Get ready for LOTS of pictures!  Since this used to be a wedding blog, and I never  really actually p0sted pictures from my own wedding (sorry about that, maybe some day), I tried to pay attention to all the fun wedding details and capture them for the happy couple, and of course, the blog.  Let’s get to it!

The day started early, and with pouring rain.  Sarah, Casey, and I were downstairs in the lobby the minute that breakfast started so that we could stuff our faces quickly and rush upstairs to get ready.  I thought I needed to eat a really big breakfast, since we wouldn’t be eating again until later in the day, so I ate two gigantic waffles and then felt sick.

We raced around and got ready, and just before we walked out the door, Rebecca called to tell us to come in jeans and sweatshirts because we were needed for manual labor.  So we quickly changed back out of our wedding duds, threw them on a hanger, and headed to the bride’s house to begin the festivities!

For anyone who knows my sister, she is not much of a girly girl.  I mean, she works on a farm, so makeup and fashion are not exactly a daily priority.  So I was sooo proud of her for making an appointment to get her hair and makeup done for her wedding, and I’ve seriously never seen her look so gorgeous.   More imp0rtantly, I’ve never seen her look so confident, and feel so pretty.  She was stunning.  One of the highlights of my day was when we got back to the house, and Sam first saw her all done up.  His reaction was so genuine and priceless – Sarah and I got teary together in the corner.

Back at the house, we had about 45 minutes until wedding time.  It had finally stopped raining, and the forecast finally looked GOOD for the ceremony time.  The night before, Rebecca’s friends had hung tent walls all around the ceremony tent (since the forecast was for a downpour), and just before guests started arriving, Rebecca decided the walls were coming down.  Enter sisters for manual labor.  Sarah and I raced around the yard in our jeans, getting all gross and muddy taking down heavy and huge plastic walls, folding them up, and flinging them into the garage just as the guests started rolling in.

But we obviously took the time for a photo opp.  The huppah looked so pretty too – just needed a bride and groom underneath!

We raced back upstairs to put on our dresses for the wedding, and try to salvage our humidity-destroyed hair and makeup.  For two makeup and fashion-loving sisters, we definitely fulfilled our sisterly duties by running around and subsequently looking terrible for the wedding, but it was worth it to give Rebecca the perfect wedding day.  We pulled ourselves together, wished the couple luck, and headed outside to take our spots. 

Here are Rebecca and Sam, minutes before the wedding (I loved that they got ready together too).

Here you can see a bigger shot of the whole backyard – it was so beautiful!  I headed out there for my next job – ceremony DJ.  I was so scared I would screw this up!  All I really needed to do was control an iPod, but I was totally emotional watching them walk down the aisle, and my hands were shaking really badly. 

They looked so happy, and their ceremony was so creative and filled with love.  I cried through the entire thing.  Once it was over, we hurried guests along to the farm so Rebecca and Sam could have a few minutes of privacy, and we headed to the reception!

I loved this amazing organic vegetable garden.  I really want to go back to New Haven to visit soon, when we can spend more time playing at the farm.

Onto the important stuff – the FOOD!  Oh my god – my descriptions cannot possibly do this justice.  All of the food was made from vegetables and herbs that were picked straight out of the Common Ground garden – so cool.  They hired the “Big Green Pizza Truck,” and it was hands-down the best wedding-food I’ve ever had. 

The giant truck had an open wood-fire pit inside it, and they tossed and made the pizzas and sides right in front of you, and served them fresh out of the wood-fire onto the table.  Soooo delicious!  All the side dishes were vegetarian, and made with yummy fall veggies like squash, and my all-time favorite – eggplant!

After lunch was finished, out came the ice cream sundae bar!  Rebecca is obsessed with Ashley’s Ice Cream, a New Haven local favorite, and she had guests vote for ice cream flavors on her response cards.  The cool thing about Ashley’s is all the different and unique flavors.  The winners were coffee oreo, chocolate peanut butter cup, ginger snap, and butter pecan (as Rebecca said, “for the old people”).  She also got an assortment of toppings, brownies, whip cream, hot fudge – the works.  I ate my weight in ice cream and made myself sick:/

Of course every farm wedding is incomplete without a wheelbarrow full of beer, right?  They had a bunch of different fun beers (although obv I didn’t partake), and sparkling flavored waters for the rest of us (yum).  Sam is really talented with computer and design-type stuff, and he made this incredible farm image that they used on all of their wedding correspondence.  As a wedding “favor”, they also had the logo printed onto pint glasses, and gave them to each of their guests!  How perfect for my pint glass collection!

