getting wedding ready

So I didn't tell you this ahead of time because it was a big, fat secret but... Sandi and I got married!

(Blog post 1 of 3.  Be prepared to be inundated with pictures.)

In trying to decide what kind of wedding we wanted, there was one resounding idea: small and private.  We had been in the public eye for quite a while throughout the marriage equality campaign and we wanted our own marriage to be only for us.   We knew the only way to keep it small would be to keep it very small.  There are so many people that we are lucky enough to love in our lives and if we invited all of them, we would have an event that would be entirely overwhelming for us.  

Thank you to all those who understood why we could not include everyone in our special day.  Thank you for the love, blessings and celebration after the fact.   Our dear friends Ashley, Billy, the twins and their baby Ava gave us this beautiful canvas before we left and we hung it right where we could see it and be filled by their love and have them with us. 

We decided that instead of just having a wedding, we would have a wedding week with our families We began planning last fall and, after much searching, found a house on a remote peninsula on the coast, that we could share with our families for a week.  Our families together make 17 people and we made sure to have a house big enough to accommodate.  There were plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms, a pool table, a ping pong table, four different sitting areas and a kitchen that made the week's cooking a sheer delight.  There was no one around us except the sea.  

We moved into the house on Saturday, using two cars and Patti's trailer halfway full of our stuff to get everything down there.  This was not just a wedding and not just a family vacation, it was both.  Suffice it to say I had packed A LOT of stuff.  I had been packing for literally 6 weeks and I am proud to say I had everything we needed (and a whole lot more).  All the prep, packing and planning added to the end of school and the Trek Across Maine and it was a crazy few weeks!

The girls had been keeping this secret for nearly 9 months and they were beside themselves with excitement that the wedding week had finally arrived.  A week with both sets of cousins in a giant house, a house so big we needed (needed?) walkie talkies to communicate. 

First task after unloading was to attend to the two massive boxes of flowers that had been overnight shipped and get them into water.  

We needed to be ready for when our florist, Kristi, arrived the next day!

The first day we spent settling in to the house before our families came.  There was a ton of organizing and unpacking to do.  And general relaxing.  Sandi had been working so hard in the many months leading up to this that Maya felt she needed to pin her down whenever she could. 

 We envisioned this week being tons of a fun and a chance to just get to enjoy time with our families but a few times I got nervous about best laid plans.   What if everyone got on each other's nerves?  What if it wasn't fun, but super stressful?  

Sandi and I put a ton of thought into the week.  We purchased new comforters for each bed to replace the 80s style feel of the bedrooms.  We made a schedule of kitchen duties to be spread among our families for cooking/prep and clean up.  We made up menus and a master grocery list which we then divided up by family to make sure we had all the food we would need for a week.   

People arrived with more food than we could ever eat and joyful spirits and the week was beyond my wildest imaginings of success.  It was just so much fun.  Our families got along so well, now families to each other, and it was so great to have both our sets of nieces and nephews adore each other. 

Oh, and there was a wedding in there too.  (That will come later.)

The thing I loved most about the house were the grounds.  We saw deer, lunar moths, hummingbirds and tons of other birds.  There was a very friendly chipmunk who was brazen enough to steal your food if you weren't careful.  After having the trash strewn everywhere each morning, Dwight finally found the culprit early one morning: a bear was out prowling around the cars.  

In addition to being our florist, Kristi was also the bartender at "Kricka's Cabana."  We had gone to great lengths to stock her bar and make up wedding themed drinks, both cocktails and "mocktails" for the kids and non-drinkers.

 I exaggerate not when I say, with some trepidation, that the kids LOVED the bar.  At one point someone said, "Where are the kids?" and I overheard myself say, "I think they are at the bar!"  (That is truly how big this house was.)

Marashino cherries, cocktail umbrellas, fun stirrers and straws and we had ourselves some happy kids.

Yes, the adults loved it too.

Our dear friends who are family to us, Ange and Matt and their kids and Emilie and Tim and their kids, stayed nearby and helped with wedding prep Monday for the wedding Tuesday.  With Patti, Kathryn, Ange, Emilie, my mom, Sandi and I,  we had such fun in the kitchen!!

Emilie was on rice pilaf duty.  It was an unusual recipe that called for baking the the rice in the oven with a wet towel on it.  She wasn't so sure.

A towel in the oven? (It came out great!)

I ordered a variety of breads from a local baker and she gave them to me in one 
of the happiest totes I've ever opened.   

Me and my beautiful sister.

In true form of Sandi and I, we had 11 children there!

Plus 1 more.

I so appreciate how these people that we hold so close would come and spend their vacation time helping us have our wedding.  I'm serious when I say we put them to work!  It isn't easy playing ping pong with kids all afternoon, arranging beautiful flowers, filling a kitchen with heat and laughter and the sounds of chopping and "oohing" and "ahhing" over food,  stringing lights, prepping linens and keeping up with then mountain of dishes this many people make!

It was only fitting then that we celebrate the night before our wedding with a lobster dinner (lasagna for the non-shellfish eaters) on the patio followed by strawberry shortcake and enjoy a gorgeous summer night on the ocean with each other.  It was such fun and filled with love and laughter that I had to remind myself that this wasn't even the wedding yet!

Emilie and Tim

Kathryn and Brian

Brock and Trish

We asked Ange and Matt if they would marry us and Ange became a notary just so they could do this.  Is that not love?

Me and my mom

Sandi with her parents and sisters

At my request Trish and Brock made this sign which was proudly displayed on the patio.


Patti made this INCREDIBLE s'mores table we had dreamed up (I blame Pinterest) and I think I speak accurately when I say it was the highlight of the kids' week.

Ange also surprised Sandi with this lovely Rice Krispy cake since Rice Krispy treats are her favorite.

Trish and Brock presented us with the amazing wedding gift they had made us.

Our wedding invitations had this quote from a Josh Radin song: "I sat beside you and became myself."  They carved it into the gorgeous wood and Brock made a heart inlay with the date of our wedding.  It is such an incredibly beautiful and thoughtful gift.

Time for the brides to get some sleep for their big day!