After our fabulous day at the Newport Mansions, we continued our journey over the bridge into Providence for the weekend. One of my very good friends from High School was getting married there the next day and we wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
The Bride and Groom and all of our friends were staying at the Providence Biltmore, so staying there was a no-brainer.
Our room was really nice, although we saw another room later on and saw that they had completely renovated it and installed flat screen TVs! We had room envy, but ours was plenty comfortable. We had a nice stay.
And the view of Providence was really nice. See the State House back there?
After relaxing in our room for a while (and escaping the heat), we ventured out for dinner a little later on. We didn’t really have a plan, we just figured we’d stumble upon something good. And boy, did we luck out! It was Restaurant Week in Providence!!!
The Union Station Brewery had an amazing deal. Drinks and a three course meal for two for only $30. We’ve always wanted to give one of these menus a try, and tonight was the night.
We started with some delicious crispy bread. Somehow that whole basket disappeared. It was fantastic.
We had a nice time chit-chatting while the meal came out. We love exploring new towns and we were happy to be here! Irving had a nice looking beer…
But I really enjoyed some Root Beer on tap! ***slurrrrrp****
PS… like my new shirt ^^? I got it that week at the outlets with my mom. I thought it screamed New England.
We picked the caprese salad for our appetizer and it was delicious. I could have had this as my entree and gone home happy.
But alas, there were two more entrees to enjoy too! First up was a Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese. Does not require further explanation!
And Irving ordered the burger with steak fries.
And just when I thought I was stuffed to the gills…. they came out with a slice of Oreo Pie! The inside was cookies and cream ice cream! What are they trying to kill me, here in Providence? Holy man, this was awesome.
We barely made it out of there alive! And when we got outside, we learned that the temperature had not dropped. It was still pushing 90 degrees at 9 o’clock at night! What the what?
We met up with our friends back at the hotel and caught up for a while. It was so nice to see them. I really miss my old high school group. It’s hard living so far away, but we had a blast.
The bridal party had an early morning wake-up call and we were exhausted too, so we said goodbye and hit the sack.
We knew the next day was going to be just as hot, so we sprung out of bed early to get a nice walk in before the sun came out. There was so much to look at! Providence reminds me of Boston so much. Those old brick buildings and the style of architecture are just so cute.
We saw the fire cauldrons for the “Water Fire” displays they do throughout the summer. They put wood buring fires in those wire holders at night and it lights up the river! Sadly, we weren’t there on a night when they were lit, but I bet it looks awesome!
I love college towns and was excited to find out how close we were to Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University!! Plus we got a nice hill workout in there too. Wowzers!
I love college campuses! I wish I could go back to school and be a student all over again.
We made it back to the hotel just in time to avoid a sudden downpour!!! I forget how the weather changes on a dime here! But they say rain is good luck on a wedding day! Though I’m sure that stressed the bride out a bit!
But the rain didn’t last long. It cleared up soon after and led the way for an absolutely perfect afternoon. We had to check out of our hotel, so we opted to enjoy a looooong lunch together at McCormick & Schmicks. 
We weren’t really that hungry, but we had time to kill.
And soon I was able to sneak a glimpse at the bride and her dad heading out to the wedding!!!! She was glowing, such a beautiful bride. She just looked stunning. =)
And my friends in the wedding party looked amazing too!! Weddings are the perfect reason to get old friends together again! I miss it!
And then we headed over to the wedding ourselves. They had an incredible venue. It was in the Aldrich Mansion in Warwick, RI. It was located on a 75 acre estate right on the water (across from Newport). It was built by Senator Aldrich, a prominent banker and investor, in the late 1800s. Soon after, his daughter, Abby, married John D. Rockefeller here! (See! Again withAmerica’s elite! I love the history!) And then later Abby’s daughter became Vice President of the United States under Gerald Ford!
And as if that’s not impressive enough… they also shot the movie Meet Joe Black here!!! Now I have to watch the film again to see all the cool rooms in it!
Adjacent to the mansion is a church that used to be a seminary. Instead of the pews facing the alter, they faced each other! The idea being that if the priests in training couldn’t see God in each other, then they had no business being there. Kind of cool! The Priest that married Katie and Mark was really funny. He kept it really light (there was no AC in the church!) I enjoyed hearing him speak.
And the ceremony was beautiful. These two are so in love. They’ve been together for almost a decade and I felt so lucky to witness their exchanging of vows.
Then it was time to celebrate!! I couldn’t wait to see inside the mansion! (And PS, look at the clouds! You’d never guess it had rained just hours earlier! They had a perfect day!)
The back of the mansion leads down a great staircase to the open sea. Across the harbor was Newport!
The cocktail hour was so fun because we got to explore a bit, catch up with friends and enjoy the venue.
Inside, the mansion was just as wonderful as you’d expect. The ceilings were sparking in gilded gold, and the paintings really brought you back in time. I loved how the lights made a nice mix between chic and modern with the historical and classy.
I hope Katie felt like a princess on her wedding day because she certainly looked like one. =)
We had fun reminiscing about our own wedding day too. It’s crazy how fast it all goes by.
I loved her flowers! Gorgeous.
Gilded gold mirrors and a marble fireplace! How cool!
Each of the tables was a place they had both traveled to! We were psyched that we were at the “Hollywood Table”! I think Irving might have even taken the picture they had displayed!
Yum. Dinner was fun! Chicken in a Riesling Cream sauce!!
And cake!!!
Friends!!
The dance floor was packed all night long. The DJ was phenomenal. Probably the best I’ve ever seen at a wedding. It felt like we were inside a night club. It was a blast!
Dancing in “The Great Hall” sounds so cool, doesn’t it?
We had a wonderful time. Congratulations, Katie and Mark!!
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Here’s how the rest of the night went down….
11p Wedding Ended
11:15p Pull over on the side of the road and change out of your wedding clothes in our rental car
11:30p Drive back to Providence
12a Meet up with Bride & Groom in a bar for an after party
1a – Say goodbye and start the Drive back up to Boston.
2a – Return Rental Car to Airport and take Shuttle to the Terminal.
2:30a – Realize that the airport is closed and you have to sit in the waiting area for two more hours.
3:30a – Start blogging about the trip so as not to fall asleep
5:30 – Board flight back to Los Angeles and promptly fall asleep!
What a whirlwind of a trip. It’s hard to believe that was all just 9 days! Whew!
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