My mom made the table arrangements out of flowers she picked from the garden – so pretty!  They also had really yummy kettle corn out on the tables,(since I hadn’t eaten enough food, right?).  Delicious.

For entertainment, there was a bluegrass band.  They were really good, and the music fit the mood of the wedding perfectly.

For the guestbook, they made scrapbook pages for each guest to fill out, almost like a coloring book.  There were spaces for “draw a picture of Rebecca and Sam” or “where will Rebecca and Sam be in 50 years?” – it was really cute.

Here’s a general shot of how pretty the tent was with the lights and the fabric.  Rebecca was brilliant, and scheduled her wedding for the weekend after her school’s big fundraising event, so the tent was already there.  The only thing she had to pay for was the extra week to leave it up.  Do you know how much tents cost!?!  Seriously, genius.

After the ceremony, Rebecca and Sam had my mom drop the
m off at the bottom of their favorite trail (they are super outdoorsy), and they actually hiked the last half-mile to their reception, on a trail that ended right at Common Ground!  So we all got to hear them announced, and they emerged from a trail in the woods.  So completely perfect for them, and so exciting to hear them announced as Mr. and Mrs.!

Playing in the chicken coop again.  I also decided that I never want to wear anything else again besides an Anthropologie dress and cowboy boots…

Again with the farm animals – I couldn’t help myself!  I believe Casey made a sanitation comment after I played with the goat and then stuffed my face with more pizza.  Oh well.

My three favorite girls.  I always knew how much I loved these ladies, but living farther away makes me really appreciate how truly special and wonderful our family is – sniff.

I also got to visit with my good friends Jan and Larry – who are also former Springer co-workers.  So I got to hear all the updates from my old job, and catch up on what everyone is up to.

After the reception, the rain was looming again.  Rebecca and Sam wanted to leave for a mini-honeymoon in Vermont on Sunday, but they were having to deal with breaking down all of the wedding setup, and all the other fun tasks that come with a DIY wedding.  They were thinking they might need to push back their departure time to get everything done, but that was obviously not acceptable to me.  So Casey, Sarah, and I went back to their house after the reception (even though we were all sooo drained from the day), and we changed back into our jeans and proceeded to completely break down the wedding set up.  We put away the 120 chairs, completely dismantled the huppah and 10×10 tent, and took down the gigantic 40 foot striped tent, in under two hours.

Just as we finished, it started to pour, and we went inside to treat ourselves to – what else – more ice cream!

Straight out of the container –the way it tastes best!  After a quick change and a little rest at the hotel, we finished out the evening back at Rebecca and Sam’s house, where her friends played guitar, we caught up with family out on the porch, and felt grateful for family and weddings and life.

It was a perfect weekend, and a perfect wedding.  I am so happy for Rebecca and Sam, and hope I can get back to New Haven sooner than later.

Onto this weekend – Lindsey and MaryAnn are coming for an unofficial BACHELORETTE weekend for MaryAnn, who’s big day is less than a month away!  I am so excited for them to get here, and for the fun to begin.  Charlotte bloggers – any bachelorette suggestions??  I haven’t exactly hit the bachelorette bar scene since I moved here!

Many more updates to come in the next few days!  I haven’t even gotten to tell you about my scary meatcutting class, or about the JOB I am also starting this weekend!  Coming soon…

I got to Hartford around 6:30pm on Thursday night, and was greeted at the airport by my mom, the blushing bride – Rebecca, and her good friend – “the other Rebecca.”  My Rebecca and I rode home together an hour from the airport, and I got to catch up on all the wedding plans, progress, and panic about the weather. 

Rebecca’s wedding ceremony was to be held in the morning on Saturday, in her fabulous, beautiful, gigantic backyard.  The only hitch was the very ominous weather report, predicting massive thunderstorms right around the time she was slated to stroll down the aisle.  Our group pow-wowed over a table of Indian food on Thursday night, and by Friday morning we had a plan. 

We were up early Friday morning, and making calls to rental companies, in search of a tent for the backyard.  The weather report hadn’t changed, and more importantly, Rebecca’s sanity and peace of mind was fragile to say the least, so some sort of rain backup was needed.  She lucked out, and ended up securing a large 20×40 foot tent that could be used to cover the 100 chairs for the ceremony.  We also went to the farm (where she works, and where the reception would be held), and got their 10’ farmers’ market tent, to be used as a cover for the “altar” space.  Of course every great plan comes with a few glitches – the giant tent did not actually come with assembly, so that was up to us.  And the smaller tent had the Common Ground (farm) logo all around it in huge letters, which Rebecca demanded be covered (understandable).  So here’s how the rest of the day went down.

