And now, the wonderful event we worked for 6 months to pull off, Brandon and Angela's WEDDING WEEK!

Warning - this is a very long post.  There's a lot that happened in the night before the wedding and wedding day and I just don't know how to condense it further. Plus, my memory is getting worse the older I get, and I want to remember these details for a long time!

Wow - I can't believe all the wedding fun and festivities are over. I am glad that our lives aren't quite so consumed with wedding planning, but I did enjoy the process.

I am wishing now that I took more pictures of the process of preparing Brandon and Angela's wedding. I didn't think of it at the time.  Suffice it to say that our home was taken over by a wedding virus for about 6 months. The dining room was turned over entirely to purchased wedding supplies.

The couple was engaged just before Christmas, so we had just over 6 months to plan the wedding. In January I started talking to friends who had recently done weddings to get some much needed advice.

I put together a binder to keep track of all the details and the receipts from the wedding: venue, food for the reception, meals for the week before the wedding, photographer, wedding luncheon, friends who volunteered to help, flowers, invitations, clothing, honeymoon reservations, and travel plans to and from  Florida.

By February we booked the venue,  Lucy's Gardens in Ridgefield.  We knew it would be absolutely beautiful and abloom in July (it was) and it provided shelter in case of rain. There is both a large barn-like structure and a big canopy area outside.  We decided to have tables in both areas and a big crepe bar outside under the canopy.  We crossed our fingers that it wouldn't be raining on that day, because we generally have rain until July 4th.  Ha ha ha ha . . . . funny joke on us!  We had what they called a "heat wavelet" on July 1, 2014 and it was almost 100 degrees!  So ridiculously hot. But there's more to tell about that story in a minute.

A friend had advised us to not skimp on the photographer. We loved our photographer and she bonded with each of our kids. She asked if it would be ok if she takes Bailey's senior pictures later this summer.  Absolutely yes!  

One of the smartest things I did was to hire a friend from a nearby ward to make all the decorations. She is planning to work as a "wedding planner." She did a fabulous job on the decorations and I was so happy to not have to plan or prepare all the cutesy stuff.  I did buy all the silk flowers, ribbon, table linens and all the food (including crepes we ordered from a distributor in Canada). We thought that our wedding planner friend was doing all the set-up and take- down also, but it turned out that we needed to help quite a bit on both. Thank goodness we have amazing friends who pitched in to help!

Okay, I'm going to take a break and show some pictures. Here are few shots of my friends helping us set up the reception the night before the wedding.

 We had family in town for the wedding for most of the week before the event. We provided meals at our home each night for the guests. This process was complicated when the door to the garage freezer was left open, destroying most of the food I had pre-bought and pre-prepared for the week, including 4 ice cream pies for the dinner the night before the wedding.  I threw out a lot of food, took a deep breath, and restocked the freezer the best I could.  

The night before the wedding our meal was prepared for us by our good friends the McDonnells. This was SUCH a great service to offer and I am going to do the same for others in the future!  They offered to pick up and cook all of the food for a big barbecue for all the family members, come to our house to set it up, and then clean it up for us.  This enabled us to focus on our visitors and all the millions of last minute things we had to do that day.  What fantastic friends! Their daughter Laura captured some pictures during the dinner.

 Brother McDonnell manned the grill all night, freeing up Dan to talk and relax.

 It was so fun to have Scott and Ann's entire family here!

 It was such a beautiful night to sit outside and talk.

 After the dinner I had to run back to the reception venue to take food and much-needed ice water to my friends who were slaving away at the setup.  Quite a few family members came with us to see how it was coming along. After a bit we headed back home where Brandon and Angela were singing for the group. We also showed the wedding video to the family this night.

