Friday:
On the next day, we drove toward the North Shore of Lake Superior, to the wedding location at Grand Superior Lodge. Just out of Two Harbors, MN, the Lodge nestled on the shore of the Lake, tucked between Castle Danger (pronounced: Castle Dane-jah!) and Gooseberry Falls State Park. Listened to NPR and did the Strib crossword during the drive. When we hit Duluth, I made us listen to this.
This (below) is our "lake house room" at Grand Superior Lodge. We had just held our own wedding and were buying plane tickets for me for October, and for us for this NYE trip, when I made the reservation, so we didn't feel like splurging on the room. If we were, we would have gotten one of the lake house rooms that feature a hot tub! Totally regretting that. We could have swung it! But the room we had was fine, with a spacious bathroom, mini-fridge and coffeemaker. All the essentials. Plus, that sweet North Woods Decor that I see everywhere once I venture north of Duluth.
The main theme for our room was "moose and acorns." MB and I had some fun joking about the cheesy wallpaper and bric-a-brac, but I've come to regard this kind of decor as legitimately honorable and/or representative of the region; I love it.
Soon after arriving at GSL, I had to change and fix my hair, and then meet Samantha and the rest of the wedding party in the ballroom for the Wedding Rehearsal. After demurring about whether he would come by, MB showed up with the cake knife and server, and then agreed to stick around, which was nice, because then he could take some photos of the rehearsal.
Samantha and her father Sam. It's cute how they look so much alike.
Practicing the ceremony, on the patio outside the ballroom. Directly on the shore of Lake Superior!
I neglected to take a photo of my outfit, but for the sake of my own records, I wore this cute, black, long-sleeved top that I found on sale at Anthro a few weeks ago, and the cream-colored skirt with black pinstripes that I wore to my bridal shower. Black tights, giant heels, awesomeness.
After the rehearsal, it was time to join the wedding party and close family members for the Groom's Dinner, at The Rustic Inn Cafe, located just 1/4 mi. south of GSL. There was a Groom's Dinner menu featuring many delicious items, but when I saw the Shepherd's Pie, my mind was made up.
I'm telling you Blogosphere, it was scrumptious. I also enjoyed a supposedly local (MN) red wine with my dinner, but I can't remember the name (exactly), it's not accessible via Google, and when I called the Rustic Inn to ask them (I am serious about documentation), the lady who answered the phone yelled "Hello?!" into the phone a bunch of times (while I said "Can you hear me?") before hanging up. So perhaps it will have to remain a mystery.
Our Groom's Dinner group. Samantha hired the ceremony musician, Dan Rodriguez, to play for the first part of the night's dinner, as a surprise for Darin. He was great! When he played "Hallelujah," Samantha and Darin cutely got up to dance.
Below, MB's typical expression, when I am pointing a camera at him and we're in public so he can't yell at me to not do so:
Groomsman Dave and I, playing Camera Tag:
Samantha and Darin thanked everyone for coming, and then handed out the wedding party gifts. My gift consisted of the faux fur wrap and muff that I would be wearing in the ceremony the next evening, elbow-length black leather gloves (also for the ceremony), and a beautiful gold vintage bracelet with purple stones and clusters of pearls.
After the gifts, it was time for pie! The Rustic Inn Cafe sells homemade pies on the premises. I had a slice of the Five Layer Chocolate pie and MB had the Raspberry Cream Pie. The chocolate was yummy, but the raspberry cream pie was amazing. Win for MB.
After dinner, I joined Samantha and Amy (wife of Groomsman Dave) in the ballroom, to assist with the finishing touches. Amy draped the fabric backdrop for the head table, and I picked out rocks and acorns to decorate the other tables. Then Samantha went over the things that needed to be done the next day with Amy (wisely not trusting the GSL staff to get everything right), and showed us the gorgeous brooch bouquet she ordered custom from a seller on Etsy. She also ordered the corsages and boutonnieres (which also each featured a vintage brooch) from the same seller; we set them out on the table for the wedding party and family to find the next day. Darin came in with another groomsman/usher to work on stringing up the lights from the ceiling.
