Vermont Trip Part 2: Wedding Adventures

I have known my best friend Nancy since we were 10 years old.  She is beautiful, funny, smart, and quite possibly one of the most patient people I know.  She married Yussef, a handsome, funny, incredible chef/jack of all trades and I could not be happier for them!

We had an amazing time our whole weekend in Vermont, and this recap is all about the wedding festivities!  If you missed Part 1, you can check it out here.

On Friday night, we got to go to rehearsal with the rest of the wedding party to make sure I knew where to sit/stand/speak when it was time to do my reading.  I love the rehearsal because it's a little preview into the culmination of so much work and it was so clear how hard Nancy and her family had worked to make this day absolute perfection.  After we had sufficiently practiced all the walking/talking while still leaving enough to chance {Would there be microphones?  Could I say my piece without bursting into tears?} we headed out to the Timbers Restaurant in Sugarbush {seriously the names of these little towns had me feeling like I was living in a Hallmark Channel Original Movie} for the rehearsal dinner/welcome party.  We ate ridiculously good food while Duke gnawed his way through the table and then we drank, mingled, and chatted with all of the wedding guests as they started to roll into town. Nancy was absolutely glowing and the best moment was when one of her best friends from college completely surprised her by showing up and had her instantly crying the happiest of tears.

 

We had a pretty low key morning the day of the wedding with the hope that Duke wouldn't be a total disaster that night.  We luckily had plenty of time to get ready and have a glass of wine before we were due to head over to the wedding venue which was thankfully only 2 miles from the house we rented. We ditched the boys at the house and showed up with plenty of time to get some pictures with the bride and soak up the moments before the big event.  I wasn't paying too much attention to my phone when we were with the bride so I can't share any of the pictures we took with Nancy until the photographer shares them with us but the entire place was unbelievably beautiful so I'm quite sure the pictures will be perfection. We wandered around, picked flowers, took 235 pictures of ourselves and anxiously waited for our dates to finally show up 5 minutes before the ceremony was set to begin.  Rumor has it, Duke gave Dennis a run for his money with the whole 'getting ready' process so we're lucky they showed up at all. :)

 

 

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful.  Yussef's sister officiated and Nancy's Uncle and our friend Carrie played guitar and sang before and during the ceremony.  There were tears as we watched Nancy's dad Jim give her away, both in his honor and Colette's, smiles {and more tears} as Nancy got chocked up saying her vows, and laughter as she told Yussef he'd have to push the ring on a little harder due to a little hot weather puffiness. :)  I can't leave out Nancy's aaaaadorable nephew Max sprinting down the aisle to his mama to deliver the "Here Comes the Bride" sign to kick the whole thing off.

Nancy's mama was sorely missed by everyone but she did a wonderful job incorporating her into so many things throughout the day.  A beautiful bouquet of flowers marked an empty chair in the front row, charms with her picture were attached to each bouquet the girls held and Nancy wore an engraved locket with Colette's picture in it all weekend.  It's a true testament to the love this family shares to watch everyone pull together to make sure this wedding not only went off without a hitch, but was a true celebration of love and happiness.  

Nancy and her beautiful sisters Lyndsey and Sara

The Round Barn!

Stunning!

Nancy's beautiful mama Colette

The reception was fantastic.  Drinks and appetizers were served on the main floor of the Round Barn and then we moved up to the second floor for dinner.  There were 4 unbelievable courses, followed by cupcakes and late night snacks of sliders and popcorn.  Pretty sure I ate everything in sight and enjoyed every second of it.  Duke lasted with the babysitters through the ceremony and dinner but he wasn't really having any of it after that.  I had to go scoop him up, jammies and all and cart him around the party for the rest of the evening.  No one seemed to mind and he was in good spirits, just didn't want to leave my side, unless it was to hang out with his daddy for a bit.  Dennis took over so I could dance with my girlfriends for awhile and all and all, even with our unexpected mini date, we had an unbelievable time.  

Best friend and maid of honor!

We rounded out our amazing weekend with brunch with the happy couple and wedding guests and then hit the road for Boston late morning.  I was so excited we could be there to celebrate with Nancy, but was truly surprised at just what an incredible weekend it was.  I was anxious about traveling with Duke for the first time and just wanted everything to go smoothly.  Vermont was stunning and so relaxing.  The detail and work that this family put into the weekend made everyone feel incredibly welcome and oh so special and I know this will be a trip we will not soon forget!  I remember months and months before the wedding, Nancy had reached out to me to see if we thought we'd be able to make it, knowing we would have an 8 month old and lots of change happening around the same time and I remember telling her we wouldn't miss it for the world!  These girls are like sisters to me and I love that we all make an effort to be there for the big stuff and small stuff whenever possible.  We're running out of wedding activities though, so it's time to start making up reasons to get together.

Cheers to a wonderful trip and many more like it!  Congrats Nancy and Yussef!

-T-