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One of my oldest and closest friends, Jenn, became engaged this year and the wedding was slated for August. She and her new husband are taking a year off this year from life and traveling through SE Asia, New Zealand and South America for their honeymoon!
We headed out on Wednesday and it was awesome to spend some quality time with Jenn and Philip before anyone else arrived. Wednesday night Jenn and I stayed up late and just caught up and shared stories in her amazing backyard. Thursday morning Jenn and Paul, along with another friend from high school Russ went for a morning mountain bike ride. Paul was in his glory! I took the kids for a walk in the Crystal River to skip stones.
We had the best pizza ever for lunch and then we headed to Jenn's house to "harvest" her garden. The kids and I picked tons of carrots, beets, beans, tomatoes, peppers, and other items. All of these vegetables would be used at the rehearsal dinner and reception!
Thursday evening we all packed in the car and headed to the Carbondale Rodeo. The kids were entranced. I don't recall ever being at a rodeo and I was a little concerned about the animals. But it was very fun to watch.
On Friday morning we had a brunch for Jenn at a local park. After brunch Jaime and I tried to get our nails done which meant driving all over creation to find a place because apparently no one gets their nails done in Colorado!!!
While I was out, Paul took the kids on an 8 mile bike ride and Noah rode all by himself! Maeve's job was to "babysit" baby Liam in the trailer. She was very proud of her responsibilities!
When I got back, Paul headed out for another very long mountain bike ride with a crew of Jenn's Carbondale friends. He was so happy! When he got home we raced to the rehearsal and then enjoyed the rehearsal dinner at Jenn's house.
Saturday morning we got up and headed to Aspen to see the mountains. I have been there in the winter before but never in the summer. It was just as beautiful! We took the gondola up Aspen mountain and the kids loved it. Inside our car was a solar powered iPod charger and player so you could put your phone on the dock and listen to music as you rode up the mountain.
When we got to the top the views were breathtaking. There were lots of things to do for the kids and we had a nice lunch on a terrace overlooking the mountains.
We went for a short hike up the mountain and the kids picked flowers to their hearts content.
After our great day in Aspen we headed to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. The event was held at a placed called Gianetti Springs Ranch.
Those are the tables and tents at the base of the red mountain.
It was a large grassy area between Mt. Sopris and another big red mountain (I don't know the name!). To get to the ceremony you had to walk about 1/4 mile past a babbling brook through grassland under the mountains. White chairs were set up but most people sat on the grass with their parasol or stood around. Jenn's friends made her a chuppah which is a structure typical in a Jewish wedding. They took strands of ribbon and wove the canopy and then grabbed some leftover bamboo from the garden to make the stakes. Jenn's dress had a train which she didnt like, so when her seamstress cut it off they also hung pieces of that from the chuppah. In Judaism the chuppah is the couples first home... basic and simple and big enough only for them. It was very beautiful. (and after the reception, Jenn's friends brought mattresses and blankets and set up a beautiful honeymoon suite under the chuppah complete with music and candles!!!)
As the guests arrived Jenn's band was playing (she is in a garage band called One Hot Mess that plays at local events). They did all of the music all night long and they were AWESOME.
Philip LOVES orange and so it was fairly prominent (the wedding cake was orange velvet!!!). It was a very hot and sunny day and so the parasols and umbrellas were perfect. After everyone found their places, a local Rabbi came and explained the chuppah and the breaking of the glass and gave a blessing. I did the rest of the ceremony. I knew the theme of the wedding was bicycles and I found some great material about tandem biking. Little did I know that later they would be riding into the reception on a tandem bicycle. God works in mysterious and wonderful ways!!!!
Jenn and Philip's dogs followed Philip to the ceremony when he left the house on his bike. They sat at their feet throughout the ceremony and walked out with them!
When the reception started Jenn hopped on stage and grabbed her bass. Philip started singing which made everyone laugh. Jenn didn't play all night, just a song or two.
Noah loved the parasols and the pinwheels.
Philip's vision was a cozy dinner with his friends and as he put it he wanted to eat with all 150 of his friends and so the table was set family style with beef, salmon, chicken, and lamb. Philip is a caterer and so his staff made sure everything was set up and ready to go.
We danced and chatted well into the night. We had such a marvelous time with everyone!!! When Paul took the kids home he noticed that the stars were unbelievable, so he and the kids climbed up on top of the roof of the car and pointed out the stars. Noah didn't want to tell me the next day because he thought I would be really mad!
It was one of the most beautiful and simple weddings I have been to and truly defined the spirit of the people getting married.
The next morning we got up and headed back to the reception site for brunch with Jenn and Philip before we headed out. We all helped clean up and gave our last teary hugs goodbye.
We decided to take the long route back to Denver and drove through Rocky Mountain National Park because all of the reviews said that we would see lots of animals. Not so much!!! We saw two moose and nothing else. But the mountains were spectacular!
We spent the night in Denver before flying out early Monday morning. Needless to say we were all exhausted!
