I DO!
That was the answer last weekend when we enjoyed watching our youngest son get married. For the past year and a half, ever since Jacob proposed to Brittany while we were all vacationing in Cancun, we have had this wedding on our minds. And last Friday, July 15th, Jacob and Brittany said “I Do” and now they are Man and Wife.
The festivities started for us the Wednesday just prior the the wedding when we drove down to Santa Cruz. On the way there we stopped at a small bakery, Mama’s in Los Gatos, and picked up 126 heart shaped black and white cookies. We are talking about a serious cookie about 6 inches tall. These were to be the give-away for the wedding. We also had the rehearsal dinner wine in the car with us, not to mention our suitcase and formal wear for the wedding. The car was very full! Once in Santa Cruz we went to the restaurant Michael’s on Main in Soquel where the rehearsal dinner was going to be on Thursday night and dropped off the wine for them to cool down. The wine we choose for this evening was a ’06 Chardonnay from Selby Winery in Healdsburg and a ’07 Sangiovese from Auriga Wine Cellars in El Dorado County. Then we went to our friend’s house where we stayed that night and the next. We dropped off all of our things from the car including the cookies. Then we went to our beach house in Aptos where during the past few months we have slowly been bringing the wine for the wedding to be stored until this day. We picked up all the wine for the wedding, which was 3 cases of Armida 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, 3 cases of Colby Red from Asti Winery, 3 cases of Korbel Champagne and 1 case of Armida 2009 PoiZin. We removed 6 bottles of the champagne for the brunch on Saturday and for other events where champagne might be needed. We then drove to the Chaminade Resort where the wedding was going to be held and dropped off all the wine with them. We grabbed a bite to eat then went back to our friend’s house as we knew we had work to do. We did take a little bit of time and went for a walk through a state park to the beach. It was a beautiful evening. Our main task for this evening was to put each cookie in a plastic bag and tie it with the ribbon that was already imprinted with Jacob and Brittany on one side and July 15, 2011 on the other side. This was a tedious job and it took us over 2 hours to do, but we did it and they looked nice.
Thursday morning we went to our beach house and Larry proceeded to start to clean up the back yard. Just a sweep here and a cleaning of a chair there. Not too much, but he kept busy for an hour or two. I started to make the fruit salad for the brunch we were having there on Saturday. All the fruit went into individual zip lock bags and they were placed in the ice chest for safe keeping. Brandon, Kim and my granddaughter Elli arrived from Santa Rosa and we visited and had lunch. Brittany went with her Grandma Dee, who flew in from Las Vegas and was paying for the wedding, to get her hair done for the rehearsal dinner. After awhile everyone was back at the house and it was time for us all to get dressed for the rehearsal and dinner. That was interesting since there were 3 men and 4 women and 1 bathroom. We put all the gifts and such into the appropriate cars and headed off to the Chaminade. The temperature was in the mid to high 70’s and beautiful blue skies with a slight breeze. The views from where we were having the rehearsal were beautiful. You could see the ocean with the fog way in the background. After the rehearsal we all converged at Michael’s on Main. We had our wine and hors d’oeurve hour outside in their front patio. They served gazpacho shooters and fritatta bites. There were 21 of us. We went inside where Larry and I showed the Imovie (pictures put to music) we put together for Jacob and Brittany. It went from their childhood through when they met, got engaged, and to the present. It was about 15 minutes long. After that we had a nice buffet dinner. There was Caesar salad, pistachio encrusted salmon, skirt steak in a chimichurri sauce, carrots and zucchini, and fingerling potatoes with applewood smoked bacon. After everyone ate, Jacob and Brittany presented gifts. I received a beautiful decanter made by Waterford. This was a present from Grandma Dee to me. I was very surprised and elated. The kids gave their wedding party gifts as thank yous for all the help their friends have done for the wedding. There were some toasts and silly stories told. We all had crème brûlée for dessert and left by 9:00. Brittany and her girls went to the Chaminade where they had the honeymoon suite for that night. They did girly stuff and had a good time. We went back to our friend’s house as did Brandon, Kim and Elli. They got Elli bathed and to sleep. We talked for a while, then we crashed.
