Anyone who follows me on Facebook realizes that this last summer was a summer of weddings for our little family. Between three different wedding receptions of people in our ward (families and brides that we felt close enough with to push us to go to receptions), Uncle Jeff's wedding, and two more that are yet to be written about on the blog, we had six weddings we attended this summer. SIX! I think I'm broke at this point, especially since three of them were destination weddings that required a significant amount of travel.
Kidding.
But only kind of.
The second destination wedding that Eric and I went to was for his friends Bryan and Lisa. It was also the most extravagant wedding I have ever been to. Eric and Lisa were both hired at University of Phoenix at the same time and went to the two week training in Denver together. Bryan already worked for University of Phoenix. I remember Eric coming home from work for MONTHS saying how much he thought that two of his co-workers, Bryan and Lisa, should date because they are "perfect for each other". Imagine his surprise a few months after that when he finally go the guts to say it to one of them and found out that they had been dating in secret for many months!
Bryan left University of Phoenix after two other co-workers referred him to a job at Simplot where they both had left to work. Bryan then referred Lisa to a job in HR at Simplot, and then ultimately he referred Eric to his packaging manager job at the Nampa Simplot plant as well. Eric and Bryan even got to work together for a few months.
Back to this wedding though.
We were ecstatic when these two got engaged.
I don't even know them as well as Eric does and I was beyond excited for the two of them. They really are the perfect example of a loving and doting couple.
Their wedding took place in McCall, Idaho where Lisa grew up.
I spent a good portion of summers up there growing up as well since that is where my grandparents lived (who incidentally also worked for Simplot). The wedding was more of a wedding "weekend", and gave Eric and I the perfect time to getaway.
We dropped the kids off at my parents Friday morning (who happened to be sick with the flu but that's a whole other story) and drove the two and a half hours to McCall. Friday night was the rehearsal dinner so after we got all checked into our hotel Eric and I walked around McCall enjoying the beautiful weather and inevitably ended up at My Father's Place for milkshakes - you can't go to McCall in the summer without doing this.
Then we got ready for the rehearsal dinner. The wedding was rehearsed in the lower pavilion of the Shore Lodge. The room literally has an entire wall made of windows that opens up and you are right on top of the lake. It is beautiful. The room in general is so gorgeous you don't even need to do any decorating to it.
After the rehearsal was the rehearsal dinner on a bridge that had been dedicated to Lisa's father after he died. It was a beautiful location on top of a river, and the sentiment behind the location was amazing.
After the rehearsal dinner - which actually stuffed us full - Eric and I were craving Sushi. So we ended the night at a sushi restaurant overlooking the lake and the city. It was gorgeous!
Saturday morning part of Eric's groomsmen duties was participating in a round of golf with Bryan, his dad, and all the other groomsmen. I chilled at the hotel taking my time to get ready (seriously what a novel idea) and watching cheesy chick flicks. When Eric got back we went and had hamburgers and of course milkshakes at my Father's Place. Then we returned to get ready at the hotel for the wedding . . . . and Eric decided to brush his teeth.
The actual wedding was gorgeous. I didn't think there was much of a way you could get that room to look any prettier than it already did but somehow Lisa did it. The wedding was beautiful. I wish I had taken my camera instead of just my Iphone so I could prove to everyone how gorgeous this wedding was. Every detail was covered, every person looked flawless, it was magical. Being a plus one at the wedding while my husband was actually part of the wedding meant I got to be all by myself during the ceremony. Those who know me know I'm pretty shy so I was a bit worried about this before, but I ended up next to the wives/girlfriends of all the other groomsmen (don't know why that thought hadn't occurred to me before) and we became great friends.
After the ceremony we all went upstairs to an even more gorgeously decorated room for dinner. You can only imagine my surprise when I got the invitation two months before and realized we were actually attending a wedding where you had dinner choices at all, let alone dinner choices that were filet mignon or salmon. Dinner was delicious. The toasts were amazing.
One portion I have to share that literally brought me to tears.
Lisa's father died a few years ago in a plane crash with two of her nephews. If there is ever a time a girl misses her father it is at her wedding. I actually started crying when I saw this gorgeous bride stand up for her father/daughter dance and her grandfather came to dance with her. He was interrupted by her other grandfather, two uncles, Bryan's father, and a couple very close friends. I can only imagine the smile this must have brought to her father's face as he looked down from heaven - to know that although he could no longer be there, his youngest daughter was surrounded by strong men to protect and love her.
As if the wedding itself wasn't enough Sunday morning brought a full brunch with all the guests before they started their journey home. It was a beautiful wedding and a perfect weekend for Eric and I. It had been years since we had been away from our children overnight and we had never done it for two nights. Sometimes it's nice to remember that in addition to being Mom and Dad you are also husband and wife.
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