I am just going to pause here to say that . . . . I felt quite scattered at this point. I needed to be at the reception helping to set up. I needed to be at home with other family members and guests. I needed to run to the church to pick up tablecloths I had forgotten to get earlier. I needed to get Bailey's dress zipper fixed for the next day. Plus, there are a lot of interesting dynamics that arise when you get family members from three different families together.  And there were lots of last minute things to do, despite my efforts to be really organized and prepared. The week before the wedding necessitated lots of chocolate, ibuprofen, and laughter with Dan at the end of the day. But somehow it all came together with the tremendous help of family and friends.

And then, after some very special father's blessings for the wedding couple, everyone was off to their hotel rooms. Kara was staying with us, and she was enormously helpful in every way, including as resident hairdresser.

The next day we got ready and nervously watched the thermometer climbing outside.  We Washingtonians are a little freaked out by straight sunshine. I have to admit, though, it was much better than a rainstorm!

I took a picture of Brandon as he was ready to drive out to door to get married. MARRIED.  Notice that he is gripping the wedding rings and wedding license in his hand.

I still can't believe my baby is married. 

click below to keep reading. Remember that I warned you - it's long!




After Dan and Brandon left in one car the rest of us finished getting ready and then drove in the van. Kara took the picture as we walked out.

When we arrived at the temple we left our kids outside with Scott and Ann's kids while we went inside for the ceremony.  Both Aubrey and Joseph had cameras and took some fun pictures while they were waiting.

Okay, I need to take a break from the picture storytelling to say that there is nothing, NOTHING, more wonderful for Dan and me than seeing our child sealed to a wonderful spouse in the holy temple. I felt the Spirit so strong the entire day and literally felt wrapped in a cozy blanket of happiness. Nothing bothered me that day - I was just too happy. It was such a wonderful day to spend with the family I love dearly.

Back to the events ......after the ceremony the attendees joined the kids and waited for the wedding couple to come out while waiting we broiled in the direct sunlight which was reflecting off the beautiful white temple. The shade felt wonderful in comparison.

And then they came out of the temple and gave us all high-fives! Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this yet. I haven't received the disk with all the pictures from the photographer.  After we greeted the wedding couple, we followed them toward the reflecting pond for pictures. 

 I was amazed at how fast the photographer was able to do pictures of our group. We were done in about 25 minutes and on our way early to the wedding luncheon.

Everybody in the wedding party watching the bride and groom complete their photos from the comfort of the nearby shade.

Then we all loaded up and began the slow drive back across the river to the Grant House (a restaurant in a home from the 1840s which once housed Ulysses S. Grant). It is in historic Officer's Row in Vancouver. For some reason the traffic was really bad both on the way to and from the temple that day.  

We enjoyed a beautiful wedding luncheon.  The food was a little different than we thought it would be, but the ambiance and location were perfect.  During the luncheon we had guests fill out advice cards for the newlyweds  

  Joseph thought the napkins, which were folded like a book, were pretty cool.

And our red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting which were just slightly dry.  Long story summed up. . . we had to find a new bakery to bake the cake and cupcakes at the last minute because our baker had a family emergency.  Then, our wedding planner/helper misunderstood and thought that the wedding luncheon was the day before the wedding. So she told the new bakery to have the cupcakes ready on Monday afternoon. She picked them up on Monday and took them to the Grant House a day early. She called me in a panic because the Grant House explained that we didn't have a reservation for that day.  In the end she decided to put the cupcakes in her fridge until the next day.  So, our cupcakes were a little stale by the time of the actual luncheon. Oh well!

Each family took a few minutes to share some thoughts at the reception and then Brandon and Angela sang a super cute song, "You Always Make Me Smile" while Brandon accompanied on the guitar. 

 

After the luncheon our immediate family (minus the wedding couple) went to a nearby ice cream shop with Scott and Ann and family, because you can never have too many sweets in one day, right?

After chilling out at our house for a few hours, we were off to the reception!

The venue was just gorgeous. The temperature was still warm, but it was tolerable in the shade. However, inside the barn was pretty darn hot, so most people hung out outside under the canopy. I don't blame them, but I felt bad that not everyone saw all of Lisa's cute decorations!