After finishing in the ballroom, Samantha and I went upstairs to join family and peeps in the Splashing Rock Lounge. MB was socializing with Samantha's father Sam, and making best friends with the bartender. I had a drink, and then Samantha and I joined the party of Darin's pals, plus Carrie Ann (one of Samantha's personal attendants) and her husband, in one of the other lake houses. Some of the lake houses at GSL can be rented by groups of people - they feature living areas, kitchens, hot tubs!, and decks - this was one such house. When Samantha and I arrived, we were immediately set up with buttershots! Yay!
We visited for a while. I enjoyed a glass of Carrie Ann's cranberry wine. We took photos, and then Samantha and Darin decided to crash for the night. I decided to find my husband. He was hanging out with Samantha's family and South Dakota family friends in the lake house across the way from ours. Once there, Lindsey set me up with a Crown and Coke and MB insisted I try the pickled herring. It wasn't bad! I had to laugh heartily about being in Minnesota and there being a plastic pickled herring Party Pail on the counter.
Did you know that pickled herring comes in a Party Pail?! Well, now you do.
I'm not going to say that there was a game of quarters going on between (S's sister) Lindsey, (S's cousin) Mary Jo, (S's BIL) Ryan, MB, and a couple family friends Dale and Bonnie(?), but I'm not going to say that there wasn't. Also, I shall not indicate whether I actually unwisely drank two Crown and Cokes instead of one, before retiring to my room "early" (at 2:30 AM).
Back in the room, I tried to write a toast for the next night, but just ended up with about five different versions I somehow couldn't find a way to wrap up. (Why I didn't write a toast before: I'd thought, per previous indications from Samantha, that there were not going to be "official toasts." Plus, the sisters and I sort of took turns playing the "Woman of Honor" role, and I was confused until Friday night, about whether Lindsey or Nicole would be toasting. So at the rehearsal, S&D mentioned that there would be time set aside for toasts. Nicole (S's other sister) told me she wouldn't be toasting and Lindsey said she was on the fence. With all of that, AND after the beautiful toast that Samantha delivered at my wedding, I decided to do the same for her.)
Anyway, by the time MB returned from
Saturday:
I obeyed my alarm, sometime after 7 AM, and managed to get myself dressed, made-up, and armed with the mimosa ingredients that Samantha and I had stashed in our mini-fridge the night before, in time to take a couple of photos of the lovely early morning lake. Then I met Samantha, Lindsey and Nicole in the lobby so we could all leave for the salon. It's not a wedding if I'm not waking up as the ass crack of dawn to get my hair did!
Pretty lake!
We picked up a million pastries at the grocery store on the way to The New Hairitage in Two Harbors.
At The New Hairitage, Samantha's stylist was ready and waiting, as were The Paparazzi - two videographers and the official wedding photographer. Molly was already in the other chair, getting her hair done. I whipped up mimosas for Samantha and I, and then sat down next to Nicole and Lindsey to look through the up-do books and make fun of the expressions on the models faces.
The male videographer came over the N&L to harass them about saying something to the camera. I was thinking "of course you are male - they haven't even put on makeup yet and you want them to be on camera?!" I was feeling hostile toward his pressuring techniques (could the messages not wait until they were all dressed and looking pretty?), which ended up working on N&L, but when it became clear that he was only interested in talking to the sisters, my feelings turned both relieved and indignant. "I would NOT have given in that pressure!" vs. "I'll just hang out over here, being chopped liver!"
It will be awesome for Samantha to have a video and photographic record of her time in the salon, but I have to say the videographers did rather prevent us from having much of an intimate/humorous conversation with the Bride. Small trade-off for the indelible record, I suppose!
After doing a beautiful job on Samantha's hair, the stylist did her make up as well. Make up is tricky, so much that I don't trust anyone to do mine, not even on my wedding day, but her stylist did an excellent, tasteful job. Since I was more impressed with Samantha's lady, I waited until she was available to get my hair done.
