Ahhh . . . now that the photographer has posted pictures from the wedding, I can share the link and write about all the many beautiful things that happened on June 7, 2009. Please, please look at the photographer’s photos because they are much better than mine!
Early morning – Emily picks me and Kristen up at the Battleground Best Western; I hold box of bouquets in my lap all the way to Bridal Veil, relishing the fragrance the whole way; we are the first to arrive and set up begins!
Bridal Veil Lakes, Oregon
During set up, we all do things like put food in the refrigerator, put tablecloths and flowers on tables, and direct boys on where tables and chairs should go. The photographer was arriving to take formal pictures before the wedding, so at some point I headed into the bathroom to re-steam dresses while the rest of the set up was finished. Then it was time for the girls to get ready! We had a lot of fun getting pretty while the photographer, Lauren, snapped photos of our preparations. Formal pictures were next, and Lauren and her husband did a great job of directing us and making the pictures fun.
After photos, we were about an hour away from the wedding so we all continued getting ready [poor Emily’s mom had to have her linen jacket steamed a couple of times and eventually decided not to move her arms until the ceremony :-)]. I fretted over whether or not the rings were still in my pocket while everyone was amazed that my dress had pockets and that an entire ring box could go unnoticed in them (which, I’ll agree, is pretty amazing). Finally, the time came to walk over to the ceremony site, so the bridal party and family walked around the lake to get to a little hut where we could hide before walking in.
When we got the signal that it was go time, Steven (Eric’s brother) and I started walking down the path to stand up with Emily and Eric on their wedding day. Next came Kristen with two fellas, Jeff (Emily’s brother) and Michael (Eric’s other brother), then Eric with his parents and finally Emily with her parents. After the families were seated Emily and Eric stepped up to the officiant together, where he discussed the commitment of marriage and I almost cried because I thought I saw E’s chin quivering. The vows were beautiful, the ring exchange was flawless (I have to admit this was the most stressful part of the ceremony for me – mostly due to fear of messing up the hand off and having to crawl in the grass to find Eric’s ring). Emily and Eric kissed and walked down the aisle as husband and wife, spent a moment together and then greeted guests on the path to the reception. Kristen, Melody and I brought up the rear, at which point I first hugged Eric (started crying, managed to choke out a “congratulations”), then Emily (started seriously crying and just managed a longer than normal hug).
The reception was next and this also went off without a hitch. We dined on delicious box lunches from Whole Foods, and completed a puzzle of the newlyweds (picture taken before they were weds). Not entirely too late, Sasha finally arrived after dealing with delayed and canceled flights. He (and I) were really sad that he missed the ceremony, but he still got to congratulate the bride and groom.
(Please note silk capelet in photo – more discussion of this handknit coming soon) The toasts were made with delicious Izze fruit soda! Steven made an adorable toast to Emily and Eric, Kristen and I expressed our love, Emily and Eric thanked everyone for coming, Emily’s dad said a few words and Emily’s mom (in a surprise gesture) toasted me and Kristen (which brought on a few tears again). Then came the cupcakes!
After cupcakes and Izzes, we took a little canoe ride. Emily and Eric went in the “bridal canoe” while Jeff took me and Kristen out behind them. Look at us go! The photographer said she has done a few weddings at Bridal Veil and that Emily and Eric were the first bride and groom to get in a canoe (I’m not surprised).
Much merriment ensued, and then it was ultimately time for the happy couple to drive away from us! The getaway was simple (we went pretty easy on them), and clean up was easy peasy with so many people to help out. After everything was loaded up and ready to go it was time to say goodbye to everyone, which was hard after such a fun week.