The crepe bar turned out fantastic, despite some last minute faux pas. For various reasons, none of the fillings I had asked people to make turned out (we were supposed to have chocolate cream mousse, cream cheese mousse, and lemon curd).  So, all my friends combined their impressive brainpower and came up with new recipes. They ran to the store, got the ingredients, and had it all whipped up in time. No one knew there was a problem, including me. 

We also had the most impressive berries I have ever seen - blueberries, raspberries, black blackberries, strawberries. One of my good friends worked with a local fruit stand and they sent their best pickers to get the very best local berries the Northwest could offer. They were so good.

My friends also handled the water problem with grace. The owner of Lucy's Gardens NEVER informed me that we weren't allowed to use his water supply. Important thing to know, especially on a 100 degree day, don't you think? I was and am pretty annoyed by that fact. So, we had to send someone (Scott and Ann) to the grocery store for an emergency run for bottled water.  In the meantime, the reception started and people were dying of thirst. Quick thinking Kara grabbed a few small water bottles we had in a cooler for the wedding party and dumped them in the water jugs with a lot of ice, so it looked like we were just running low on water. When people would say to the helpers "did you know that you are out of water?" they would reply "oh, really?  We will get right on that!"  

One thing that this wedding experience really taught me is that I have the best friends in the world. They happily sacrificed so much for us. We aren't sure how we will every repay them. Kara jumped in and helped right along with them and she especially bonded with my friend Becky. My friends all wish Kara lived closer and Kara and I decided that my amazing friends need to be invited on one of our "sisters" trips! And, of course, I was so amazed at the help provided by family members. Brandon would have been married in a ragged shirt with a yellowing collar and a wrinkled suit if my parents hadn't worked their magic the day before the wedding. 

Before the reception, the photographer was a little crunched on time to get photos of Brandon and Angela, but still managed to get some beautiful pictures. We didn't get as many family pictures as I had hoped, but oh well. I will try not to be too sad by that fact!  So far I only have a few professional pictures from the temple and from the reception - just the ones that the photographer posted on facebook. Soon we will hopefully have many more! Below, the professional pics are interspersed with a few taken by friends and family.

Joseph Larry and Joseph Ethan relaxing during the reception

After greeting people in the line for an hour, we had a short program which included cutting the cake, the bride and groom's first dance

Angela's very special and tearful dance with her Dad

And my very awkward dance with Brandon. We were too busy laughing to be emotional and tearful, and it was not fun to be dancing in front of everyone!

Then there was more dancing, including one where the wedding couple switched partners with the couple who had been married the longest (which happened to be Dan's parents!)

And then it was over. I don't have any picture yet of the bouquet toss, etc. After Alexa grabbed the bouquet (there is some dispute about whether Alexa or Bailey grabbed it first, but Alexa emerged from the throng with it in hand), Angela went to the bride's room to change.

The group waiting with bubbles to blow to send off the wedding couple!

Here they come!

And they were off!  They were pretty annoyed by the rattling cups and plates behind their car and the crepe paper all over the inside, so they stopped within minutes and took it all off and then drove straight to a carwash.

For their honeymoon they first spent one night at the Heathman Hotel in Vancouver and then to Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast for 6 nights, where they stayed in a little condo.

And we were off too. Oh no, that's not exactly correct. We helped clean up the reception for two more hours and dealt with the somewhat irate owner (whose wife was annoyed that children were laughing and disturbing her TV watching) and a confusing takedown of the decorations (it wasn't clear who was in charge - the wedding planner or us.  Next time we would run that differently.)  Thanks to the help of many friends we finally limped home on very sore feet at around 11 p.m.  Kara and I sat up for another hour, eating leftover fruit and talking about the day. Dan and the other kids collapsed in bed immediately.

Ah, what a wonderful day. And I'm glad that our kids are spaced far enough apart that we won't be doing this for awhile!