Because I always have had up-dos at weddings, and because the neckline on my dress was (unintentionally) a bit lower than was comfortable for me, I'd been debating wearing my hair down for this wedding. I imagined a 60's-style pouf on top, with the rest of the hair straightened. But I was worried that the stylist wouldn't think that it would hold all day and night, or that she would be confused about my directions, so I debated chickening out and getting the standard up-do. I'm so glad that I decided to go for the fantasy, after all!
Below, Samantha puts the finishing touches on her vows! (That's the Madonna hoodie she bought during our excellent Madonna in San Diego Adventure!)
Soon after my hair was finished, (There it is below! Pretty huh?! I wish I could do my hair like that everyday!), Desiree arrived! Yay! She was Samantha's other personal attendant for the wedding. And while I'd been in the chair, Samantha's Junior Bridesmaids and future MIL arrived to get their hair done as well.
Cute curls and little girl up-dos!
N&L left, and soon the photographer was driving Desiree, Samantha and I back to GSL. There was quite a bit of conversation and confusion about whether to eat lunch first, then get dressed, vice versa, and then how to get to the lake house where the ladies would be getting dressed - and retrieve the wedding gown and accoutrements - without Darin seeing Samantha. This was complicated by the fact that Darin and Samantha's stuff was in the process of being moved into the Honeymoon Suite for that night. Chaos! Chaos! I managed intercept the majority of the stuff and haul it to the lake house. The dress was delivered there, and Samantha scooped up her shoes. Soon all the stuff and people were in the correct location! Initially, I'd tried to be business-like and hurry people, because we were behind schedule (and that is what Samantha had done for me on my wedding day), but when it became clear that my efforts were utterly futile (too much interference, unlike on my wedding day), and that I just seemed bitchy, I gave up. Walked over to my lake house and called a still-sleeping MB to come open the door, as I'd apparently forgotten my key that morning. Grabbed my dress and underthings, and returned to dress myself and help dress Samantha.
Well, dressing Samantha was a group effort! Though Desiree did most of the work. It was fun, bringing together all the elements of Samantha's beautiful gown and accessories - the black leather gloves, the sparkling broach on the shoulder. I retrieved my nail clippers from my makeup bag so Dez and I could trim some strings from the end of the sash.
We are Wedding MacGyvers!
Rather than hand it to Desiree, I put Samantha's gorgeous bracelet around her wrist myself. The symmetry of the act was touching for me; I'd thought it was so sweet on my wedding day, when she surprised me by lending me her gold diamond bracelet, and then put it on my wrist.
Most brides don't need long johns, snow boots and snow pants on their wedding day!
After Samantha was dressed, the photographers and videographers recorded footage of Samantha in the livingroom - the large picture window displaying Lake Superior was the perfect backdrop. Darin arrived, and we all engineered the "reveal moment," or whatever you call it. Then while they took more photos of the couple, Desiree and I walked to the main Lodge to get the Subway sandwiches, and some chips and drinks for Samantha and other people back at the lake house. For me too, because I'd been absently breaking into some random Cheezits that were on the counter in the kitchen, and mercilessly snacking on them.
Duh, of course Samantha and I had to recreate the Romantic Sandwich Picture from my wedding!
I returned to my room in the our lake house to finish putting myself together: teeth brushing, eyelash curling, frantic plan-making on the phone with Desiree-having... There was a bit of miscommunication about when I was supposed to travel over to Gooseberry Falls with the rest of the wedding party for photos, but in the end, everything worked out! MB would drive me - problem solved. He'd decided to get out of bed and take photos of me getting ready, I'm sure because he shares my passion for recording life's precious moments and not at all because he enjoys ridiculing the arcane art of combing mascara clumps out of one's eyelashes.
He also thankfully whipped up a pot of coffee, which I realized my semi-irritable constitution had been craving all morning. Managed to throw a cup down my throat before we scooted out the door.
Arrived just in time to walk down to the photo location with the other peeps!
