Another one bites the dust. Last weekend, Bob, Yao and I took a road trip to Denver to see Cathy marry Sam. Yes, you read correctly, we DROVE to Denver. Why? Because we thought it would be fun. Was it? It actually wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be (probably because I didn’t have to drive). And Kansas was not as flat as I had imagined. Plus, we were traveling in style, Yao’s mom’s mini-van.
When we got into Denver Friday afternoon, we rushed to the rehearsal and had dinner at Cathy and Sam’s favorite Brazilian restaurant. It did not disappoint. Afterwards, Nikki, the bridesmaids and I offered our services to the bride on some last minute details and soon found out that it was a little more than we had imagined. We had to put together the wedding favors, create a wedding program, make bridesmaid jewelry, create the seating chart and other things I can’t remember. Once we finished what we could, a bunch of us went over to Three Dogs Tavern to hang out with Sam and his friends so Cathy could get some sleep.
Saturday began pretty early for us. Instead of relaxing and checking out the city, Bob, Yao, Nikki and I (aka the Dream Team), instead, got tapped to take care of programs, seating chart and supervising the set-up of the reception site. Let me tell you, I felt as stressed that day as I did when I was planning my wedding five years ago. Bob, Yao and I spent a couple of hours at FedEx/Kinkos in the morning due to some mistakes in the program. Afterwards, we and Nikki went to Lola for lunch to come up with a game plan for the rest of the day. Wow! Absolutely impressed with this place, great vibe, awesome decor and tasty food. I ordered the Breakfast Cristo (stuffed French Toast with pineapple syrup and a side of applewood smoked bacon). YUMMMY! Once lunch was over, we went and picked up some stuff to take to the wedding and headed back to the hotel to get ready.
The wedding began at 6:00 PM yet we were at the reception site at 4:30 PM. Yep, we started early. Nikki and I spent the next hour and a half ordering the caterers around, tracking down the parents of the bride and groom, deciding where to put things, setting up the centerpieces, putting out the wedding favors. Yeah, we were running around like lunatics.
The actual wedding was short and sweet. Cathy and Sam had the wedding at the Pines at Genesee on the terrace. It was a beautiful location, outside among the trees. The entire wedding ceremony took 14 minutes (4 of those minutes were taken up by the bridesmaids and Cathy walking down the aisle). It was so perfect for them. There was no crying, lots of laughing, they just looked like they were having a good time. Of course, I teared up a bit and laughed the rest of the time.
The reception was loads of fun. Quite a few people from high school came in and it sort of felt like a mini reunion. It was great seeing them and catching up with what was going in their lives. I had not seen some of them since graduating. There was one moment when I had to find a computer with an Internet connection to print out the maid of honor toast for Allison because it got lost in the shuffle, but she did give me a shout out for that. Basically the entire day absolutely reflected who Cathy and Sam are: two laid-back individuals who complement each other perfectly and have a great time together.
We love you and wish you many, many years of happiness!
If you’re interested in the many photos we took of the wedding, please click here.
First thought – Why the hell wasn’t any of that stuff done before you guys got there?
Second thought – I drove in a car with Will straight from L.A. to the Ozarks, so a drive to Denver, a vacation and party, and a drive back doesn’t sound too terrible.
First time I got to see all the pictures you guys took! Thanks for sharing them as I have another month before the photographer gets our pictures to us. Thanks for helping out with the last minute details!
Kenny,
To answer you, I was working over 12 hour days the last two months and didn’t realize that I needed help until the days preceeding the wedding. But as you know, Bob and Jen are such great friends and pitched in with their talents.
Cathy,
Work is for losers and Bob and Jen suck.
We were so glad to be there to help you out! It was so much fun being a part of the wedding!
We’ll, I’m glad that someone put some pictures up, so I can have some memory of the evening after Allison’s maid of honor toast.
It was great to see both of you out at the wedding!