heads. Or they can become ugly boozefests.

The Loughran Wedding, New Orleans 2005 goes down in my mind as the most fun wedding reception that I can ever recall attending. This is despite the fact that I DJ'd part of the reception and only partied with the crowd for an hour or so. There were about 100 guests, it was in some older country club in a modest facility. The food offerings were good, but surely not extravagant. The liquor selections were limited. But there was electricity in that room. The bride and groom came out of the box swaying to the beats of Queen, had a nice first dance to Burt Bacharach's "What the World Needs Now is Love," before leading the room in Chic's Good Times, and then a classic Beck party tune. The widow of Ernie K. Doe sang "White Boy" with Tom and others in a moving performance. There was a breakdancing exhibition to Beck's Hell Yes with about half a dozen participants. Mike Z, cautious since his Rio dancehall days, was a strong lead for his fiance Julie. Mr. Loughran, a 60-year old was cutting up the rug hard and won a dance competition. There were lights. There was fog. The kids were into it. The adults were into it. The Jambalaya tasted real good.

Some political band called "The Troublemakers" played the last hour, and I danced to just about every single song. The titles and topics were eclectic and normally I would have scoffed at such a menu. But it was really good. Their closing song was "Healthcare is a Human Right." Yes, I definitely agree.

The Marriot Rennaissance Hotel, our base, was a fantastic selection. It featured modern art and an art deco, boutique feel that you wouldn't expect from a corporate portfolio like Marriot. For $89 per night (with Triple A Discount), it was a steal.

Tom and Hope have strong chemistry and I detect that they are the proverbial soulmates. This is hard to find.

I took a nice tour of the city with an excellent tour guide named Raymond Poray. New Orleans has a rich history, and we just touched the tip of the iceberg. I enjoyed the tour of the above-ground cemetery and also the massive mansions in the Garden District.

Our first night in town, we stayed at a Ramada property on Bourbon Street which was quite nice. I did the Bourbon Street thing, had my Hurricanes and liquor, and ended up swaggering and leering my way back to the hotel late in the PM. I could still hear the music blaring at 3-4 AM as I was half asleep in my bed. In the morning, they hosed down that street to wash away its sin.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

i agree, my wedding rocked

1:05 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home