Wedding Celebration Part 2

...continued from previous post

After the beautiful wedding ceremony and riding off on the groom's Harley, the bride and groom joined the guests on the beach for a group wedding photo.  Family and attendants stuck around a little longer to take some photos with the bride and groom before they took off to take photos on their own.  We had some time to kill between the photos and the cocktail hour, so several of us went back to the air conditioned house to cool off and put our feet up!  I later heard that the place to be was on the beach near the reception hall. Guests were able to enjoy a canoe filled with beer and ice-cold water, lounge in beach chairs, and/or play corn-hole with fancy "Mr & Mrs" boards!

Group photo of all the guests

Can you find Colin and me?

My photo with the bride!

I love jumping photos!

We made our way over to the reception hall just as the cocktail hour started with brushetta-type appetizers, goat cheese balls, and chicken kabobs - which were all delicious!

Candid of Colin and I at the cocktail hour

Janelle and I were the two Raleigh bridesmaids

We traveled and spent most of the weekend together

Soon after the bride and groom arrived from taking their photos, it was time for the reception festivities to begin!  It started with the attendants and bride/groom making our formal entrance, moved into the reception hall for the meal, and proceeded with traditional wedding details (speeches, toasts, dancing, cake cutting, and garter and bouquet toss).  

The venue was beautifully decorated with a "rustic" look and we had several buffet stations to choose from. There was a pasta-to-order station, a bacon station, a potato bar, and a salad bar. The bacon station was by far the most interesting. There were bacon donuts, bacon truffles, various seasonings on strips of bacon, and pork sliders! It was a tad bit too much bacon for me, so I opted for a sample from each of the stations.

A Nicol(l)e sandwich making our official entrance to the cocktail hour

The beautifully decorated Sanderling reception hall

All credit is due to Laural's florist for this look

Once our bellies were full, the toasts/speeches delivered, and the music started, we were all ready to head outside.  Colin spent most of his time enjoying the firepit while the girls did our thing on the dance floor.  Speaking of the dance floor, I think the highlight of the night was the choreographed performance delivered by the bride and groom.  It was fantastic and they both nailed it!

Colin hanging out by the fire pit with me taking a picture of the setting

(as the photographer takes a picture back) 

A snapshot of the wonderfully choreographed first dance

The day did not feel nearly as long as it was - until I got into my pajamas and into bed!  But being part of such a wonderful day was worth every last ounce of energy.  There is nothing quite like a wedding celebration between two people who really love each other.  And I'm grateful to have been a part of it.  

Labor Day Wedding Festivities at the Beach - Part 1

We took a break from travel for most of August since we did so much traveling in July.  All together, Colin had three work trips to Pittsburgh, each one between 4-5 days and one trip each summer month (June, July and August).  The weather was not nearly as hot as it's been the past 3 summers I've spent in North Carolina and we had a lot of rain.  But, there was also enough sun and hot days to take advantage of the neighborhood pool. We found ourselves there most nights after work and would spend 3-4 hours there on weekend days.

The summer culminated with a beautiful wedding at the beach.  While we have taken more beach trips in the past, we were able to take more quality beach trips to the Outer Banks this summer.  In July, we spent a week in the 4x4 area north of Corolla and then we got to spend the long Labor Day weekend in Duck celebrating my friend Laural's wedding.

With a Labor Day weekend wedding at the beach, you sometimes worry about things like hurricanes, but thankfully it was (and hopefully continues to be) a quiet year in the tropics.  The weekend weather was pretty hot, but it was perfect for a beach wedding.  We had only a few moments of showers that brought the reception indoors, but it was certainly not enough to dampen anyone's spirits.

Here's a recap of the wedding weekend!

On Friday after work, we said goodbye to our beloved Darwin, knowing he would be in good hands with our friends and drove the 4 hours to Duck, NC.  Traffic was light and we made pretty good time, which allowed us to meet and get to know our weekend housemates, the bride's family.

After a fairly comfortable night's sleep on the pull-out couch in the loft, we spent much of the day on Saturday enjoying the comforts of the Sanderling Resort - the location of the wedding and our 10-person house.  The best way I could describe the resort is that it is the closest thing I've experienced to a Caribbean all-inclusive resort in North Carolina.  There are two pools - one for adults only and one for families, they have several dining options, there are hotel rooms and houses to rent on the complex, and the staff put out lounge chairs and umbrellas for you.

Colin and I joined the wedding party on the beach for a few hours and then made our way to the pool for a little while longer.  We probably would have stayed at the beach all day, but I had to prepare for the wedding rehearsal.

The adults-only pool at the Sanderling - right next to the grassy wedding site

During the rehearsal, we got to experience how awesome the wedding was going to be, and I had no doubt it was going to be a memorable event.  The bride and groom are a perfect match, their families are amazing, and I got to be an intimate part of it all.  From the moment the rehearsal began until we said our goodbyes on Monday morning, you could just sense the love in the air and it was contagious.

After practicing our roles for the wedding, we all were able to enjoy a delicious rehearsal dinner at the Lifesaving Station loft venue on the Sanderling's property.  I wish someone took a picture of the meal because it was beautiful and delicious! We had halibut and steak with asparagus and both entrees were divine. The evening culminated with a sweet speech by the groom's father, some gifts from the bride and groom for their attendants, and a slideshow trip down memory lane for the happy couple. The groom's sister and her husband did a fantastic job putting together the slideshow.  The boys continued the night with some poker, but us girls (and a few non-poker players) spent the night at the beach house catching up and preparing for the big day.

 Bridesmaids at the Rehearsal Dinner

On Sunday, September 1st the big day arrived early for me with a 9am hair appointment at the Sanderling Spa.  Knowing it was going to be a hot day, I opted for an up-do and let the hair expert do her thing.  The end result was impressive - with twists of my hair fastened securely with lots of bobby pins! Normally, having my hair up and secured tightly leaves me with a headache, but this actually felt fairly loose.

The updo from the back

We clean up okay

I hung around the spa as all the girls got their hair done and then got my makeup done as the bride was getting her hair done. It was fun to have a "girls morning at the spa" but we then had to rush back to the house to get dressed for the main event!  The "event" started with the photo shoots - first helping the bride get into her dress, then with the girls outside the house, and finally making our entrance onto the "stage." It all felt like a blur - no wonder actors and actresses have a hard time being normal!

Photo shoot before the ceremony

Making my entrance

Once I was positioned at my place on the stage, I was able to take it all in - the rustic display where we were standing with beautiful pink flowers, the motorcycle the groom rode in on, the friends and family seated on both sides of the aisle, my husband sitting near the back with our nice camera in hand, and the beach and pool-goers who stopped basking in the sun to watch this spectacular event.  The bride was beautiful, her entrance with her brother, transition to her father and then to her husband was seamless, and the vows were endearing.  Even the storm clouds, which brought us a little relief from the hot sun, stayed far enough away to pose any threat during the 20 minute ceremony.  And at the end, after the balloons had been tossed, all eyes followed the couple as they mounted the groom's Harley Davidson and drove off.  Every last detail was ... perfect.

To be continued...

Stay tuned for more details about the celebration!