Cory and Chris’s wedding reception was held at Maxim’s de Paris in the Gold Coast. It’s a unique venue, decorated in the stylin’ art deco style. Cory wrote a bit about Maxim’s here if you’re interested.
After busting open the sake and cutting the cake we all had dinner and drank and ate and drank and drank and danced and danced and drank and danced and danced. It was a super fun time. You can tell from everyone’s huge smiles in the photos below.
(Click on photos below to see them bigger.)
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Chris and Cory’s wedding reception was held at Maxim’s in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago. The star of the night? The Sake Keg.
And don’t forget the cake, even though it was a more minor player. Chris’s aunt made it and it was delicious.. lemon and raspberry inside.
First off, Cory’s dad, Steve, gave a short speech.
I believe Steve talked about the sake ceremony, but to be honest, I can’t remember at all.
Luckily I found this tidbit: Kagami-biraki is a ceremony performed at celebratory events in which the lid of the sake barrel is broken open by a wooden mallet and the sake is served to everyone present. Kagami refers to the lid of the sake barrel and biraki means “to open” so kagami-biraki literally means “opening the lid.” Because of the lid’s round shape, the kagami is a symbol of harmony. The kagami-biraki, therefore, represents an opening to harmony and good fortune.
Talk faster Steve, they are about to rush the keg.
These guys are about the grab the mallet themselves.
The masu waiting to be filled. (Note the M monogram. M for Marello, Cory & Chris’s last name.)
Finally it was time for Chris to knock the cover off the sake keg.
Cory and Chris get the first pours.
Cory and Chris wanted to get all of the traditions out of the way, so immediately after the sake ceremony, they cut the cake. A lot of people missed this because they were too busy rushing the keg, but I got this nice photo.
Tomorrow I’ll post more photos from Cory and Chris’s reception.
On a side note, Naoko and Doug had a sake keg at their wedding a few years ago. I’m not going to spill any family secrets from either party, but I think it’s safe to say there may not ever be any more sake kegs allowed at any family events after this past Saturday!
Tags:cake·Chicago·chris·cory·gold coast·maxims·sake·steve·wedding
Saturday night was Cory & Chris’s wedding reception. They didn’t want a big ceremony, so they got married on their own a while ago, but still held the big party for all of their family and friends. That’s the part everyone likes anyway, right? A lot of wedding guests were staying at the Ambassador East hotel so before heading to Maxim’s for the reception, we took photos at the hotel. As you can see the kids could not have been more adorable. Aunty Laura, Cory’s mom, bought all of the boys tuxedos. Even Kenji, who is only about 7 months old! I couldn’t get enough. So funny to try to take photos of all of them.
Back: Mitch, Chris, Cory, Kenji, Chris. Front: Ben, Derek, Hideto, Tommy :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Back: Mitch, Chris, Cory, Kenji, Chris. Front: Ben, Derek, Hideto, Tommy :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Back: Mitch, Chris, Cory, Kenji, Chris. Front: Ben, Derek, Hideto, Tommy :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Tommy :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
George, Kathy, Caroline, Dallas :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Caroline, George, Kathy, Rachelle, Dallas :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Rachelle, Dallas :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
George, Kathy :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Danny, Caroline :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Kate, Derek, Tommy, Ben :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Kate, Derek, Tommy :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
Back: Mitch, Chris. Front: Kate, Kenji, Tommy Ben, Derek :: Ambassador East, Gold Coast, Chicago
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Fausto, Rachelle, Charles :: Gold Coast, Chicago
I have no idea who this guy is, but I insisted we get our photo taken together.
Saturday night we went to a party at Charles and Alpana‘s place. I was surprised at how many people they packed into their condo, but before long we saw people we’d met at their place before, ran into people we knew from other places, met a few new people, and ended up having a great time. I knew Fausto and Marc from my FeedBurner days. They had made these Aretha Franklin inauguration-style paper hats that everyone was having fun wearing. It was nice to catch up with them again. At the party, I sure did not eat enough food and drank way too much sparkling wine. Luckily Dallas was feeling charitable Sunday morning and made me English muffins, eggs and breakfast sausage.
Dapper Dallas back at our place after the party, Logan Square, Chicago
Tags:alpana·aretha franklin·charles·Chicago·dallas·fausto·feast of fools·feast of fun·feedburner·gold coast·hat·logan square·marc
Last week we went to OYSY sushi again. I think this makes OYSY our official downtown sushi spot. As I mentioned before, the fish is good and the prices are reasonable. .. unless your Dallas and you eat 15 nigiri in one sitting. Then complain you’re full and order mochi ice cream anyway! That can add up.
We used to always refer to the restaurant by the letters in it’s name – “O Y S Y.” I mentioned to Dallas that I saw on the restaurant’s website that it’s actually pronounced “oh-EE-she” and he recognized it as a Japanese word that means “delicious.” I looked it up and “delicious” in Japanese is actually spelled “oishii.” I guess OYSY looks better on the sign, I don’t know. But the restaurant is delicious indeed!
After dinner we went to Charles and Alpana‘s condo for a small cocktail party. Little did we know that Alpana is a great cook and had made homemade carnitas, guacamole, quesadillas and pineapple upside down cake. Wish we wouldn’t have eaten so much sushi, but oh well. We still packed it in somehow, along with large quantities of wine, of course. I hadn’t seen Alpana for a while and Charles even longer, so it was good to see them again. We got to meet their little pug, Haruki as well. He was so cute. I told Alpana that even if Dallas and I don’t get a dog, I’m still coming over for play dates with Haruki!
Tags:alpana·Animals·charles·Chicago·dallas·dog·gold coast·haruki·oysy·river north·sushi