The Wedding Post, Part I

All of the work, celebration, and relaxation is over now and I have to say that the wedding couldn't have gone much better. We had a busy week before the wedding (as is the case with most) that need not be elaborated upon--because who really wants to hear about that? I don't.

We drove out the weekend before, leaving at about 5:30 in the morning and arriving at about 7:00 at night--just in time for Dad's birthday dinner in Great Falls.














Montana welcomed us in its usual fashion.















We had our rehearsal dinner on Friday night and Mom and Dad hosted a dessert at their house with the wedding party, out of town guests, etc. It was Lea's and my first opportunity to see a number of our relatives in years. It was also the first time my old crew from high school had gotten together since graduation (Joey, Greg, me, Jarred).














The next day went a bit differently than planned. Originally we were going to hit some small ball over at Anaconda Hills. When we got there, there was a frost delay. Oppression. On top of that, there was a golf tournament going on...involving a number of men in dresses. Yeah, you read that right. Apparently this particular tournament abides by the unusual rule that if you wear a dress, you can hit from the red tees and there are always a few willing to emasculate themselves to shave off a few strokes. Sorry, no pictures.

Anyway, it was taking forever so we decided to hit the Prospector for some breakfast and then roll over to Kirsten's high school soccer game. I only got to see her play for one half (she had to go get her hair done for the wedding after that) but would get to see her the Thursday following the wedding.

After that, put together the hotel room, corralled the groomsmen together in the Holiday Inn Express, and rolled over to the Meadowlark Country Club to meet Lea. Originally, Lea didn't want us to see each other until the ceremony, but over time it became unavoidable. We could either do that or actually have some pictures in day light. Tough choice, but we went with the pictures.

We made the right choice. We gathered all of the groomsmen together on the bank of the Missouri River and had Lea walk over from the club house. The pictures aren't back yet, but the conditions were absolutely perfect: green grass, blue water, clear skies. Can't wait to see them and I'll post some the second I get some back. We had a fantastic wedding photog who put up a bit of a teaser on his blog. He did a beautiful job. Check it out.

After the country club, we set out for St. Ann's Cathedral for the ceremony. Father Dick Schlosser from Holy Family presided. Lea and I exchanged vows in a 35 minute ceremony that went off without a hitch. As I said, as soon as I have some pictures of the ceremony itself, they'll be posted here.

Back to the country club for the reception. Lea's bridesmaids all joined in on a toast together. Goss gave a pretty darn clever one as well...And now I have more house keys than I could ever know what to do with. ;o) Don't ask. My little sister Kirsten then took the mike and gave her own toast. It was heartfelt, genuine, and included what were probably the nicest things ever said about me.

Lea and I cut the cake, swigged some champagne, jigged a short rumba to "At Last" by Etta James and enjoyed a wonderful party. Again, pictures to come.

And since Blogger has apparently decided not to upload any of my pictures from the honeymoon in Banff, I'll have to add those later in another post. Miss it all, but good to be back...