Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Wedding Week-end, Part II


Christmas has come and gone. It was much smaller than usual for us, with so many out of town. I will share a few things next time.

The day of the wedding arrived - an unusual day for a wedding, Monday. It had to do with the military schedule being followed by David and Kelsey.

I had to rush around in the morning getting a haircut for Care Bear, which we should have done on Saturday. I decided not to get Feisty's hair cut since it looked really good when it was curled at this length. We had to be at the Tapestry House by 2:00 to prepare for some pictures. I decided to take them and spend the afternoon there (thinking I might get some relaxation and reading in, which didn't happen!) rather than leave them to the care of the wedding party. It's a good thing I did!

We got there in time to take a tour of the grand old house and take some (lots of) pictures. It was a beautiful old house on a one-time farm that had been many things over the years, most recently this venue for weddings. It could serve as a Bed and Breakfast, but is mostly used for weddings - the wedding party uses the house for preparation for the day, and can rent the rooms for the night before or after the wedding. The house was particularly lovely right now because of the Christmas decorations.




The bridal party arrived after a morning of beautification --




Here comes the bride --








View from the house to the event center.






The sun porch






Views from the front entrance







The floor at the front entrance.





The ceiling.





From a stairwell.






The kitchen.








Some of the bedrooms. The first one is the kids' room where they were supposed to rest and watch movies - the problem was, somebody had destroyed all of the video tapes and the t.v. wasn't working. Bummer! I think they should have gotten a bit of a refund.












I love this bathroom - wish I could have gotten the full view with the steps going down.




Living room.





Dining room.




I love the contrast of the tv set on top of the old sewing machine.




The beautiful decorations.















The girls changed in the very large master bedroom, which I didn't get to photograph before they took it over.




The big girls fixed the little girls' hair and put a bit of sparkly makeup on their faces and mascara on their eyes. They were pretty pumped. The beautiful third flower girl is Kelsey's cousin who was adopted from Ethiopia when she was three. She was delightful and very smart. The three of them decided they wanted to be cousins.




The girls with David's youngest brother, Luke. Most of my time that afternoon was spent trying to keep them from destroying their hairdos and bows on their dresses.





The girls with David's next brother, Joel. Their baskets were satin with rhinestone decorations, filled with white rose pedals.




The flower girls spent a lot of time running from the house to the event center, where the ceremony and reception would be held. I wandered over there after a bit one of the many times and found the event planner with them. She told me they had decided to practice, and it wasn't her idea, it was Care Bear's. Knowing CB as we do, I told her that her job could very well be taken over someday. Here are some pictures of the "chapel" area. (Note the ladder still there).












The photographer was busy in the bridesmaids' room --










Taken in the "chapel"




--- and outside the house.





--- and "goin' to the chapel' --- (taken by the official photographer)




A lot of time was spent waiting while pictures were taken, but it was a very lovely place to wait.

The groom's family lounging --







and posing for candid shots --






The Mother of the Groom's beautiful wrist corsage --




The bride's mom had brought good food to munch on all afternoon and the guys finally got their turn -- (once again, I wish I had known and I wouldn't have eaten lunch before we went.)





I love this precision - very military! (taken by the official photographer)



Finally ---- (taken by the official photographer)

And here's where my camera officially died. I wasn't able to get any pictures of the ceremony, so depended on my brother for the rest of the pictures - and nobody got any during the ceremony except Tiffany the amazing photographer.




One of my favorite parts of the whole wedding - the pomp of the military saber ceremony.





See why they lowered the last two sabers?







The reception was beautiful - lovely hors d'ouvres and a delicious sit-down dinner. The flower girls could hardly wait for the cake ceremony, because the cake broke from tradition --






Then the fun began - the gingerbread cookie bar - everyone got to decorate a cookie if they wished. But the three flower girls took over the table and took their time while the crowd lined up. I tried to hurry them!





One of the things I love most about David is his absolute love of his little cousins (second cousins really) and the fun he creates for them - in the middle of his wedding reception.




Remember the guy in pink? He caught the garter.




(Note me in the background ready to go - I was tired! - we didn't stay till the last song ended)









A neat tradition by the Tapestry House - a brick on the path, memorializing the day for each couple who is married there --








And it's off to Jamaica for some sun and surf and relaxation before the bride begins Office Training School and the groom begins his grueling ranger training.




15 comments:

Midlife Mom said...

What a gorgeous wedding! It's just like something out of a story book with that beautiful location! I loved all of the decorations, so elegant and not over done. The tv on the old sewing machine is great, I have one of those old sewing machines so will keep that idea in mind!

