Phliz Wedding Weekend

This past weekend, we attended the wedding of our wonderful friends, Liz and Phil in L.A. (www.phlizwedding.com) We had a fantastic time at the wedding and all the pre- and post-wedding events, seeing friends and family, and just visiting L.A. in general. As most of you know, Liz, Sherry and Brian have been friends forever. Sherry and Liz met in sixth grade and have been friends ever since; Brian joined them a year later in seventh grade. (Liz got Brian, who had a crush on Sherry, to ask Sherry to the eighth grade graduation dance, and the rest is history, so we are forever in debt to her.) Liz met Phil in law school, and he is a wonderful guy-- absolutely perfect for Liz. So, we've been looking forward to this wedding for a long time!

Sherry's weekend began on Thursday night, when she flew into LAX and was picked up by her friend, Adrian, who lives in Pacific Palisades. The two of them had a great dinner at a wonderful, modern Chinese restaurant in the Palisades, and ended up back at Adrian and (her husand) Josh's house, where the three of them stayed up until the wee hours of morning talking, laughing and catching up. Adrian and Josh have been our friends since college. They are also both from Sacramento and are high school sweethearts; Adrian and Sherry were roommates in the Chi Omega sorority, when Adrian was dating Josh and Sherry was dating Brian, so we've known both Josh and Adrian for a very long time.

On Friday morning, Sherry's sister Stacy picked her up, and they drove out to Moreno Valley to visit their dad and stepmom, Jim and Jean. He is doing okay, but is still sick and having problems with his elbow since his accident, and Jean recently fractured her pelvis, so she is now unable to help him and needs some TLC herself. It made Sherry very happy to get to see them on this trip, even if for a short afternoon visit. Also visiting was her brother in law, Stan, whom Sherry also was happy to get to see.

On Friday afternoon, Sherry and Stacy drove to their hotel in Marina del Rey for the wedding weekend. Sherry, who was a bridesmaid, attended the rehearsal dinner with the other wedding party members and Liz and Phil's family, at a cute little restaurant called Hal's Bar & Grill (click for link). Food, drink and plenty of heartfelt toasts were flowing, and it set the mood for the weekend. Brian and Stacy, and other guests joined in as the festivities moved to a little tapas place called Bite for a pre-wedding cocktail party.

On Saturday, the bridesmaids (Maya, Julie, Sherry, Kathy, Lindsay and Erica) (pictured above right) and several other guests rose early and met Liz at her and Phil's Venice apartment to go on a "fitness walk" with the bride. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to start the day. Later, the 'maids and the bride headed to a nail salon for mani/pedis and then to Mathis Murphy salon to get their hair done. (See Kathy and Liz above left, and the group photo right, but ignore the fact that Sherry doesn't have any makeup on yet in it!) When all the ladies were looking like hot divas, especially the soon-to-be Mrs. Tate (left), we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. We had a ton of fun getting ready and taking crazy pictures with the photographers; none of us can wait to see the one of all of us jumping on the bed! Liz's mom, Janet Smagala, came in, gave Liz a beautiful bracelet she wore on her own wedding day, which was very touching, and helped Liz into her dress. Liz looked stunning, and it was time to walk down the aisle.

The ceremony was beautiful, on the rooftop helipad of the Marriott Marina Del Rey, facing the Marina, with sweeping views of Los Angeles surrounding us, in perfect weather. Phliz could not have asked for a more beautiful wedding day.

The reception was a blast, with a beautiful beach theme, terrific food, warm toasts (go, Maya!) and dancing to 80's music late into the night. We especially loved the traditional Polish songs sung by Liz's Polish family (many of whom flew in from Poland), and watching the amazing Polish dancers. We also want to give a shout out to Liz's dad, Walter Smagala (pictured in the father/daughter dance right), who is a fantastic dancer, and who said such nice, heartfelt things to us over the weekend. We are so lucky to have known Liz's family for so long. (And the Tates seem great as well!) We also loved getting to see old friends. Sherry's high school was well-represented by not only Liz and Sherry, but also Julie Tucker Reynon, Maya Dulay, Kathy Roeder, Mariah Robertson, Molly Morris Fulbright, LeeAnne Fitzgerald and Sherry's sister, Stacy Hartel. Go Eagles! (The lady Eagles are pictured left.) It was a ton of fun catching up with them. They all know Brian as well (from either high school or, in Molly's case, back to jr. high school), so he did his share of catching up as well.

The next day, we all met for brunch at Tony P's on the water (click for link) and rehashed the night. Then, we all headed home, a bit sad to say goodbye! Mr. and Mrs. Tate headed to Kauai, and we headed to Long Beach with Stacy. We hung out at the pier for a while and had Mexican food for dinner (can't go to Cali without getting Mexican food). Then we all headed to the Long Beach airport, where we took the redeye home. For more pics from the weekend, click here.

Congratulations, Liz and Phil!

We love you both! Have a wonderful honeymoon!