Howard & Najada (Part II)

October 23, 2009



George & Najada

Howard & Najada (Part II)





Howard & Najada’s wedding day dawned hot and humid; this October has been one of the warmest on record with temperatures in the 90s a constant. A cold front which would bring slight relief was due Saturday evening, but it was nowhere to be seen Saturday afternoon. Things have a way of working out and they did for the wedding.

Wendy

Kathy, Wendy & Kris

Najada & Howard's nieces

Howard

Arrangements had been made for wedding guests to board a conch train at Salute Restaurant to transport them to the ceremony as there is limited parking at that location. Afterwards, the train would bring everyone back for a reception at Salute. Just as guests were boarding, the skies opened up and rain pelted the assembled guests. Thankfully the train supplied ponchos or there would have been some very damp people.





The good news is that by the time the train pulled up at the wedding destination the rain was gone and it was back to bright sunny skies. The timing could not have been more perfect. It made for a beautiful ceremony.





Najada, Howard & Mary

Howard surprised his bride by donning a traditional Albanian wedding suit; he looked great but was still overshadowed by Najada who was breathtaking in her beautiful gown. Our friend Suzy Jo performed the ceremony which was simple and lovely and the gathered crowd toasted the newly married couple.



Kathy & Howard

George’s amazing home provided a beautiful backdrop and wonderful setting to the wedding. Easily the most beautiful home in Key West, George’s house and gardens were recently featured in Architectural Digest. Not simply done in Moroccan style, the home was constructed from all original imported material by Moroccan artisans who hand crafted the incredible detail work. The incredible lush gardens and pond only add to the grandeur of the place.

At Salute

RPM's Mike, Jim, Howard, Corey & Jeff

We were back on the train and headed back to Salute for the fantastic reception after the ceremony. The reception was really fun and featured food from the fantastic Salute restaurant and delicious cakes which were prepared by the incomparable Elliot Mercieca who normally serves as the chef on the RPM research vessel Hercules. Elliot came over from his home in Malta for the wedding for his first visit to the states.



Lee snares bouquet

It was a great time and everything went so smoothly that you’d think Howard had a second career as an event planner. Post wedding festivities involved more going out on the town with all the out of town guests and a wonderful cook-out for all the RPM crew back at George’s house on Sunday. Now Howard & Najada are off on their honeymoon and things are creeping back to normal. It was so great to get to meet so many new people and to enjoy the occasion with old friends as well.

Najada Tafili & Howard Phoenix (Part I)

October 20, 2009

Howard & Najada



Najada Tafili & Howard Phoenix (Part I)

Kris, Kathy, Wendy, Lisa & Najada

The past week has been dominated by preparation and planning for the anxiously anticipated wedding of our good friends Howard Phoenix and Najada Tafili which was held this past Saturday.

Vance, Najada & Todd

Howard works as the Dive Safety Officer for the company that I work for, The RPM Nautical Foundation, and it was through our work in Albania that he had the opportunity to meet the beautiful and lovely Najada, who is a native Albanian. They met and fell in love while Howard was there working.

Howard's parents

Randy & Nancy

Kathy & I have known Howard long before we ever began working together and we were happy to assist him as he made arrangements for his big day. Since he and his bride met while he was working with RPM, the wedding also became an unofficial RPM gathering as employees, board members, crew and contractors came from across the globe to participate. This was enhanced further when RPM founder George Robb offered his beautiful home as the location for the wedding. George even graciously offered to give the bride away since her parents were unable to travel to the US.



Jeff with Chiana & Talon

Robyn, Renee, Beth, Brad & Richard

Since most of her family and friends were unable to attend the wedding, Howard and Najada are planning to have a second wedding next summer in Albania that will honor all the traditional Albanian marriage customs and will offer her family and friends the opportunity to participate.



Since the wedding brought together so many RPM people, it was deemed a good opportunity to hold staff meetings, so the busy weekend was sandwiched with staff meetings. It was actually the first opportunity for me to meet in person many of the people who I deal with on a day to day basis, including Mary Johnsen & Kris Hansen from our office in South Carolina. Kris stayed with us at the house and we had a great time.

Kris, Mary & Kathy

The wedding weekend was chock full of activities and had us out late every night as we connected with old friends and made new ones. Howard’s parents hosted a wonderful rehearsal breakfast at Croissants de France before we did a walk through at George’s home on Thursday.

Conch Farm



On Friday evening after the meeting wrapped up, there was a dinner get together for Howard’s friends and family at the Conch Farm which was really wonderful before the men and women separated for their final evening of being single. I won’t reveal the details, but suffice it to say one of the visiting RPM crew single handily boosted the Key West economy spending $1,500.00 at a local Gentleman’s establishment. It was a fun evening.

Kathy & Kris





The sheer amount of photos from the festivities is going to require that I break this posting into two entries, so I will conclude part I here. Special Thanks to Wendy Isakson Edwards for a few of the photos that I used here.



Wendy & "friend"