Osteria 166

Welcome Party

The Richardson Hotel

Wedding Day

Guests Arrive

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

Reception

Cole's

After Party

Our Wedding

A Tale of Two Joeys

The year was 2017 and like most Millennial couples, we met on a dating app. It was a new platform for gay men called Chappy, and its allure was that every time you opened the app, you had to answer the question: "Are you looking for Mr. Right, or Mr. Right Now?" In late April 2017, we both logged on and answered: Mr. Right. We quickly got the whole "is it weird we have the same name?" thing out of the way, and the witty back-and-forth that followed evolved into plans to grab drinks at a West Village wine bar called Gottino a few days later. There, the conversation was your typical first date fodder—Hollister told Polino he saw himself becoming a stay-at-home dad who coached soccer, and Polino told Hollister he could see himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-0had_dhQo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pulling an Amy Dunne</a> one day. It was clear from that evening that openness and humor would be a driving factor of this love story. The summer of 2017 will always be remembered for its amazing music and the beginning of The Joeys. As months turned into years, we checked off every box required of budding relationships built to last—moving in together, traveling to meet each other's families, and discovering we could spend unlimited amounts of time together via 2020's COVID lockdowns in New York City. We supported each other during times of loss and growth, expanded our family of 2 by adopting our beloved pup Rooney, and decided that after nearly 10 years in New York, it was time to lay down roots someplace closer to family—ultimately settling on Polino's hometown of Buffalo, New York. But before we could make the cross-state move, Hollister devised a plan to make an honest man out of Polino. (Please excuse the shift in tense from 2nd to 3rd person.) In the weeks leading up to November 5, 2022, Polino decided to do something very out of character and took 2 weeks off of work to decompress and creatively reset. This became a bit of a problem when, four days before Hollister was to propose, Polino decided he hated the layout of their apartment and rearranged all of the furniture without warning. Fearing Polino would find the engagement ring, Hollister suddenly announced he had "a lot of meetings" and locked himself in their bedroom, hoping Polino's burst of home decor inspiration would disappear before the end of business that day. Narrator: it did. A few days later, they had reservations for dinner at Le Fanfare—a neighborhood restaurant that had recently received a Michelin mention, and was also the site of Hollister's introduction to his future mother-in-law some years earlier. Polino was under the assumption that the reservations were just standard Friday night date-night plans. However, from the start, all of the signs were there that the night was more than just a standard entry in their Friday routine. If only Polino had noticed them... When their cocktails and starters arrived, Hollister began nervously commenting that it felt like the restaurant was rushing them. Polino furrowed his brow and said he disagreed. When Hollister pointed out that there was tiramisu on the menu, he did so in the hope that Polino would jump at the chance to have his favorite dessert. Hollister wanted to slow things down because at their apartment a few blocks over, a plan had been set in motion and he needed to time their arrival. Polino, though, was painfully oblivious and said he'd prefer to grab a pint of his favorite Van Leeuwen ice cream from the bodega on the way home for them to share while they watched The Good Fight. Upon arriving home, Polino commented on the "random" flower petals discarded on the stairs leading up to their apartment, adding "that's so weird," as he passed them. Hollister was uncharacteristically quiet. Reaching the door, he turned to Polino and said "Now, don't worry... Rooney's safe." Narrator: if you know Joey Polino, you won't be surprised to learn he reacted with shock, quickly unlocking the door and searching for the pup who always greeted them with excitement, missing the scene in front of him. What he missed by searching for the beloved pup was the apartment filled with flowers and lit tea candles, as arranged by Hollister's Uncle Tim and Aunt Heather. He'd earlier tried to slow down their dinner because Tim &amp; Heather had been stuck in traffic as the cocktails and starters arrived at their table an hour earlier. They were now sitting two blocks away with Rooney safe and sound, waiting for the news of what was to happen next. Hollister led Polino to their couch and got down on one knee. "Oh boy," Polino breathed. Neither of them remembers what Hollister said when he took the ring box out of his pocket. What they do remember is Polino deadpanning: "Did you ask my parents?" as Hollister opened the box. He said yes and then Polino said yes, and then Hollister asked him to confirm that yes every twenty minutes for the next several hours.

Photos

Wedding Party

What is "cocktail attire"? We've been to our fair share of weddings and know how stressful this part can be. To help with the process, we've created a <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/joeypolino/hp-wedding-what-is-cocktail-attire/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pinterest board</a> (naturally!) to help.

Is there transportation to the wedding? Yes! We will have shuttles to and from The Hyatt and The Hilton. Transportation will begin at 4:15 pm to the venue and starts back up at 10:30 pm.

Is there parking at the venue? Yes, we will have a full-service valet for all guests driving to the wedding.&nbsp;

Q + A

For guests from out of town, we have two hotel block options for you to choose from. Both hotels are located in downtown Buffalo within walking distance from each other. We will be providing transportation from these hotels to and from our wedding venue on October 26th. Please check back closer to that time for more information.

To book your stay at the Hyatt with our block rate, please use the link <a href="https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/BUFFA/G-POHO" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>! We ask that our guests please book by September 25th to take advantage of our special wedding block price.

Hyatt Regency Buffalo / Hotel And Conference Center

When booking online, enter the arrival and departure dates for the stay. Before selecting the Check Rooms and Rates button, click the link underneath to “Add a Special Rate" and enter your group code in there. To book&nbsp;over the phone, please contact Hilton Reservations at 1-855-446-1178 or contact the hotel directly at 716-848-1000. Please inform an associate of the dates and our block code&nbsp;PHWB. We ask that our guests please book by September 25th to take advantage of our special wedding block price.