We took the wedding party photos, and the "Bride/Groom with Individual Wedding Party Member" photos in front of these falls. No videographers this time, just the official photographer and another photographer pal of hers. (So, two fun lady photographers.) I can't wait to see how the photos turn out; I'm sure they'll be amazing. Samantha and Darin definitely did a fantastic job of optimizing the beauty of a winter wedding. We were ALL so happy that the weather cooperated. It was cold, but not miserably cold, snowy, but not too snowy. No storms, and the roads were safe on the journey north. They couldn't have planned for anything better!
Well, Lindsey and Nicole did think it was a little too cold!
Beautiful Bride, at Beautiful, Frozen Gooseberry Falls!
When it was time to leave, I rode with Jason, Molly and Dave back to the Lodge. I called MB to ask him to bring my heels. ("Which shoes?" "The ones you think look like hooker heels.") I'd been wearing my tall black boots while we took photos in the snow. Then Lindsey and I grabbed some safety pins from the front desk, and headed to the Ladie's for some obligatory dress/bra pinning. I worked on Lindsey, and then fixed myself up. MB arrived outside the door with my stripper heels (these cute shoes), and told me that some dear friends of mine were in the Lounge! So I went to say "Hi!" to Katy, John, Katie, Heather and Chris! (Yay! More friends!)
Back in the main lobby, S&D and family members were taking photos in front of the GSL's gorgeous Christmas decorations: a giant, decorated tree, and garland, lights and ribbon everywhere. I sat by, because it was said that I would be needed for more photos. Not wanting to infringe on the photographer's work, I just snapped a quick couple of shots of the scene without the flash.
While this was happening, I greeted Maria S, who had arrived. Then Desiree and I sat in the computer room off to the side to chat for a bit. My feet had started to ache and I was a big fan of the sitting. Finally we did a couple of photos of the entire wedding party by the tree, and then it was all over. Guests had gone downstairs to line up, and start taking their seats, and the wedding party met in the ballroom to prepare for the processional.
I'd gone back to the Lounge during all the photography to give MB, who was talking to S's Uncle Harvey, my camera. He (MB, not Uncle Harvey) very sweetly and diligently took some shots of the ceremony for me.
A row of pals:
See the lake! The lake! Katie said she could hear the waves lapping. The ceremony location was beautiful. (I know I'm saying that everything is "beautiful," but everything WAS beautiful!) (Hm, love that mint green iPhone 4 case, Katie!)
This is Kim's (S and her sisters' friend) little son Brody. What a cutie.
And the wedding procession starts! Here's Groomswoman Molly, Ring Bearer (S's nephew/N's son) Connor, and Woman of Honor Nicole:
See the pretty vintage brooch and fabric corsages?!
Time for Groomsman Dave (friend of Darin) and Woman of Honor Me to march! Since Samantha had given me a gold bracelet and chose a gold brooch-corsage for me, I decided to just wear the Omega necklace that I wore in my wedding.
Sam and Samantha! One of the brooches on Samantha's bouquet was a tiny framed photo of her mother Cheryll, who passed away from breast cancer in June 2005. The bouquet was decorated with and draped with ribbons the color of pink, the official color for Breast Cancer Awareness. In the years since Cheryll has been gone, the color has also become a symbol, a way for Samantha and her sisters to remember her.
Dan Rodriguez, the musician from the night before, sang and played "I Will Not Take My Love Away," on his guitar.
Regarding the pastor, I shall merely state that he read the Ephesians passage about wives submitting to their husbands and definitely not the other way around (while I sternly coached myself to Not Make Faces), and allow you to conclude on your own, exactly what I thought about that/him.
It had been cold at the same time the night before, but the wrap and muff were warm, and I think I was so distracted by the ceremony, and perhaps benefiting from the adrenaline, thanks to my part of the show, that despite my bare upper arms, I didn't feel cold during the ceremony at all!
The Tree Planting Unity Ceremony - I like this one a lot. MB and I ruled it out for ourselves since we don't own a house with a yard. (Yet.) Dan Rod sang "Till The End Of Our Days."
