The Wedding ~ Day 2

As I write this post, I am celebrating my 12th Anniversary.  To be honest, it still surprises me to realize we are in double digits. We're both so young! ;) Aren't we?! 

Our wedding anniversary falls in the time of year when people are naturally given to contemplating the year that has gone before.  That has always been an important part of our anniversary celebration - talking over the year. Giving time to really look at the good, the bad and the ugly and how we've come through it.

I was very reluctant to do that this year.  There have been so many things that fall under the "The Ugly" or "The Bad" categories.  Who wants to spend time looking at that?  So, this year we listed only the "The Good", and heading that list is my brother's wedding.  So, here we go with DAY 2 ~ the actual celebration.

After seeing the set up for the party the night before, I wasn't sure how they were going to make it special all over again for the actual wedding day.  Silly Karlie.

Remember Kadi, the girl who gave us all jobs and helped us to bring Ardilla's vision to life?  I think I forgot to mention that she handed us all a blueprint ~ I mean the lady had it together.  This is her:



Kadi, taking a quiet moment to write a "Love Note" to the newlyweds.

 And also behind the scenes, Benjamin's "Men of Honor" and long time friends, Meghan and Gabe.
Meghan is brilliant ~ her wedding present was to have Kadi there, helping to make the wedding happen, for a whole week.  Pretty amazing present, if you ask me. And Gabe filled his role beautifully - you always need the person who will stay solid in the face of whatever happens.



Meghan and Gabe waiting for the groom to arrive.

You'll remember on Day #1 that Jack, Bob, Sue, Andy and I were all decorating and setting up the party space.  Look at what Meghan and Kadi were doing:

Throughout the trail to the ceremony...

...we were guided by little still lives of feathers...

...and flowers attached to the trees.  Who needs breadcrumbs!

The site of the ceremony had so much natural beauty that little was needed to make it perfect.

 

However, there were some practical issues that these ladies settled as well.  The ceremony was short and beautiful, most of us stood throughout it.

my cousin Kacie, her baby Charlize, Aunt Robbie and Uncle Roger

 There were some considerations to be made, and 6 chairs were set up for my Aunt Brenda (foreground) and Mary, Ardilla's grandmother,

Also, for my Daddy (the father of the groom),

Daddy's the one with the camera.

 And for Mama (the mother of the groom) and Pete.

Aren't they sweet?

 They really thought of everything, and that helped the ceremony run smoothly and allowed the beauty of the moment to shine.

the bridesmaids

the groomsmen

Our dear friend, and Benjamin's mentor, Bob Runyon, led the ceremony.

my brother wrote the entire ceremony...

...including his vows.  This is where he started to cry, and therefore, where I did.

The exchanging of the rings.

"Ardilla, you may kiss your groom!"

Bob said, "By the authority given to me by you two and no one else..."  Aren't they a striking couple?!

and so sweet.

 After digesting all of that beauty, we all walked back to the party area from the night before.

Best EVER guest gifts.  Benjamin and Ardilla made individual cups BY HAND for each guest.  On the bottom of each it says, "a+b"

Instead of a guest book.

The bar

 Remember the tables from DAY 1?  They added lace tablecloths, house wine, and place settings.  It really was perfect.

 So we had a lovely meal, sitting and chatting and enjoying each other

Best friends for a long time.

And then came the dancing!!!!

Benjamin and Ardilla started it off.

 We broke for a few speeches

 

 

For some cake

 

 

 And then some more dancing

 

This lovely couple welcomed Ardilla as part of their family and home from the time she was 11 years old.

 

 oh yeah, we had fun!

If you want to know more about Benjamin and his work, you can start here.

ktv

Victory and a Wedding

Hallelujah!  I've finally figured out how to sign in to my blog!  You KNOW it's been too long, when you can't remember the exact combination of email and password to log in.  It's been 9 months, and I'm not going to pretend to play catch up.  Let's just say that there is a lot going on in my world right now - and leave it at that.

However, I do want to share my brother's beautiful wedding.  I asked my lovely new sister-in-law as I was taking a  bajillion pictures and she gave her permission.  They got married in Virginia on October 19.

I love how Benjamin and Ardilla kept the whole thing simple and real.  There were no pretensions, no pretending.  The "dress code" was basically your own interpretation of sharp.  It was a 2 day party, and it was a PARTY!

 

 

This is what  we started with...Well, this and a gorgeous setting.




Friends from our childhood, and friends from Benjamin and Ardilla's present came together to help decorate the outdoor arena.  This is the afternoon of "The Party ~ Day 1".

Ardilla had a vision, and we did our best to give it life.  Now, our best may not have been good enough, but thanks to the organization of Kadi Franson we came pretty close!

 

The vision required a lot of stretching and climbing ladders - I decided it was a good time to take pictures! :)



"Now how do we make these look random?"

My wonderful husband...

...and my hero from childhood.  My friend, Jack Kouwe.

So, while Benjamin and Ardilla were away, getting all the legal stuff done, we stretched, climbed, hung, strung and generally defined the party space for Night #1. Lanterns were hung over bigger bulbs and strings of fairy lights defined pathways. We also unstitched burlap sacks for table coverings.   It was so much fun!  Andy and I had the chance to work with Jack, and another couple from my childhood Bob & Sue. 

 

 I've known Bob and Sue my whole life - in fact, Bob sang the majority of the music at my wedding.  My WHOLE life!  When Andy and I pulled up to the cabin, I walked up to a woman directing the parking of another car and introduced myself...it was Sue.  sigh.  Obviously, it had been entirely too long (12 years) since I've seen her.  So, having jobs to do while we got used to each others' company again was PERFECT (thank you, Kadi)!

 

 

Here is the space when I left.

 

So, Andy and I went back to our "digs" to rest, shower and change and when I came back, this is what it looked like:

I LOVE that she went around and found beautiful fall leaves to decorate the vases.  It was perfect!

Every table had flowers and candle light.

THIS was awesome!  A "Grilled Cheese Bar", everyone made their own, they kept the grill on and you made a sandwich for yourself as you wanted to.  This was on top of the burgers, brats and dogs.

And let's not forget this was a party.  There was a bluegrass band:

 

The Beer Ticks

 

They were great, and there was a whole lot of square dancing - with a caller who taught us as we went.  I'd love to show you pictures of how much fun we had...but I was too busy getting swung around and dosey-doing! :)

 

I'll share more about the beautiful DAY 2 next time.  I hope you enjoyed visiting it (and allowing me to REvisit it), it was one of the happiest times of 2013 for me.

 

Karlie