Special Occasions Call for Special Style

Let’s start with a couple of questions this week.  First, has anyone ever gone to a 3 day party with good family and friends?  Maybe some of these people are younger or more energetic than you?  Maybe they don’t have kids?  Maybe many are soccer players from foreign countries, and the pub is like their second home?  If just maybe you have encountered this, you can understand why the blog came out today, and not last night.  It would have been incoherent.

Next, has anyone ever been to an event that felt “different”?  I personally seek out and love different events, but I usually don’t put weddings in this category.  Sure, they are fun.  Nice.  Beautiful.  A few drinks.  Maybe a round of golf.  Some banter.  Not this one.  This one wasn’t nice.  It was absolutely awesome!  The whole damn weekend was.  I’m still buzzing.

Let’s start with the people, and of course, the two most important people first.  My friends Junior and Kellen, as reiterated over and over this weekend, are just fabulous people.  They are interesting, kind, passionate, and super fun.  Put them together, and that just doubles.  Junior hails from Cameroon and Kellen from the great Union County, NC, and they both went to Wingate University.  I tell you this because the guest list was as diverse and fantastic as you can imagine.  Folks from Africa and Europe.  I heard a gentleman was in from Kazakhstan.  Wingate people.  Union County people.  All mixing and mingling and having a great time.  I met new people and thoroughly enjoyed reigniting old friendships.  Being around good people is the foundation for a good time, but then some unique activities turned it from good to great.

Friday night, there was a welcome party.  If you’ve ever been to a good party, I don’t need to say anything else.  Saturday morning, 40-50 people gathered on the beach for a wedding day yoga session.  Now this was new to me.  I had never done yoga.  I had never done yoga on a beach.  I had never done yoga on a beach on a morning after a welcome party.  Now I have.  And that was 48 hours ago, and I am still sore. But it was awesome!  After that, the afternoon was wide open until the ceremony at 5:30.  My wife and I ended up joining the legendary Wingate coaching staff of Gary Hamill and Joey Calandra for brunch at this local joint that was terrific.  We grabbed a table outside and ate and talked.  Before long, my mate Clarkie and his wife Jo came walking by, and we summoned them up to join us.  They had a drink, and before long we migrated to a wine bar about 5 steps away.  Fast forward some 5 hours later, and the stories that had been told and the bottles of wine that had been drunk were the perfect intro into wedding night.  (Let me remind you, that afternoon piece was totally impromptu.)  The ceremony and reception were great, followed by an after party on the beach under a pretty cool orange moon over the ocean.  And finally, Sunday was beach day, which for me ended with a 5 v. 5 soccer match on the beach.  I play soccer all the time, but usually not on the beach, and definitely not when the only language being spoken is French.  That was pretty cool!

Last but certainly not least, we must talk about style.  First off, the bride and all of the women were gorgeous, and I will just leave that there.  But the guys certainly held their own, with some terrific custom suits, plaid suits, panama hats, linen pants, among others.  It was a stylish crowd, and judging by the amount of random spectators on the beach watching, people were curious.  If you recall, I had the privilege of working with Junior on his wedding outfit a few months ago.  It turned out perfect, and he wore it like a boss.  The picture below is my favorite shot I got.  Now I personally know that they had just been pronounced husband and wife when I took this, but I’ll be damned if he could have also been simply auditioning to be the next James Bond.

Interesting, diverse people.  Cool, unique activities.  Style for days.  That’s a really good recipe for an unforgettable weekend.  This weekend was electric.  It was awesome.  It flowed perfectly.  It was different.  And if you’ve been following along for a while now, you know different is good.

And if you want a look like Junior’s for a special occasion or just every day wear, message me.  I would love to help.

Have a great week.-Benj

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