Vows. Samantha and Darin included their own written vows, which definitely made the ceremony more special. Samantha's vows had both funny and emotional moments. ...She got choked up very cutely while delivering them.
One of the neatest parts of the ceremony: for wedding favors, the guests received fleece blankets wrapped up with a "Thank You!" note and sparklers, in ribbon. Before presenting Samantha and Darin as married, the pastor had the crowd light up their sparklers! So pretty!
Here they are! Woman and Husband:
Below, Woman of Honor Lindsey and Best Man Jason (D's brother) walk back during the recessional. Samantha was so distracted that she forgot to retrieve her bouquet from Lindsey.
The recessional song was Dan Rod singing the guitar acoustic version of Katy Perry's "Firework." (LOVED that. So cute!) Followed by "Here Comes The Sun," which I didn't hear, because I was already in the Lodge by then.
Back in the building, we slowly gathered and then mingled with the crowd for the cocktail hour. I had a good time talking to friends - greeting Laura and Todd, who I hadn't seen yet - and nervously thinking about what I was going to say for my toast. MB got me a drink. Grabbed a smoke salmon canape. Grabbed an eggplant fritter. MB spent a ton of time hanging out with my friend's husbands, which made me happy. I want him to know, and like them all. At one point I sacrificed a safety pin from my bodice in the effort of pinning up part of Samantha's bustle, which had come undone.
More Happy Talking, More Nervous Thinking.
When cocktail hour ended, the guests found their seats, and the wedding party lined up for the Grand Entrance. This time I entered with Jason instead of Dave.
The song for the grand entrance: C + C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat"
I had to work myself up to dancing through the entrance, by bobbing up and down while we waited. (I am kind of shy when it comes to stuff like that, Blogosphere!) But I managed to bring the fun, with some help from purposely dorky dance moves. (Purposely, I tell you!) Danced straight into Dez's arms, so she could give my bashful self a hug. After that, I was protected by the entire dancing crowd, so it was okay to do some more dancing...
...while we waited for the Bride and Groom...
...and their Hot Dance Moves!
Entrance complete, everyone took their seats so Samantha and Darin could do their First Dance. MB was seated right next to the dancefloor, and the head table was in the back, so I settled on his lap in order to take photos of the first dance. Cozy.
First Dance Song: "Hallelujah"
They took dance lessons in order to prepare for the First Dance. I thought they looked flawless, but according to Samantha, there were a few mistakes. No stepping on anyone's feet, though!
The dance lessons were also special because for their first Valentine's Day together, Darin bought them a series of dance classes, which they then took for a couple years. He even showed me a couple steps on NYE 2009.
Then the cake-cutting!
Then we sat down at the Head Table. My place was next to Samantha. I tried to jot down last minute toast thoughts on my iPhone without her seeing.
I'd been in the middle of ordering my drink, "The Bride's Drink" - a Raspberry Mojito, when I was called to gather for the grand entrance. Maria sweetly collected my drink, and I was thankful to arrive at the Head Table to find it waiting there for me.
I still had to do my toast. I needed a drink.
The Cake Table!
There was a slight kerfuffle with the food, in that it was not prepared at the time that the Lodge had promised it would be prepared. I used the time to think more about my toast. And the food? I have two wonderful words: BURGER BAR.
There was a BURGER BAR! With burger patties fresh off the grill (located outside on the patio)! And ALL the fixins. Oh, and also? There was a POTATO BAR.
A POTATO BAR! I LOVE POTATOES!
Suffice it to say, I was more than happy with my meal. There was also a Pasta Bar, but buffet-style pasta isn't as special for me as freshly grilled burgers and mashed potatoes, and there's no way I would have had room in my tummy for all that. Oh, and there was a salad bar, but there's no way in hell I'm going to fill up on salad when there's burgers and mashed potatoes to be eaten.
What I put on my burger: slice of bleu cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles (not thrilled to later discover they were sweet pickles, had to pull them out), ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise (I was feeling decadent), GRILLED ONIONS, and GRILLED MUSHROOMS. Yum!
