Marry-land!

P & I drove down to St. Michaels, Maryland to celebrate Bryn and Liz's wedding in early May. We were so busy up until the wedding that we had no expectations of where we were going... so, we were completely blown away by the quaint little town and the natural beauty of the Chesapeake Bay area! The main street (S. Talbot) was lined with charming little boutiques and cafes, while picturesque homes and beautifully landscaped b & b's were tucked away on the side streets.

The waterfront was where the action was happening- we spent a whole morning at the Maritime Museum, touring the boat yard and sheds, exploring the "screwpile" Hooper Strait Lighthouse, and learning all about the different watercraft of the area and of course, the local economy of crab and oyster harvesting.

We had our fill of yummy crabcakes, fish, and shellfish throughout the trip and were riveted by the gorgeous sunsets.




St. Michaels may look familiar since it was the location of where the movie The Wedding Crashers was filmed. However, Bryn and Liz's wedding was a very mellow, intimate event- even if it was one of the most multi-cultural events I have ever been to! We were thrilled to be included in their wedding celebration, which consisted of guests flying in from Japan, the UAE, England, New Zealand, Australia, and all over the US!

I met Bryn in Japan, and have lengthy posts about our travels and adventures (along with our other friend Jannie) in our tightly knit Tango region. The last time I had seen either of them was in the summer of 2006, right before I came back to the US, since both of them decided to renew their contracts with JET. Liz, originally from St. Michaels, came in the next wave of JETs (she actually replaced my good friend Becky, from Amino!), so unfortunately I never got to meet her. Jannie introduced her to Bryn, and the three of them hit it off and became fast friends, and I guess, Bryn and Liz became a bit more than just friends!








Since Bryn and Liz still live in Japan, many Japanese elements were incorpo- rated into the multi-cultural wedding, including their Japanese guests changing into traditional kimono, hundreds of meticulous- ly folded origami cranes, a matcha (green tea) wedding cake, wooden sake boxes (each painstak- ingly branded by Bryn and Liz with the name of the local sake distillery where they had also purchased several giant bottles of sake for the toast, and silk bags each hand sewn by Shinobu (a wonderful Japanese woman who was good friends with Becky, and now Liz, and unfortu- nately was not able to come to the wedding). I was devastated to hear that the Yoshidas (who practically adopted me when I was in Japan who became very close to Liz) and also Jun (my closest Japanese friend) were also unable to come to the wedding!

Some pics are from their photographer Gillette Portrait Arts.

Congratulations Bryn + Liz!
Omedetou gozaimasu!