We had a tiny wedding in a far-off place, attended only by immediate family and a handful of lifelong friends. I highly recommend this strategy, by the way. It was relatively stress-free and positively delightful, I didn't have to introduce myself to any coworkers' husbands' sisters' dates at the reception, and the smaller crowd kept my tendency toward social anxiety at bay on one of the most important days of my life. It was great.
However, since we've been home, lots of you have had lots of questions for Mr. Waffle and me as to exactly how it all went down. I've been trying to tell you all, but words don't really do it justice. All I can tell you is that everything about it was perfect.
I thought I might show you a bit. These photos were taken by one of my oldest friends, the brilliantly talented Natalie Champa Jennings. When you're done here, do yourself a favor and check out her site.
It's this really cool old place called Edgefield, just outside of Portland, Oregon. A hundred years ago, it opened as the Multnomah County Poor Farm, a massive old manor house where people who had lost it all would go to rebuild their lives. When the poor farm closed, it became a nursing home that was condemned in the '90s, purchased by a company that restores quirky old properties, and turned into what is now essentially a giant playground for grown-ups and the children who love them. It has several restaurants, extensive gardens and orchards, a vineyard, a winery, a distillery, a brewery, several music venues, a billiards hall, a pub, an art house, a golf course and a spa. It probably has other cool things, too, but I haven't discovered them yet.
If you believe in ghosties, the place is totally haunted. I'm not convinced that we share our space with spooks, but I am entirely certain that we all leave a bit of ourselves wherever we go. To me, the symbolism and the spirit of the place was moving. I loved the idea of beginning anew in a place that was founded on the principle of a fresh start. I was grateful to the people who'd been there before us.
We were married on Independence Day. It's not because we're particularly patriotic. It's because we're nerds, actually. Mr. Waffle notices really bizarre number and letter patterns, like palindromic license plates. So when we decided to wed, we plopped open a calendar and looked for interesting dates. There weren't a lot of them this summer. 7/4/11 was about as good as we could come up with, as 7 + 4 = 11. That it was a holiday was only icing on the cake, and that it occurred on a Monday and made everything less expensive only spoke to our annoyingly practical side. Plus, it made it really easy to come up with a cheeky color scheme. And let's just admit it--all wedding colors are cheeky. We went for a subdued navy and scarlet attempt at a Martha-Stewart-does-Fourth-of-July sort of theme.
Here's are the highlights:
The Waffle children, his and mine, served as our bridesmaids, groomswomen, and flower girl. The ladies and I all started our day in the spa, getting dolled up. The Littlest Waffler particularly enjoyed this, as she had both a tiara and someone to secure it for her.
After getting our hair and makeup done, I went back to the kids' room to have a snack and put on my dress. Somewhere, there are photos of a very coiffed and made-up version of me, wearing nothing but restrictive undergarments as I shovelled a pop tart in my face. Sexy.
But the girls! Ohmygah--the girls! They were so beautiful.
The officiant was one of Waffle Guy's childhood friends. Mox's words were precious. I feel like he did a great job of capturing the essence of our relationship, and sharing that with the people who mean the most to us. I was so grateful that he agreed to be a part of that day.
There were rock stars. Our talented and dear friend Ryan Paul of Sleep Study teamed up with Kevin Steinman, another Minneapolis-based musician and friend, to provide what was unquestionably the coolest soundtrack for any wedding, ever. Go ahead. Listen to the song, and just try to tell me with a straight face that you didn't tear up just a little bit.
Once, when I had a bad day, my best friend Molly brought me a plant, and a red balloon, and a card that had Winnie-the-Pooh on it. The card read, "No One Can Be Uncheered by a Red Balloon."
It was true then, as it is now, and it was with this is mind that I decided to forego a bouquet in favor of a giant red balloon. It made me giggle.
There were our vows. I'll post those later, in a separate post, if you're interested. And then, all of a sudden, I was Mrs. Bailey! I still get all giddy when I write it, by the way.
There was an awesome reception involving (in no particular order) McMenamin's Monkey Puzzle Whiskey, some really good food, more great music, a comfy white cotton dress, a saltwater soaking pool, and great company.
As my little girl celebrated by writing on my hand with a sharpie, it occurred to me that my wedding, like my life, had been better than I would have ever dared to dream it could be.
I'm a lucky girl, and I'm grateful every day for the love with which I'm surrounded. Simply put, my family is my greatest joy.
Lovely storytelling. So happy to have been a part of it! You guys are fab.
ReplyDeleteLove love love. I love everything about this.
ReplyDelete