The Wedding- Part 1

Boulder....a great place to get married.....or go to a wedding!

the ceremony in the distance....but we will get to that later!

There is just too much to cover in just one post so I'll start with the pre-wedding events and then save an entire post for the actual wedding!  Two posts for the low, low price of one.

Some of us arrived in Beautiful Boulder on Thursday.  (The bride got there at the beginning of the week, lucky girl!) We had work to do! Planning a wedding remotely takes a leap of faith... and the internet and maybe a phone. The leap of faith is the hardest part. I wanted to see where everything was going to take place and check out all of the venues.  We rented a house one block from the reception venue and one block off Pearl St..  Who knew it would be such a stroke of genius to be in that location?  Like I said, faith and the internet.  The house was beautiful and a perfect fit for our needs.  We only exceeded their capacity by 20 or 30 people, but don't let them know that!  We were all very well behaved!

Like I said, Thursday was spent taking care of business!  We waited with great anticipation for the guests to begin arriving.  TJ had a major weather delay on his flight over because of rain in Houston!  Go figure!  No rain in 5 months and then it rains when TJ's flight is scheduled to leave town, of course.  He finally made it to Boulder along with Rachel, Matt and the grandsons.  The house was full and things were falling into place.

The grandsons were part of the house party.  Did I ever mention that they wake up entirely too early for me?  Well, 5:30 is still too early to be awake for me, but not for them....so their parents had to do their best to entertain the boys in the wee hours of the morning on Friday.  When the hour was a little more humane, we took the boys out on Pearl St. for a little outside play time, it was a great idea.  Climbing on boulders in Boulder is a lot of fun!

I love waking up at 5:30!

Friday was shower/brunch day and rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Michael's sisters had a bridal luncheon/shower for Jehnna.  It was at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, a beautiful place! 

Kelly in front of the tea house

Our table is ready!

I think she likes it!

After the luncheon (why did we eat so much?) there was just enough time to go home, visit with some new arrivals and get ready for the rehearsal.  You know, the part where you practice getting married!  We went to the park and scoped out the best location for the ceremony and practiced the wedding.  This is when everyone gets a little teary and realizes this-is-happening.... Michael and Jehnna are getting married.  We all laugh it off and pretend not to be near tears, but everyone knows better, we are all a little choked up.  Weddings just do that to people. 

Repeat after me....."I do"

. 

Take Jehnna's hand and cradle it.....and repeat after me!

After all that practicing it was time for a drink!  And it was time to eat....again!  One of the best decisions of the weekend was to hire a chef to come to the house and cook dinner for everyone.  Having the dinner at the house provided a casual atmosphere and an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other.  Katie, the chef, was awesome!  Can she just come live with me?  Being able to mingle with everyone and not worry about preparing or serving a meal was priceless. 

Katie the chef and her trusty assistant

There was more than enough food and it was all delicious.  The rehearsal dinner was small, about 22 people which was about as many as we could comfortably seat in the house.  After dinner we opened the house to anyone who wanted to come over.  Well, not anyone...just the people invited to the wedding!  We have our limits!  A good time was had by all and a festive mood was in the air.

The porch was a great place to hang out!

The house was also a good place to hang out!

The head table, we actually got chairs!

There was toasting by Michael's youngest sister....and others! Cheers!

All 7 Mahoney siblings were there....this is the best picture I could get of them together that night...
getting Mahoneys to be still and all look in one direction is kind of like hearding cats, see?

And their devoted spouses!  Who obviously know how to have fun!

 All 7 siblings and their spouses get together about as often as we elect a new president so these pictures are historic!  Now, for a minute, imagine being Jehnna  marrying into this!  This is only one side of the family... there are 5 siblings on my side of the family.  We said they had a small wedding but really, how can it be small when you invite just family?  There is nothing small about our families. 

After the dinner was finished, the toasts were given and the family pictues were taken, we all called it a night!  It was a great party and the BIG DAY was finally one sleep away!