THE Wedding!

I don't even know what to say about the wedding itself. It was beautiful of course, but so much more than that since all of the touches were so personal. To start it off, Shawn's (the groom) best friend played the guitar as Suzie walked down the aisle. She was escorted by both my dad AND my mom. The vows were non-traditional and somehow fit with the bride and groom's medical background. I was moved to tears when friends of Suzie and Shawn performed a song that they had written for the wedding. It was amazing! I wish I had a video of it! Kelly and I did all of the flowers, decorating, and centerpieces for the ceremony and reception. Anyway, here are a few pictures before I talk about the food and the reception :)

The food... did I mention the food? Holy cow! It was fantastic. Suzie chose the appetizers, which consisted of all sorts of goodies (including figs!) wrapped in bacon. There was fruit, grilled vegetables, hummus, an assortment of cheeses (including blueberry!), crackers, and baba ghanoush. The salad was unexpectedly amazing :) It was green topped with pears, bleu cheese, and  candied pecans. Dinner was set up at different stations that consisted of prime rib, crab cakes and sauce, and a mashed potato bar where three types of mashed potatoes were served  in martini glasses. And as if that wasn't cool enough, you had the choice of every potato topping imaginable, all the way down to fried leeks. Dessert was just as good, the bride picked out her very favorite ice cream from a local dairy. The chocolate shots and gourmet coffee bar were also too good to pass up. Now why didn't I think of putting liqueur in chocolate shot glasses? Genius! After sampling all of that I was too full for cake, but managed to sneak in a bite of each flavor. They were all delectable, of course.

The children had a fantastic time mingling with the guests and dancing until they passed out. Everyone was so nice to them and since they were the only children there they became the center of attention on the dance floor. The DJ was even kind enough to play Ian's favorite song, Abba's Dancing Queen! Ian thinks we should go to a wedding every weekend! I disagree, I'm wedding-ed out for awhile :)

The most amazing (have I used that word a time or two?) part of the evening wasn't even wedding-related. The groom, Shawn, has a 27 year old sister with a congenital heart defect. Stephanie has gone through multiple open-heart surgeries as well as a heart transplant at the ripe old age of 15. She had been in the hospital for several weeks up to the wedding and her health was deteriorating rapidly. The week we were there, she was placed at the top of the transplant list. They expected to get a heart for her on New Year's Eve, but that didn't work out. The day of the wedding, Stephanie's doctors flew out of state to check on a donated heart. About halfway through the reception, it was announced that the heart was good and she underwent heart transplant surgery that same night. Gives you goose bumps, right? So when you wonder about the pictures with the laptop computer, now you know. That's Stephanie, the fourth bridesmaid, watching her brother's wedding via Skype and a webcam, from her hospital room. I'm sure she and her family would appreciate any prayers, positive energy, good vibes, well wishes, or whatever else you have to send her way!

Here are the pictures from my mom's camera, captions courtesy of "Bunny" :)  Sorry for any repeats! One thing I forgot to mention was the Matron of Honor's (Suzie's BF from 4th grade, Amanda Powers) speech. She talked about the pact they made in the 4th grade, where not even a brontosaurus could break their friendship. She then went on to talk about ticks and fleas and Suzie's dog, Angus. It was hysterical! You really had to be there, but if I ever come across a video I'll be sure to post it. Enjoy the gratuitous second slide show!