Newport

A beautiful, wonderful weekend in Newport, Rhode Island, watching two amazing people promise each other that they will be together forever and ever. I really love weddings for their earnest seriousness, for the emotional and deeply felt public avowals of intimacy and love, for the communal affirmation that souls can be matched in lifelong partnership. I love seeing other couples in the audience smile at each other as vows are recited and squeezing Misha's hand when an officiant talks about the meaning of marriage. The ritual is individual enough to be forever cemented in the heads of the bride and groom as their own - but in the most truly comforting way it is repetitive too, and I sit and play with my wedding ring and feel the present enmesh with memory.

Todd and Erin were married on Saturday on Goat Island, a tiny piece of land off the coast of Newport. It was unbelievable, and perfect in every way. Here is the view from the green on which the ceremony was set up:



Todd, Misha, Sam, and Avi sit on the seawall at the rehearsal:



What the ocean looks like behind them:



The picture-perfect sunset after the ceremony:



Misha and I clean up cute:



I wish I had gotten more pictures, but of course we forgot our camera and were limited by the sad capacity of our cell phone cameras, which have no flash and thus do not function after dark. But it was a marvelous party, with dancing and drinking and laughter. Congratulations, Erin and Todd - may you be forever awash in the love that flowed all around on Saturday.