Black tie wedding at the Gramercy Hotel!

Having bagels with cream cheese and ham every morning in NYC made me understand why their bagels are famous - it's simply because they're awesomely delicious.

After this morning's bagel we headed to the 9/11 memorial - a really moving experience. It's that type of place where the atmosphere is different - it's hard to walk past and not think of the massive tragedy that happened in that very spot years ago. :( we paid our respects and didn't stick around - today's agenda is quite full.

Paul headed home to get ready for Luke & Ellie's wedding - the main reason why we came to NY! As the best man he had to get there earlier.
I still had time to do some shopping at Sephora - stocked up with make up for myself and the ladies in our bridal party :).

After that I went home to have a quick shower before going to get my hair and makeup done. That's when I realised that I wouldn't be able to zip-up my dress by myself - so I had to pack a bag with everything to get ready at the hairdresser's.
After the absolute makeover (LOVED my makeup!), at 4.30 I'm leaving the place to catch a cab to the wedding. Only to find out that at that time the cab drivers are changing shifts, so no one wanted to stop for me... :( here's Katie panicking at the thought of being late.
Thankfully someone eventually stopped and traffic wasn't too bad - I made it on time! :D

The wedding was really beautiful, everything went perfectly. We were at the terrace of a fancy hotel in the lovely and traditional neighbourhood of Gramercy. The sun was shining, all guys were in their tuxedos and the ladies looking glamorous! We were welcomed with a glass of champagne soon followed by the kick-off of the ceremony. Luke was looking great, a little nervous but mostly just absurdly happy! Ellie's dress was amazingly beautiful, the ceremony was like a movie :). It was great to be a part of it all with them.

Speeches and dinner followed, food was exquisite and a few tears of joy were shed <=]. The wedding cake was a traditional NY cheesecake - very original and really tasty too.

I took a video of Luke & Ellie's first dance, at the sound of 'The Great Gatsby' song, Will you still love me (Lana Del Rey) - great song choice, very cutely performed by the lovebirds.

We all danced the night away, closed the dance floor with Australians' favourite - Horses - and went on for a night cap at a very traditional NY bar - Pete's tavern. Got home at 5.30am with very sore feet and a squiffy fiancé, but very happy for our wedding-mates. :)

Now it's bedtime - tomorrow is our last day in NYC and we'll go shopping!