62. October 30th, 2010 Picture.

Saturday morning Ratty and I were up bright and early to attend Leanne and Bill's wedding.  The ceremony started at the chipper time of 10:30, which meant that I would need to be fully caffeinated to make it out alive.  I got ready and hopped in my car for a quick trip to Starbucks.  I promised Ratty it was right down the street (which would have been true if I had gone the right way the first time), but literally made it back to the Inn about 40 minutes later.  Seriously though, you'd think suburban housewives had never seen a girl in a black dress tapping her high heels with impatience, at 10am in a Starbucks before.  Even the little kids were standing next to me, looking at my shoes, and then looking up at me in confusion.  Okay, I am pretty tall when I wear heels, like giant tall to them, I'm sure, and these were great heels, so it was fine that they were staring.

I peeled into the parking lot of the Inn, slowed down slightly for Ratty to get in and flew to the ceremony.  It was about 20 minutes away, and it was a race between me and my GPS 'Arrival Time'.  I am always looking to shave a few minutes off it anyway, but this time was exceptionally important.  We made it running into the church just as the bridesmaids were lining up and grabbed a seat just as the music started playing.  I wish I could say that this was the first time I've arrived at a wedding like this, but it's actually my second.  From what I can remember, I might be mentally blocking a few.

The church was so pretty, so bright and airy.  I loved the lights, and the stained glass and painted ceiling were beautiful.  I tried to get a shot of everything, but it was SO bright that almost everything came out blurry.  Obviously this picture doesn't do the 'brightness' justice, but I became quickly obsessed with the pendant lights.  They are gorgeous.

The ceremony was beautiful.  Once Leanne and Bill were married, we all poured outside and took some unofficial pictures.

{The sun was REALLY bright.  I thought it was hilarious that we kept insisting we stand there, mainly because of the foliage in the back, even though we were blinded and the pictures obviously suffered.}

{We finally moved.  You can't really see the awesome shoes, but they are the same color as my scarf.  So fantastic.}

{The boys toasting with their first drink of the day, er, morning!  Um, 11:30am is still considered morning, right?  By typically sane people, probably.}

{The reception.  SO pretty!}

{Ratty and I during the cocktail hour.  The food was really great, lots of fall classics, which included an apple cider station.  I stuck to champagne, obviii.}

{All the guys, Chad, Chris, Ratty, Aaron and Scott.}

{First dance.}

{This groomsman LOVED to rock the leg guitar.  Is that even the right term?  All I know was that he was kicking that leg up A LOT.}

{Leg up again!}

{Rocking out!}

{Dude, we get it.}

 

Once the reception was over, at like 4pm, we all piled into a shuttle which took us back to the hotel.  Since everyone was staying at the same place, the plan was to meet at the hotel bar and continue the celebration.  

The absolute best thing about the hotel bar, besides the bartender that loved us, was the piano player.  Oh yes, a piano player.

We sang and drank and kept singing all night.  I believe this was taken during 'Piano Man' were the crowd got really into it.  We started mixing and matching versus, singing them out of order and sometimes skipping ones completely.  The piano player just kept playing and let us all make a ridiculous scene.  It was a blast.

After we had exhausted the hotel bar, the best man threw a party up in his room, where he ordered 3 gigantic pizza, 33 slices apiece.  Needless to say we ate every single slice and kept the celebrating going until the wee hours.  At one point we made it back to the hotel bar for one more, final nightcap before turning in.  It was a GREAT time with some great friends.  Leanne and Bill were so happy and it was so great to share their special day with them.  Ratty's friends are fantastic, and while they live all over the country, some married and some with kids, there is no doubt that they love seeing each other and make the absolute most of it when they get the chance.