That evening, it was decided that there would be a bachelorette party and a make-shift bachelor party. Most of the family and friends were staying at the Haymoon Lodge and resort. Both groups found themselves in Whitefish eventually, dancing to bar music and sharing stories over drinks. I found myself staying out with my cousins and sibling as the last car. We shared more stories and it was great just to be together as family. We got in late, but were ready to attack the tasks facing us in the day ahead.
We woke up Thursday and tents were delivered to be set up. There were flowers to be arranged and tables and chairs put in place for the rehearsal dinner. I was also assigned the task of practicing music for the service. My sister-in-law Kirsten, did an amazing job arranging and organizing music. We practiced for multiple hours, and it was fun playing with others for a change. In the mid-afternoon, we held the rehearsal just in the resort under the tents, and were able to move through it with limited interuptions.
Afterwards there was some fribee, croquet, and bocce ball that was played before the food arrived for the dinner. We were treated to great tex-mex and home brew provided by my father and brother. After the dinner, my sister and her groom asked if I would M.C. the toasts and stories/speeches. I happily agreed. I was able to tell stories, hand the mic over to others and even auctioned off a hat from Two Dot in the middle where the proceeds went to the happy couple. I was complimented on my auctioneering skills, although I don't know if I had ever done an auction before.
As we wrapped up the festivities, people found their way to the hot tubs, firepit and a few still tried to eek out the ends of croquet with the waning sunlight. Eventually the hot tub was cleared out, and the fire was put down as we knew we had another night of festivities after the wedding.
The day of the wedding, everyone was treated to a fabulous pancake breakfast provided by John's grandparents. All the visitors were invited to attend, and upon clean up, all the visitors helped set up for the reception. The tables and chairs from the night before were brought out of the pavillion and placed under tents. The table cloths were put out with a little help from an MIT grad engineer, who was able to teach a few a folding pattern that allowed for the white to not drag on the ground. The napkins needed to be folded and the party favors set out. A group of us found that our skill was more needed in moving picnic tables from around the resort.
Once that was finished, everyone went to their own ways and prepared for the wedding. I drove to the wedding with my parents and the bride and groom. We got into the park, and I always feel a sense of belonging at Glacier. I knew that I would only be there a short time, but wanted to soak up as much of the mountain air as I could.
We parked and prepared the amphitheater for the service as my sister and John had their photos taken. I was able to run through the music one last time and then the crowd came. John had written most of the service and it was great. Most people laughed and cried, and you can't ask much more from a wedding. Afterwards, some people chose to take a dip in the ice fed lake, and others skipped rocks and took a slow drive back to the resort.
We stopped to take a few photos and were able to make it back in time for the food to be delivered. The dinner was great. A veggie lasagna was the highlight for me, but I remember all the food was great. For dessert, my cousin who is a pastry chef, made 18 pies. Three types: rosemary infused honey apple, raspberry peach and mixed berry. They were amazing!
The reception also had a live bluegrass band. My family loves string music and the dance floor was well used by the end of the night. I loved it. I tried to dust off all of my jitterbug (western style) moves that I could come-up with from high school days, and was able to dance with the girls from the east coast effectively.
As the music was ending, some of the guests brought out sparklers and lit them on the dance floor. After some panicked screaming and quickly shuffling the party outdoors, we were able to have all of the crowd with at least one sparkler greet the bride and groom. It was awesome.
After the dancing ended, it was another night of hot tubs and fires. Everyone had a great time and the festive spirit died hard. The latest to bed were around 4:30am and we had to check out of the resort by 10:00am the next morning.
The next morning most people went to the park for a hike. I drove friends to the airport and took care of some loose ends for the wedding. I was able to return to the resort and eat dinner with most of my mother's siblings. It was a great time to chat about the future with them. I then went back to the resort, play a board game, said my goodbyes and headed for my brother's house. I left at noon the next day after saying goodbye to my immediate family and drove back to Oregon. This would be the extent of my travels this summer as I had to get back to prepare for a different type of big adventure.
The picture below is one of my favorites. It is of most of my aunts on my mother's side of the family. I feel like the smiles tell a lot about how the weekend went.
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