Friday morning (the day of the wedding) Kim and I left the house by 8:45 and made our way to the Chaminade where a limo was picking up us girls and taking us to the Elements Salon in Scotts Valley. We proceeded to get our hair done and some got their makeup done as well. We had mimosas and lunch around noon. The photographer was there when we arrived and took a lot of pictures. Around noon the limo went to our beach house and picked up the men and took them to the Chaminade. Around 1:00 Brittany got into her dress, the photographer took pictures of her and off he went to the Chaminade to take pictures of the men. About 1:45 the limo picked us up and took us to the Chaminade. When we arrived Jacob was being blindfolded so he couldn’t see Brittany. She removed the blindfold and the photographer took the pictures of him seeing her for the first time. After that the next two hours were spent with the bridal party taking wedding photos in different locations. The florist, Dublin Floral Design, had decorated the chuppah with beautiful greens and purple flowers. The temperature was probably in the mid 70’s with a slight breeze. The view from the wedding site was just perfect. The ocean so blue with the fog sitting way out. Around 4:15 a few of us went into a room that had been set aside for the Ketubah ceremony. The rabbi arrived, and the best man, maid of honor, bride, groom, Grandma Dee and Larry and I were there. We had a tallit (prayer shawl) from Larry’s great-grandfather. During the ceremony four of us held the tallit up and Jacob and Brittany were under it. It was a very moving and beautiful ceremony. The best man and maid of honor signed the marriage certificate and the ketubah, as did Jacob and Brittany. When this ceremony was over it was a matter of time before we all walked down the isle. We all gathered in the waiting area and to start off the ceremony two of their friends walked down the aisle, around the chuppah and back up the aisle with burning sage to cleanse and purify everything and everyone. Before I knew it Larry and I were walking Jacob, who was wearing the tallit, down the aisle. I got emotional. It was so beautiful. Then the girls and the guys walked down, then Brittany and her grandma. The rabbi did a great job, added in a little bit of humor. Jacob and Brittany planted a tree to symbolize putting their roots together. The ceremony only lasted about 25 minutes. Larry’s mom embroidered a special bag for the wine glass that gets broken at the end of the ceremony. This made it even more special. Jacob broke the glass and Mazel Tov was said and then the couple walked back up the aisle together. Hors d’oeuvres, wine, champagne and beer were set up outside in the patio area. Everyone enjoyed. We then did the family photos. After the photos we went into the reception room. There were 13 tables of 8 plus the head table. The room was beautiful with green wreaths in the center of each table with purple flowers and a candle with a hurricane lamp. Simple and elegant. The buffet was great; it consisted of many salad fixings, a cheese platter, rolls, grilled assorted vegetables, mashed potatoes, chicken with rosemary in a white wine sauce, sliced to order leg of lamb, and a pasta bar. The toasts given by the best man and maid of honor were great, the wedding cake beautiful, and the dancing plentiful. The dancing went on until past 11:00. Most everyone had either left or went to their hotel room. We went downstairs to the bar to find the bride and groom and about 20 of their close friends there. We visited with them until 1 a.m. then adjourned to our hotel room.
We had to have a very rude 7:30 wake-up call as we were hosting 50 people at our beach house for brunch at 10:30. We went and picked up fresh bagels, lox schmear and went back to the beach house. Two friends had stayed over night there and were a great help to us. We had bagels, two different types of cream cheese, the fruit salad and homemade cookies. For drinks there was coffee, orange juice and champagne to make mimosas. The fog broke around 10:00 so it was just perfect outside while everyone ate and mingled. The bride and groom showed up with Grandma Dee around 11:30. Around 1:00 most of the people had left to drive either home or to continue their vacation as they make their way back to Southern California. I counted 28 people who made their way north for this wedding from Southern California. So nice! Jacob and Brittany then opened up their wedding presents while the close family and friends still left watched. After everyone who was going to leave left, Larry and I went back to our friend’s house and got all packed up and cleaned up the house. We met up with Jacob, Brittany, Dee, two friends and my Mom and Bob for dinner at Bittersweet Bistro in Aptos. We had a great dinner to celebrate in a quiet fashion. After dinner we all went to our own homes. Jacob and Brittany had a nice quiet night alone. The next day they picked up Grandma Dee and took her to lunch and then the airport, then came back home. Larry and I stayed home all day. We watched the Women’s World Cup then watched the Giant’s baseball game. The most that we did that day was to make dinner.
On Wednesday night Jacob and Brittany and 6 other friends left for their honeymoon up to Oregon to a 4-day bluegrass festival.
They have been married over a week now and the memories are still right there. Looking back on the wedding we can’t think of one thing that we would have changed or wished had happened differently. Now, I have two son’s married and no more to go. We are done with the wedding thing. Let the grand-babies continue to multiply!