We tried really hard to capture the feeling of The Motor City for the kids. After all, Allison's family has lived in Michigan, like, forever, and Mark is the only Kennedy kid actually born IN Michigan. They both are Michigan graduates, and the colors for their wedding were maize and blue. So it seemed only normal to try and fit in some of that Detroit/Michigan spirit into the morning.
Getting married in the Detroit temple is a start. Granted, it's breaking with the Kennedy tradition of getting married in the Washington DC temple, and it doesn't play into the fact that Allison first attended the Philadelphia temple to do baptisms. And don't get me started on how it's basically a temple sitting in a parking lot on Woodward Ave in Bloomfield Hills. However, where else should two bleeding-maize-and-blue Michiganders go to get married?
Me, being the low maintenance, non-crafty person that I am knew that lunch would have to be somewhere where I wouldn't have to do a thing, but that would carry the ambience of The Motor City. A Kennedy favorite is Vinsetta Garage, just fifteen minutes down Woodward from the temple. Try as we might, Vinsetta Garage would NOT take a reservation from us. Four of us tried to either call and talk a manager into it, or in true John-form, he just talked to someone when we were there for dinner after another temple session one night. We knew that we could have between 25 and 50 people arriving after the temple, but no amount of persuasion would work on them. They just told us, "Show up and we'll seat you when we have seats."
Now for planner-me, this isn't ideal. In fact, we went to Vinsetta Garage the week before at the exact time that we were expecting to show up the following week just so I could see if it was busy and to estimate our chances at having seats. It looked good, but trust me, I was more nervous about this than a chicken in a fox-house ;-)
Nothing seemed more appropriate though than having Mark and Allison leave the temple and arrive at Vinsetta Garage in the 1970 Monte Carlo. Try as we might to sell that old car or to just get it out of our lives, it keeps resurfacing in important Kennedy family moments (which of course convinces us that we should hold onto it for just a little bit longer....). It had been out in the barn for the last couple of months so it took a while to get it started, and it needed a good bath.
I told Ethan that he was in charge of getting it ready as only a best man can. Thankfully, he and Rebecca kept it classy and traditional. In fact, the night before the wedding, he remembered that he needed tin cans to tie to the bumper the next day. So we went out and bought some canned pears and mandarin oranges, always winners with Kennedys. When we brought them home, we told Mark to get eating. After he'd finished off one can, I told him to keep eating. He looked at me, and asked, "What? Are these some kind of aphrodisiacs, or something?" That's right, Mark. Canned pears. Always gets the Kennedy men "in the mood" :-)
John drove the Monte Carlo (or as the Kennedy family calls it "the death trap") to the temple. We couldn't keep many things secret from the Bosses, but having the Monte Carlo as the get-away car was one fun surprise! From what Mark said, all kinds of people were honking at them as they drove down Woodward Avenue. I mean, who wouldn't when the bride is in her ACTUAL DRESS in the car??
I must admit that some of these photos are my favorite.
And Vinsetta Garage. They upheld their part of the bargain--they had nothing reserved for us.... But in the end, the Young Single Adults from the YSA ward loved the place and swore to return. And in the end, it felt like we gave the newly married couple something fun, young and unique--just what they are!
Getting married in the Detroit temple is a start. Granted, it's breaking with the Kennedy tradition of getting married in the Washington DC temple, and it doesn't play into the fact that Allison first attended the Philadelphia temple to do baptisms. And don't get me started on how it's basically a temple sitting in a parking lot on Woodward Ave in Bloomfield Hills. However, where else should two bleeding-maize-and-blue Michiganders go to get married?
Me, being the low maintenance, non-crafty person that I am knew that lunch would have to be somewhere where I wouldn't have to do a thing, but that would carry the ambience of The Motor City. A Kennedy favorite is Vinsetta Garage, just fifteen minutes down Woodward from the temple. Try as we might, Vinsetta Garage would NOT take a reservation from us. Four of us tried to either call and talk a manager into it, or in true John-form, he just talked to someone when we were there for dinner after another temple session one night. We knew that we could have between 25 and 50 people arriving after the temple, but no amount of persuasion would work on them. They just told us, "Show up and we'll seat you when we have seats."
Now for planner-me, this isn't ideal. In fact, we went to Vinsetta Garage the week before at the exact time that we were expecting to show up the following week just so I could see if it was busy and to estimate our chances at having seats. It looked good, but trust me, I was more nervous about this than a chicken in a fox-house ;-)
Nothing seemed more appropriate though than having Mark and Allison leave the temple and arrive at Vinsetta Garage in the 1970 Monte Carlo. Try as we might to sell that old car or to just get it out of our lives, it keeps resurfacing in important Kennedy family moments (which of course convinces us that we should hold onto it for just a little bit longer....). It had been out in the barn for the last couple of months so it took a while to get it started, and it needed a good bath.
I told Ethan that he was in charge of getting it ready as only a best man can. Thankfully, he and Rebecca kept it classy and traditional. In fact, the night before the wedding, he remembered that he needed tin cans to tie to the bumper the next day. So we went out and bought some canned pears and mandarin oranges, always winners with Kennedys. When we brought them home, we told Mark to get eating. After he'd finished off one can, I told him to keep eating. He looked at me, and asked, "What? Are these some kind of aphrodisiacs, or something?" That's right, Mark. Canned pears. Always gets the Kennedy men "in the mood" :-)
John drove the Monte Carlo (or as the Kennedy family calls it "the death trap") to the temple. We couldn't keep many things secret from the Bosses, but having the Monte Carlo as the get-away car was one fun surprise! From what Mark said, all kinds of people were honking at them as they drove down Woodward Avenue. I mean, who wouldn't when the bride is in her ACTUAL DRESS in the car??
I must admit that some of these photos are my favorite.
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