My mom and I got the extra rolls of oilcloth that they had used to make their reception tablecloths, and we cut huge pieces to run around the farmers’ market tent.  We had the tent down low so that we could easily attach the pieces – it worked and looked great!

Unfortunately as soon as we raised it up, we realized you could see the logo from the inside too, so we had to cut four more pieces, and also cover the inside.  Good thing Rebecca had over-ordered so much oilcloth.  While my mom cut more fabric, I climbed a ladder to hang the huppah from inside the tent, and make it look pretty.

Meanwhile, the gigantic striped tent was being laid out and prepared to assemble.  Rebecca’s amazing friends are so handy – they knew exactly how to set the tent up, and the six of us got it up and assembled in under an hour!

Next we set up 120 chairs, and the bride was starting to smile again, now that her wedding could survive the impending monsoon.  (see the pretty huppah alter space in the background, too!?!)  Now that the yard was set up, we were off to the farm to set up what we could there.

Clearly I had to take a short break to get in some farm animal face time.  It’s not every day us city girls get to snuggle with a beauty this cute, right?  Meet Daisy, the Common Ground sheep.

And her counterpart Sophie, the very large goat.   Rebecca works at an incredible high school called Common Ground – it is based around an organic farm, complete with farm animals and a gigantic organic vegetable garden.  The students are taught the value of our natural resources, and their curriculum includes classes based around the farm, so that they can learn the cycle of living off of the farm and sustaining its resources.  They even have a chef that makes meals for all the students out of the food that is produced by the animals and the organic garden – such an amazing concept, and cool place to work. 

One of the coolest things about her wedding, and so in line with how Common Ground works, is that Rebecca used all the farm’s resources for her wedding.  It was a true “from the farm” reception.  On Thursday, my mom and Rebecca hand-picked all the wild flowers that they needed straight out of the gardens, and my mom (the amazing former florist), made all the table arrangements in mason jars.  Here they are hiding in the greenhouse, waiting for the big day.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my mom scrubbing a wheelbarrow that was filled with old manure and mud.  As I snapped the picture she mumbled, “some mothers of the bride spend the day before the wedding getting spa treatments…” hahaha.

While mom scrubbed poop, I hung out in the chicken yard.  I love this place!  I want to work on a farm!  (Maybe I can be their chef?)

Also couldn’t resist taking a picture of this – “The Duck Truck” – owned by Rebecca’s great friend Lexie (the tent assembler!).  The fun part is that none of the ducks have been purchased.  They have all been found in various strange places – side of the road, behind a dumpster, etc.  She said she is very used to getting honks and waves and pictures taken of her while she drives.

We got all the picnic tables set up and and in place, and we were ready to go.  The tent was sooo pretty!  At this point it was time to head back to the house to get ready for Friday night’s activities.  Back at the house, I ran around with a vacuum and got Rebecca’s place sparkling clean so that she and Sam could relax and get ready themselves.  Once her place was all set, I took off to check into the hotel and get ready myself.  I rushed to get ready, because I had to get out the door to pick up Casey (who came!), and Sarah, who were flying in at 6:30.  I drove the looong hour to Hartford to get them, but the hour back went by fast, since I was catching them up on all the day’s drama.

The three of us headed straight for the Kasbah Cafe, where they were having a small meet and greet for family and friends.  I wish I had taken more pictures of the place itself – it was soooo great!  An outside garden patio with a fire pit and tables, and the best part – gigantic platters of grape leaves, hummus, and baba ganoush with pitas for us to munch on.  Sarah, Casey, and I were all starving, and we dove into the platters headfirst. 

The bride was starting to reaaaally feel nervous about the weather (which had now jumped to a 100% chance of thunderstorms), and we did our best to calm her down so she could still enjoy her evening.  It was great to catch up with family that I hadn’t seen in a while (hi Sarah and Kate!), and to see old friends from Cincinnati that I have missed (hi Jan and Alane!). 

We said goodbye to the bride and groom-to-be, and headed back to the hotel to rest up for the BIG DAY, and we all crossed our fingers that mother nature would behave in the morning…