The Wedding!

I totally stole this photo from Lindsey's facebook album cuz I somehow forgot my camera in the rush to get out the door on Friday morning and I haven't got pictures from the girls yet! These are the awesome sweatshirts Nicole stitched for us (they are so flawless, I can't believe how crafty she is!).

I'm just going to quit the initial apology before every blog (I guess this is the last one) since it's going to be a while before I become conscientious about blogging again. It seems like I have had crazy (but usually fun, although exams are certainly exempted from this designation) things going ever since Alex moved out here and I just have not managed to juggle all of those and being a regular blogger...yet. Patience, people.

That said, I wanted to finally tell those of you who hadn't heard about it yet how much fun Grant and Nicole's wedding was (be sure to click on that link to check out the photographer's blog and her absolutely gorgeous pictures of the day in question)! It was a pretty hectic weekend, with all of Friday and all of Sunday pretty much devoted to bi-coastal travel. The Saturday in between was fantastic though, so it totally made up for all the length and lethargy of the rest of the time!

Friday was the night of the rehearsal dinner and it was still fun despite my jet lag and the fact that Oregon is a lot colder this time of year than DC. I got to finally meet the other out of town bridesmaid, Jess, who is super nice and sweet by the way, as well as see Teresa, a friend of ours that Nicole and I have known since we were 13! The other bridesmaids, Lindsey (she is such a sweetie, I wish we had the chance to get to know each other better :) and Janelle (who I have actually known for a super long time, we played sports together in high school...hurdler pride!), are super fun too, so it was great getting to hang out with them. Janelle is also the proud owner of a golden retriever, Jack, who is about a month older than Miss Buttercup, so we swapped stories and commiserated about the ups and downs of our furry friends.

After being awake for about 22 hours on Friday (we started at 3:30 in the morning here and didn't get to sleep until after 11 on the west coast), I woke up on Saturday morning, some time after 7, feeling energized and so excited to help with getting the ceremony and reception set up. I had been teased by little bits and pieces of Nicole's vision for the big day and I knew she had put a tremendous amount of effort into making most of the stuff by hand, so I was more than ready to see it all come together! After a much needed coffee boost, courtesy of Starbucks, we headed over to Maureen's (Nicole's mom) rental house to pick up and transport all of the stuff. It was basically a whole garage worth of dishes, table runners, candles, tree stumps, etc. etc., but between the entire bridal party and our dates, plus some of Nicole's fam, we got several cars loaded up and headed out to Aspen Hall in no time.

Getting everything in its proper place went swimmingly, thanks to our numbers and Nicole's organization skills (way to rock those diagrams!) and before I knew it, be were leaving the hall to go get ready for the wedding. It was a little cold waiting outside for the posed photos and during the ceremony, but the important thing was that it was dry :) The ceremony was definitely the coolest one I have ever experienced, and not just because this is the first wedding where I really knew the people getting married. The former head of the human physiology department at U of O, Dr. Klug, officiated the ceremony and since both Grant and Nicole had been in the dept., he knew the two of them so well and made the ceremony very personal. Plus, he was just a funny guy! Nicole and Grant's vows were amazing, as I alluded to in my last blog. I have never thought about writing my own vows- I always thought it would be too personal to say them in front of all my family and friends, and I was never sure I would be able to find the right words to accurately convey how I feel about the man I'm about to marry- but now that I have heard it done well, I have to say it sounds more appealing now.

Onto the reception! It was just a giant party, basically. I got to spend some time with my high school friends, Jill and Katie, who made the trek down from Portland for the big day (there's a really cute B/W pic of Jill on the photographer's blog, by the way). They had Pizzicato cater (delicious!!) and shortly after dinner, it was onto the dance floor! Alex and I had never really danced together before (hard to believe when we have been dating for over two years, but we have never been out dancing or really to very many parties together), but we had SO much fun! We were so busy cutting a rug that we somehow missed wedding cake (which made me sad when I realized it the next day)! After that, Jess and Jon gave us a ride back to the house so we could take a short nap and get up at four to start the trek back to DC. I was bummed that we missed the after party at McMenamins and the send-off brunch on Sunday afternoon, but I was so glad we made it to the main event :) In Portland, my sister, Katie, met us at the airport, so we could hang out for a little bit during our layover. Strangely enough, we ran into Nicole's aunt and uncle- they had left the wedding right after the ceremony to drive back up to Portland because John (her uncle, obviously) was catching a flight to Africa that morning! Small world that we happened to cross paths in PDX, right? When we made it back home, we had a little time to unpack, greet our pup (thanks again for looking after her, Catherine!), and get some sleep before work and school (make that an exam!) began bright and early the next morning.