The girls looked adorable in their dresses! I can tell by the looks on their faces that they were enjoying every minute of the festivities. What a great idea to have the ginger bread people to decorate, I would have enjoyed that!

The bride and groom are a stunning couple! Where will they take their officer training?

We got a couple of feet of snow here. It was a wild couple of days but we are so used to it we don't think too much about it. I just stayed off the roads as some people think they can drive the speed limit even when it's slippery and snowing hard. It's beautiful now and I am anxious to get out on my snowmobile for a little ride.

Now I am off to the chiropractor as I have messed up my back.....grrrrrrr.....

Robin said...

Wow! Beautiful wedding, beautiful bride, handsome groom, adorable flower girls = perfect wedding! And that house!!! I would love to live in such a place - it would definitely become a bed and breakfast!
Glad to hear you have survived your busy December. I hope January will provide some rest and refreshment to you my friend.

Needled Mom said...

What beautiful wedding photos!!! It looks like it was a fantastic day for everyone. That house is amazing. The girls looked so precious.

There is nothing like a miltary wedding with all of the traditions that go along with it.

Now they are off for some sun and fun. Yeah!!! They deserve it.

Unknown said...

Oh your photos brought back wonderful memories! Jerome's little brother was married there the spring I was VERY pregnant with Madi! It is such a lovely venue!

What a beautiful wedding - I love that the men all wore their uniforms. And the little flower girls were just darling. Did you make their dresses?

Mrs. M said...

I love a beautiful wedding and that was certainly a good one. Thanks for posting all the pics. The Gingerbread Cookie Bar was the best idea I've seen for reception fun at a Christmas wedding. Perfect fun! And the cake topper too.

Happy New Year to you Dawn!!

mariel said...

what a beautiful wedding...the house is lovely!! congratulations to all!!!

nancygrayce said...

An absolutely beautiful wedding! The girls looked adorable in their dresses! Loved all the pictures and I'm sure you were exhausted and ready to put your feet up!

I love the gingerbread cookie theme! How fun.

Hootin Anni said...

Dawn, Dawn, Dawn!! As me if I loved perusing the lovely, wonderful wedding ceremony and the beginning of the most beautiful day of their lives?!! Yes...yes, indeed, I so enjoyed this. Immensely. Now I see why all the lovely royal blue dresses for the wedding party.......military!! It was so wonderful to be a viewing of this most gorgeous day...and wonderful to see the house inside. Wow.

But, I must say, I think my favorite is of the bride with her face in the mirror....that is MOST enchanting [I guess that's the word I'm trying to find]

All so beautiful.


PS...another novel I'm writing again, but need to ask you if you're getting a lot of snow. I'm thinking the heavy stuff is in the high country. I heard this morning that Red Mountain Pass is closed and Silverton [a favorite hang-out for me long ago] rec'd nearly 2 feet of new snow.

Oh, and one more thing...HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOURS.

[isn't that Jesus tree awesome?]

Hootin Anni said...

that should be 'ask' me, above.

Hootin Anni said...

mmmmmmmmm, see? That's what made me really dislike snow---the slick streets/highways, and the other drivers that just don't slow down enough for those dangerous conditions. It's that, and the snowpack in our driveways long ago. LOL

Enjoy having the girls play in it...I bet that's worth a snowflake now and then.

Linda said...

Oh I thoroughly enjoyed this Dawn. What a perfect venue for a wedding. I love it!
The girls are so sweet. You're doing a wonderful job - I am so proud of you. Praying for you always.

Carole Burant said...

Happy New Year, dear Dawn! Wishing you and yours all the very best that 2011 has to offer.

Omigosh, Dawn, what an absolutely beautiful place to have a wedding!! I want to move into that house! lol Everything looked just perfect and as you say, the Christmas decorations just added to it.

The bride and groom looked so happy and what a gorgeous couple they make. The girls looked darling in their flowergirl dresses. It couldn't have been an easy feat to keep them from messing up their hair or dresses! lol

Between yours and the photographer's pictures, one can tell it was a beautiful wedding and the gingerbread couple on top of the wedding cake? Perfect!!!!

Now I need to go read your other posts I missed:-) xoxo

Sharon Lynne said...

I'm here! And I'll be back to finish drinking in all these pictures. Second comment to come soon....

Just Call Me Grammy said...

What a beautiful place for a wedding. Love all the guys in their military blues and the girls looked gorgeous--especially the little ones :o)

Sharon Lynne said...

That was an exciting wedding. So much to experience, see and photograph. They look like such a nice young couple. Thanks for taking us there! What a beautiful place to get married.

I loved the picture of you---ready to go! (You deserved to be tired!)