What I put on my mashed potatoes: shredded provolone, chives, bacon, and flavored sour cream. Yummy Yum Yum.
Yeah, I ate all the burger, except for the pickles and some of the bread. Nearly scarfed the potatoes, too, but I could barely fit the parts with the toppings, so I stopped eating when I ran out of toppings. Special occasion, yo. Plus, I hadn't eaten much in the last two days, specifically with the aim of ingesting the majority of my calories during dinner.
As we finished the entrees, guests received slices of cake. My slice was from the delicious chocolate cake. (It was so good, I wish I could have eaten more!)
Then it was time for the toasts! Duhn duhn duhn! Jason gave a nice toast (I think. I was very preoccupied.) And then Molly gave a sweet, hilarious toast. (I could tell, because I heard people laugh.) And then it was time for me. For some reason, every time I'd tried to write out what I was going to say, I couldn't form the right conclusion. I mean, I knew the conclusion (so happy for you, honored to stand up for you, let's raise a glass, etc), but I couldn't find a way to get there from the "this is how and why Samantha is a special person to me and in general" part. But I'd been thinking about the phrases for the last 48 hours over and over and I just felt that this was one of the rare occasions when I couldn't make sense using the written word, and that it would all come together when I just tried to speak out loud.
And I was right. I briefly hit on all the things that I'd wanted to say, especially the part covering the best things about Samantha's character and how important she was to me, how happy Darin made her, and how she deserved to always feel that way. It flowed out in perfectly grammatically correct sentences and I caught myself saying the word "like" (in the way that you know that I mean, argh) only one time! I was so relieved that I was able to pull it together for Samantha.
Oh, and I totally bawled. Of course. (Sigh.) Totally got tears in my eyes when I typed the paragraph above, too. (Good grief, Amanda.)
Phew!
Then it was time for the slide show! Great photos. I also took the opportunity to capture the ceiling decor.
Samantha and Darin, watching the slideshow. I like to get this photo because usually in these cases everyone is preoccupied with watching the slideshow, and not the Bride and Groom. (I can't allow the bride and groom to go unpaparazzied!)
I loved the display of family photos, including old wedding photos, that they put up. The right side of the table has a larger photo of Cheryll.
The Table Symbol Meanings! Guests found their tables partly by matching the symbols on their place setting cards. Cute!
Samantha ordered the cute guestbook from a seller on Etsy. It was set up next to the photobooth and photo props. (The photobooth/props is the same idea that I used at my reception, but I am certain Samantha knew about it before I had my wedding - not that it matters either way. It's kind of the hot thang right now. Every wedding should have one, I say! It's so fun.)
So the slideshow ended and the dancing began, and suddenly I was looking around and I could not locate my husband! Or some of the other men! So I grabbed Katy and we went outside to look for them in the Ice Bar.
Yes, the Ice Bar. Or technically, the GSL's "Blu Ice Bar." So cool, right? (Not just temperature-wise.) It had been open the night before, but we hadn't had a chance to check it out before it closed at 9 PM. For NYE, however, it was open until 12:30 AM. Katy and I felt it would be wise to go out to the Ice Bar without our coats or any wraps whatsoever.
Fur-lined seating in the Ice Bar!
Of course, the guys were totally out at the Ice Bar. I'd been looking forward to seeing it ever since Samantha told me about it months before, so I decided to stay and have a drink. John was ordering up Blu Volcanoes everyone! They had dry ice in them, and the consisted (I imagine) of vodka, a million grams of sugar and blue dye. Heehee, yummy though!
I actually survived for longer than one would think without a coat in the Ice Bar!
Performance Adrenaline, man.
Soon Katie, Maria, Laura, Heather and Desiree found us in the Ice Bar. Todd gave me his jacket, but after a while I felt guilty, and returned it to him. I walked back to the Lodge to retrieve my coat, but I knew I had to gather the peeps and get them back to the party. There was a street dance going on around the corner in town when I was having my wedding reception, and I would not have been happy if my guests had disappeared to go hang out there instead.
