Saket Vora

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Greg Mulholland to Kelly Stano. I took the red-eye Wednesday night and landed in sunny warm Sarasota, Florida the next morning. Greg, Kelly, and members of the wedding party were there to pick me up at the airport. It was so good seeing them again – I hadn’t since Greg left for Cambridge last autumn. Also there was Kelly’s younger sister Megan (the Maid of Honor), Kelly’s bridesmaids Amy and Caitlin, Caitlin’s boyfriend Charlie, and another one of Greg’s groomsman Chris. We went have lunch and then to the hotel. The girls rode in one car and the guys in the other, and within the first 10 minutes I knew it was going to be a great weekend – it was a delight getting to know Chris and Charlie. We all got along great.

The hotel was right on the beach. And man was the weather different than California – warm and humid and it actually felt nice. This being my first American wedding, I wasn’t sure what to expect but this was going to be relaxed and everything seemed taken care of. I had definitely over-prepared for this wedding  for this regarding attire, but the other guys spotted me. Greg and Kelly went off to take care of some things, so the rest of us hit the beach. As Chris noted, the water was so warm it was almost not refreshing. We spent a good three hours outside before getting ready for the evening.

Chris went to Norfolk Academy with Greg and then attended UVA to complete an Architecture program (which he intensely disliked by the end of it). He is now working for Habitat for Humanity in Charlottesville through the Americorps. Great guy — we could talk about the challenges he’s facing at Habitat and such but he’s also really fun to hang out with. Charlie recently graduated from App State in geology and is quite serious about it. He’s done field expeditions and enjoys spelunking. He hadn’t really met any of us before but I felt we all got along really well as a group.

I kept asking when Greg’s parents (John and Nancy) and brother (Mark) were going to arrive. We met up with them in the afternoon as they arrived to the hotel. They deserve a special mention  — they are so generous and fun to be with and they make feel like I’m part of the family. I can’t help but smile when I see how the four of them interact. People say my mom must have a hard time dealing with triplets, but I think Mrs. Mulholland deserves the same kind of recognition too!

After checking Mark we headed to downtown Sarasota for Greg’s bachelor party. A nice dinner outside then hit a few bars. Kelly and her girls went to have fondue. We had an excellent time and made it back to the hotel in one piece no problems (thanks to Greg, ironically – or sadly - enough).

The boys made it down to breakfast the next morning and went out as a group to meet some of Greg’s relatives who live in Sarasota. Uncle Herb has a beautiful apartment right by the water and more of Greg’s relatives were there. They remarked at how good of swimmer Mark has become, and Mr. Mulholland wondered about that too: “I kept holding his head under water, but he kept getting loose! After that they learned how to untie the knots too. Smart kids.” Hehe.

We hopped across the bridge for lunch, then back to the hotel to chill for a while before the wedding rehearsal.  It was hot that day, and Chris was dying. We drove down to Siesta Key to a gorgeous white sand beach (quartz!) and met up with Sigrid the wedding planner. Despite us guys goofing off and the brutally hot sun, we made it through without problems. Greg and Mark had the girls staring as they unbuttoned their white shirts halfway down and posed, GQ like, with the shades on. Insufferable, I swear.

After this, it was off to the dinner with the whole group. It felt like we ate the whole day. We got some slurpees beforehand and it lowered Chris’s core body temperature by 15 degrees. He might have died otherwise it seemed. That, of if he didn’t get the see The Dark Knight, which he said in a throaty voice at every possible opportunity. Hehe.

The bridal party sat together for the dinner but two of Greg’s friends from NA did arrive – Clarke and Jamie. I had met Jamie when I was up in College Park two summers ago, and Greg and I played golf with him (he just graduated from Duke). I had heard a lot about Clarke – he’s working for Barclays up in NYC now and went to Princeton. Dinner was nice, with Greg’s father saying a few words about the union of these two great families. The ‘kids’ hung around the pool for a bit after getting back to the hotel, then called it a night.

Tomorrow would be the big day.