Hilton Garden Inn Buffalo Downtown

For guests traveling from NYC

For our guests traveling from New York City, should you travel by car, make your roadtrip on-theme for our wedding by following <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/dir/208+Franklin+St,+Brooklyn,+NY+11222/Buffalo,+NY/@41.8933218,-79.0457219,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m18!4m17!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c2593f93721b49:0xef4822b11954e5e7!2m2!1d-73.9578217!2d40.732628!1m5!1m1!1s0x89d3126152dfe5a1:0x982304a5181f8171!2m2!1d-78.8783689!2d42.8864468!2m3!6e0!7e2!8j1703658600!3e0?entry=ttu" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">our go-to NYC &gt; Buffalo route</a>. Pro tips: Leave NYC between 6 - 6:30am to sail across Manhattan and its tunnels. We've been able to make it from Greenpoint, Brooklyn to New Jersey in 19 minutes when leaving during this time frame! In Clifton Park, NJ there's a Starbucks directly off the NJ-3W that we stopped at at the beginning of every trip. Order ahead to beat the Friday rush. The midway point of this trip is just outside Binghamton, NY. We used this as a marker and stopped at the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Speedway/@42.0592738,-76.1441534,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x89da95c83fb48267:0x9e09d8a6c2600b32!8m2!3d42.0592738!4d-76.1415785!16s%2Fg%2F1tw1ftzf?entry=ttu" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apalachin Speedway + McDonalds </a>for gas, bio breaks (human and pup), and to switch drivers. Breaking this 6 hour road trip into two 3 hour legs definitely made it go by faster. (On more than one occasion, we set this as our initial destination to make the GPS Arrival Time feel less daunting.) This roadtrip was the inspiration for two curated playlists—Polino's "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3lQZzqiUBzY0IfcHvh1u0r?si=7d8935dbbb4145f6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">No Skips</a>" and Hollister's "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/09D6FzQyvn1JYXQJAJrG5a?si=8296591ea96f4d68" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC&gt;ITH&gt;BUF</a>". We curated them both with our favorite songs with the intention that you should never have to skip a track or think about what to put on next.

Travel

Buffalo is a city going through a renaissance, so there are plenty of things to do and amazing places to eat. Below you'll find just a few broken into helpful categories.

We thought we get this obvious one out of the way first. Located just 17 miles northwest of downtown Buffalo, a trip to Niagara Falls is a bucket list attraction for people the world over. Local tip: While the view from the US side is better, the Canadian town of Niagara Falls has many more activities, so if you're looking for more than an Instagram pic, make sure to bring your passport! (But also, you can totally walk across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada).

Niagara Falls

the joeys' favorites

Our go-to breakfast spot. Local tip: Place your order ahead of time via their website to avoid the line!

Remedy House

Across the street from Remedy House, Butter Block has the best pastries in Buffalo.

Butter Block

Our favorite pizza joint, conveniently located around the corner from the two hot spots above.

Extra Extra Pizza

One of our favorite restaurants, it's a great place to hit up on a double date or with a group and share plates big and small.

The Dapper Goose

Introduced to us by Alex Burtless, the negronis at Billy Club are our favorites.

Billy Club

Gin is JP's go-to liquor, making this gin bar a staple for the HPs.

Graylynn

JP's little brother was at one time a bartender at this bottle shop and tap room with so many selections of beer, seltzers, wine and N/A beverages that you can truly never go wrong.

Fattey Beer Co. Buffalo

One of JH's favorite restaurants in Buffalo, the Detroit-style pizza reminds us of one of our go-to spots in Brooklyn. Local tip: The Pakora and Spicy Cucumber Salads are must-haves.

Marble & Rye

This downtown Mexican spot has the best homemade tortillas in Buffalo and satisfying selection of hot sauces.

Casa Azul

The museum that started JP's love of art and its history (and the proud site of multiple internships), the AKG's collection can rival any of the major hitters in bigger cities with works by Pollock, Rothko, Still, Judd and so many more.

Buffalo AKG Art Museum

This brewery/pizza joint is a Polino family favorite. If the weather's nice and the patio is open, we recommend a table back there where you can sit along Ellicott Creek. Local tip: The elote dip is *chef's kiss*

Britesmith Brewing

A new favorite of the HP's, Moor Room has a great selection of beers, seltzers and wines, and wild Bills viewing parties.

Moor Room

Another favorite for double dates and group dinners, The Little Club is perfect for sharing plates and admiring fabulous decor.

The Little Club

One of our favorite breweries with a big selection of beers, wines, ciders, and cocktails. Great for large groups and a quick bite to eat!

Froth Brewing Co.

A great place to grab coffee, breakfast, or lunch, this shop also has a cute market full of cooking essentials, local goodies, and more

Mojo Market

Considered a Buffalo institution, a great spot for a quick lunch or drinks on the patio

The Place

Wings

Buffalo is the birthplace of Buffalo Wings (you're welcome). Here, we don't call them "Buffalo Wings" or even "Chicken Wings", they're just "Wings." Here are some local favorites for where to get your wing-fix. Local tip: when it doubt, it's probably going to be hotter than you're used to, so go easy on the heat order.

Anchor Bar

Duff's Famous Wings

Gabriel's Gate

Bar-Bill North

Doc Sullivan's

Right around the corner from our venue, this place has been open for over 90 years and never misses. Their wings are also a must-try!

Joey & Joey

Joey & Joey

Registry