Wedding !

Well it was a busy weekend to say the least, but it ended successfully with Jon and I married and that's all that matters in the end. Friday began the madness as family rolled into town. The girls and I had left that morning to get our nails done, which was quite fun, and then to pick up my dress. We then quickly headed over to the park for the rehearsal. After much kerfuffel about what to do with the rather large decorations, the rehearsal continued without problem. Kenneth and Adam stood in the for the two missing groomsmen and places were quickly determined. Then it was on to Mongolian BBQ ! Always a favorite of ours, the wedding party had a chance to socialize a bit more as we chowed down. My bridesmaids were wonderful, and offered to bake the cherry cobbler I was going to make for lunch the next day, and also ran to get some last minute decorations.

Saturday morning, Jon, Candice and I arose early, finding we were having trouble sleeping. We lounged about a bit and then received a sad text from Kenneth. He had left his brand new very handsome suit in Portland. So the very tired boy left around 7:30 am to get his wayward suit. We didn't see him again till later that afternoon, after his little voyage. We went for a quick walk that morning, then on to Sabbath School and church. Afterwards, we made the trek out to Rooks park for a picnic, which my parents declared felt like it was in another state it was so far. Yikes, so much good food. Later that evening, the girls and I went out to one of the best restaurants in Walla Walla, Brasserie Four, a cute little French restaurant, before meeting up with the guys downtown for our joint bachelor/bachelorette party. Man, that was something else. Racy cupcakes, crazy dancing (props to Jared and the bridesmaids), and just an all around good time. Luckily we didn't get to bed TOO late that night, since we couldn't sleep very well.

Sunday morning came bright and early, thankfully, and we were at the park by 8:00 to drop decorations off at the park. We then headed to brunch at the awesome T Macarrones, oh so good. We then began the serious work of decorating, while the bridesmaids began the rotation of having their hair styled. We were all very pleased with the results. All the family and friends were so helpful, setting up chairs and pillars and tables and candles. It looked so beautiful! I heard several people describe it as simple but elegant, which was exactly what we were going for. The guys began their pictures while we started getting ready, only to discover a small shoe crisis. Candice's shoes were at my apartment, my shoes were at Sarah's apartment, and Leah's shoes were at her apartment. People scattered and sped to get the various shoes from their respective places in time, but all was well in the end. Seemed like the wait was endless, but before we knew it I was being told in a very calm manner that it was time. I wasn't scared or nervous but suddenly I found myself shaking and breathing very quickly, trying very hard not to faint. We stood at the alter and exchanged our vows and rings, poured sand, heard the homily, and then, just like that, we were marching out to the tune of Frankie Vallie as man and wife!!!! Two and a half weeks later and it's still hard to believe. The reception was wonderful, with our jazz trio classing it up, the food was delicious, though granted we didn't get nearly enough of it as we made our way to greet everyone. The cake was incredible- Damie did an amazing job at it. Then Jon was reaching up my dress and grabbing with his teeth my garter, scandalous to be sure. The bouquet was thrown and then off we drove, in a car that said "Make Babies NOW!" Thanks guys :)

(There are obviously far too many pictures to post here, so if you haven't seen them on facebook, give me a few days and I will post them on picassa for you all to see.)