I am not much of a wedding person. My first wedding was stressful and expensive; spawned at least three family rifts; and resulted in a bunch of awkward pictures, an amazing little girl, and a divorce six years later. My second wedding was attended by my husband-to-be and me, four of our best friends, our parents and our kids. We had delicious boudin balls from Boucherie and a small cake from Sucre, Ruby served as my maid of honor in a crazy rainbow-colored tutu and the whole thing was over in about 90 minutes. It was perfect.
I have attended a lot of weddings in my 20s and 30s, ranging from lavish to homespun, and I have enjoyed all of them in different ways because each one truly seemed special and tailored to the couple. I’m cynical about almost everything, but I still cry at weddings every damn time – because I am a huge sap.
An out-of-town friend emailed me a couple of days ago to ask if I had any suggestions for off-the-beaten-path wedding venues in New Orleans, and I gave him the two places I could think of, which were, conveniently, from the two most recent weddings I’ve attended: the Pharmacy Museum and the Bayou Barn in Marrero. I figured those two were on fairly opposite ends of the spectrum: At the Pharmacy Museum, we all drank craft cocktails and danced to the music of a jazz trio under twinkly white lights; at the Bayou Barn, we ate hunks of cochon de lait out of a pirogue, followed handwritten signs to the “terlits,” watched an alligator walk out of the bayou right after the vows were said and danced to a band that had Confederate flag stickers plastered all over their instrument cases. Both weddings, by the way, were absolutely fantastic and fun.
But after those two suggestions, I realized I was pretty tapped-out. City Park? The Children’s Museum? The new Lakefront Airport? I’ve attended cool events at all of those places but never weddings.
So I am opening this question up to my friends and colleagues at New Orleans Bride magazine, including my lovely editor, Kelly Massicot, and anyone else who wants to chime in in the comments: What is the most fun/classiest/funkiest-in-a-good-way wedding you’ve attended in the Greater New Orleans area?