I was way too amused by the fact that there were ads carved into the ice.
View of the Lodge, from the entrance of the Ice Bar. The falling snow was a surprise to me. It must have started after the ceremony ended. It made the night seem so wonderful and magical and perfect.
Back at the dance!
Connor and Devin (son of aforementioned Kim)
Connor, dancing along with his big brother Alec!
Some group line-dancing!
Slow dancing!
At one point during "Unchained Melody" they were doing the thing where they take people off the dancefloor based on how long you've been married. MB and I were up there for a millisecond.
MB and John!
Katy and AM!
Lady Friends!
Laura, Desiree, Samantha, Amanda, Heather, Maria, Katie and Katy
Neat Samantha Shot!
At this point, things were getting a little cray-cray! (KATIE!)
There's so much about this night that I can't write in the blog post. Really, SO MUCH talking and dancing and drinking. Believe me, our crowd was having fun. But I've got to censor it a little, because, you know. Public blog. Suffice it to say, soon we found ourselves just a few songs away from counting down the start of the new year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!!
What follows is some more Serious Getting Down.
In fact, I'm going to let the next few images speak for themselves.
Time for Samantha and Darin's last dance of the night (wherein everyone else got to dance, too)! Another play of "Hallelujah." Made MB dance with me. The only other (sorta) slow dance we'd had was when I'd thrown down the late night snack I'd been working on (Swedish Meatballs and lefsa) in order to drag him out to the dancefloor for George Strait's "Amarillo By Morning."
After the Last Dance, I was surprised and delighted to hear a CSB/SJU classic: "Piano Man." I haven't yet discovered if that was requested by Honorary Bennie Samantha, or one of CSB/SJUers in the crowd. Suffice it to say, of course we got in a circle to sing and sway. It was so fun.
After the dance ended, some of us hadn't yet taken our photobooth photos for the guestbook. So we gathered to take a few with my camera, and H&C's camera. Then it turned into a group picture smorgasbord. I'll just post a few though:
Managed to grab just one more photo with my lovely BFF.
And then there was a bit of snowy running around to each other's lake houses and tipsy conversations, and it was awesome.
Sunday:
Woke up at a reasonable hour, and had enough time to shower and pack before MB stirred. Many text messages between Samantha and I, and Heather, Desiree and I. It was arranged that our Friend Crew (minus Katy, Katie, John, Todd and Laura, who all had to leave earlier) would attend the Breakfast and Gift Opening at the Rustic Inn Cafe (same location and spot in the restaurant as the Groom's Dinner). There was a bit of an incident involving MB's jacket the night before, and no one knowing where it was the next morning - and that jacket containing the rental car keys - but eventually MB solved the mystery, and all was once again right with the world!
Below, Samantha and Darin, the newly married couple! After eating they started working on the gifts.
We were ALL ravenous. This here is my big, delicious breakfast:
Here's our table. We had some fun conversations, what with telling stories about the night before, and Dez and MB's theory that the table was made out of a crocodile that had eaten an armadillo. (Huh, maybe these things are only funny when you've consumed more than one Blu Volcano the night before?)
I had time enough after eating to take a few photos of the gift opening, but we had to get on the road soon, in order to make our flight home. Since it had snowed the night before, we'd need time to safely navigate the roads. (They weren't horrible, but the massive winds were a little scary.)
So we all said our goodbyes. I gave the couple, who are currently honeymooning in Jamaica (!), hugs and thanks, and then MB and I departed.
It was a fantastic wedding and fantastic little vacation.
The kind of fun and love with friends that fills you up inside.
*happy sniffle*
1 comments:
Thank you for sharing all of this in classic Amanda style! That is, with lots of great pictures and running commentary...I always feel like I'm right there with you...and I wish I had been! Let me just say: Samantha looks gorgeous (!), You look gorgeous, I miss my friends and John has the best expressions in photos. It takes a lot of love to get married on the north shore of Lake Superior in the middle of winter...bravo, S & D!
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