It's a festivous miracle!

First of all, we're alive!!! Does it feel like I'm always apologizing for a lengthy absence? Well, this time I'm not. We've been so busy for the last month. Now that we've been married for a whopping 5 weeks and a day, life is mellowing out somewhat.

3 weeks and 4 days after we were married we packed up the good ol' Penske truck and headed to the great state of Oregon. The drive was pretty good but unloading the truck left a little to be desired. Since we're clearly only comfortable when we're driving in a rental car, we packed up and that night headed north. We visited some awesome family in WA and then made our way to Seattle to my step-brother's wedding.   

The waterfront wedding was held at the Woodmark Hotel and was absolutely gorgeous.

The hotel has it's own dog. Aeryn really wanted to play with Woody, but he clearly has enough of people and didn't react to her enticements. However, once Jim opened a package of peanut M&M's the dog was right there...

 

The couple chose to have photographs done before the big event to keep the day uninterrupted (brilliant choice, just like some other highly intelligent newlyweds I know) so we were to be there early. An hour and a half early. We were in two (2) photographs within that time and so we were free to wander the shores of the lake adjacent to the property. 

We'd been at the hotel for 3 hours now and clearly Jim & Aeryn were peacefully passing time until dinner was served.

The color scheme was yellow, Tiffany blue, and white. It worked perfectly with the blue water and clear Seattle sky in the background. Ironically, I think they are the same colors my parents used back in 1973. But hey, whatever was old is new again, right?

The wedding was entirely outdoors under a beautiful canopy. The day was amazingly clear and pristine, the decor tasteful and elegant, and the couple happy as can be.

This is actually the only photograph I took of the bride & groom. What I love most about this picture are the paper cranes hanging to the right of the stunning bride. Remember the book? Ashley spent the better part of an entire year prior to their wedding folding all the paper cranes herself. They hung on monofilament from the event tent, decorated willow branches lining the aisle, and graced some of the dining tables.

Speaking of hand making things and being awesome, Ashley also handmade the place cards. 5 petals each of two colors plus leaves and "middles" for some 100+ place settings. The best part? You can see pencil lines around the edges of petals where she had to HAND TRACE and then cut each petal. Seriously. She's pretty amazing.

The happy couple then cut the cake and started the dance party. Aeryn was a happy girl! My dad got some great video of Jim showing his stuff on the dance floor and then we headed South again towards the city which had been our home for a whole 24 hours.

This whole fancy wedding business was a blast, but it truly made me appreciate the simplicity of ours so much more.