Finally getting around to posting pictures of my girlfriend Karyn's wedding from last weekend. The entire weekend (started on Thursday with the bachelorette party) was really fun and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. It pretty much was impossible for this wedding to not be beautiful consider the location. And from the end result you could see all of the time and energy Karyn put in the meticulous planning of her and Dan's wedding. I'm was so blessed to be able to go and celebrate with her and I am so excited she and Dan are married after dating since freshman year of college (almost eight years!).
First, here are pictures of Glen Lake where both Karyn and Dan's families have cottages. Probably the most beautiful lake I have ever seen, and you certainly wouldn't see me complaining if Josh and I ever owned a cottage on this lake.
My girlfriends and I have a tradition where we try to get together the Thursday before wedding to have the bachelorette party and personal shower. For Karyn's we drove to Traverse City from Glen Arbor (about 25 minutes) for wine tasting. This particular vineyard, L. Mawby, only produces sparkling wines. Kind of sad I didn't get to sample the wines with my girlfriends but no worries, they got me a sparkling juice to sample.
From left to right:
Beth, me, Karyn (the bride), Britt, & Ruth
(we're missing my girlfriend Libby who sadly couldn't join us. She actually had her first round of chemo on this night. The weekend just wasn't the same without her.)
After wine tasting we had a nice dinner in Traverse City overlooking Lake Michigan.
But I had to leave dinner early with Beth and Ruth to check into my hotel
and set up for the personal shower portion of our evening.
Waiting for the bride and the other girls to arrive.
I absolutely LOVED Beth's bangs the entire weekend!
She totally rocked them!
After we played a game and Kar opened up her fun gifts, we met up with the guys who had been having the bachelor party all day at a karaoke bar. I have many pictures from this part of the evening but they are kind of embarrassing so I will spare my friends. =)
On Friday, Ruth and I enjoyed the day by having a late breakfast and shopping with her husband John in Glen Arbor, laying out, and then meeting up with the bridal party to get mani/pedis complements of the bride's mother. From the salon we headed to the groom's family's cottage for a bbq for all of the guests who had already come into town for the wedding. Getting to the bbq was a bit of an adventure and much longer drive due to some poor directions, but we made it in plenty of time to eat and to enjoy a beautiful sunset.
On the day of the wedding, Ruth and I got up early for a walk and were planning on a relaxing day by the pool. Before we went to the pool we went to hang out with the bridal party as they were getting ready. There was a bit of dress drama when we got there (thankfully not the bride's, we kept her out of the loop so she could enjoy her day and not worry about anything). Since a few things weren't going exactly as planned, I volunteered Ruth and I to help (we had actually been offering to help all weekend long but Karyn, her mother, and my friend Britt (the matron of honor) were so organized they didn't really need any help). I started by curling my girlfriend Beth's hair, which is usually what I do at my girlfriend's weddings. We then headed back to the resort (The Homestead) to get things all set up in the honeymoon suite. This didn't go as smoothly as we had planned since they wouldn't let me check in since I wasn't the one paying for the room. When we figured this all out I forgot what room number they told me and thought it was their fault the key wouldn't work in suite 1 when it was actually suite 3, totally my fault.
By the time Ruth and I got back to our room to start getting ready for the wedding it was 3pm and we needed to be at the chair lifts by 3:45 and we both still needed to shower. And the matron of honor wanted me to do her daughter's hair since she was the flower girl and she was busy with pictures. Bella wasn't too happy about me doing her hair.
But with the craziness of the day, Ruth and I managed to get to the chair lifts on time and I think we cleaned up pretty nicely.
the Hope Street girls
(we lived on Hope St. in college)
Karyn was stunning!
I loved her dress, she looked so beautiful.
Again, the ceremony site, beautiful view of Lake Michigan.
Centerpieces from the reception:
Parts of birch trees, which I believe are local to the area. Kar used a lot of things
that were local to the area, and I was actually able to bring some home with me.
I can't even remember the name of the song that made us all put on our sunglasses. I have so many dancing pictures but those are a bit too embarrassing....for me. Baby and I were really shaking it out there. I would go and sit down and rest but then I'd here a great song and I just couldn't resist.
The happy couple for their last dance of the night. You could tell they really enjoyed their reception. Congrats again Karyn and Dan! Love you both!
that were local to the area, and I was actually able to bring some home with me.
Lastly, the reception was so much fun and so many people were dancing. I'll leave you with these two pictures...
Looks like an amazing wedding- the bride was beautiful and so were you!!! Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteI echo Ms. Jennings' comments - everything looked great, especially you!!! Thanks for posting those pics. :)
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