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Caution, wedding porn ahead. So, here’s the story of the wedding as told through the lenses of friends and family. The gorgeous Owen Carey professional pics are still to come- but this will be a great start for all of you who have been begging for pics.
Where to begin….
How about in the ladies lounge?
Shhhh…. Flora’s taking a nap.
Meanwhile, here’s what the space look liked before we tackled it:
Rehearsing in the field the day before…
Then the preparations began…
There were a few last minute dishes to be done in the stream….
Mocha was worn out before the ceremony even started…
Kira helped get the tables laid out…
Morgan worked on alcohol (his speciality). The bright blue one we found in a cocktail book- it was called Windex, but we called it “Peacocktail.”
Each table was put together to have a mix of styles for glasses and dishes and silverware. It ended up looking like this:
The hurricane glasses of soups made beautiful centerpieces strung out like jewels along the tables. My dad made the tree trunk trivets, and they turned out beautifully!
The ceremony was set up under the tree…
When people first arrived, they got to find their rock from the table…
The rocks were painted by over a dozen of our friends and family. Each one was unique. On the back of the rock were people’s table assignments.
I was in the tent getting ready…
…while the cocktail hour was kicking off up under the trees…
After about an hour, everyone was feely buzzy and we were finally ready to start the ceremony.
our wedding party was busy finding their right places in line…
Morgan’s mom Debi and my son Jack got things started by laying the wedding table. Mocha helped.
We had a little fun with the audience by starting with the traditional wedding march and then scratching over to Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Morgan was a trooper and held the boom box up in true Say Anything style.
We asked each set of parents to come down the aisle and leave something on the wedding table that symbolized their contribution to our relationship. Here’s Jim and Christina (Morgan’s dad and stepmom) just finishing their bit:
Our bride and groomspeople filtered down the aisle, each dropping off something for the table…
and ended up looking something like this:
Groomspeople
Bridefolk.
I tiptoed up behind everyone (but we fooled them by having the bridal party look the other way)…
Then the ceremony began…
It was bright! Thus the parasol…
Look how beautiful my sister and my sister-in-law look!
Owen snapped some pictures…
We took a moment to be with each other
before the ceremony began, while our community was asked to share their own advice and commitments with us on little cards we had scattered on their seats…
Then we made a commitment to Jack…
And to each other…
Then we exchanged rings…
And then, thanks to the powers “invested” in him by “the internet,” Ben pronounced us husband and wife…
There may have been some kissing involved….
Afterwards, there was much rejoicing:
With many beautiful people…
And some beautiful critters…
Flora got started on her painting…
People snuck a peek at what the menu had in store…
We toasted the day with soups…
savored ahi mango avocado stacks…
(with wonton crisps fried in coconut oil)
Then dived into the main course (although without the pig… poor sad piggy)
Later there were some toasts….
And then cupcakes…
And more drinking…
And then these guys….
Got the dancing started…
Tapwater led a little drum line through the crowd…
And little by little people trickled away into the night.
Some folks stayed and joined us beside the campfire…
In the morning was the aftermath…
The peahens snuck down to the ladies lounge to see what all the fuss was about…
A good time was had by all….
In the past few days I’ve had two of the most exciting conversations so far about the wedding, all about cheese and cupcakes.
Remember a while back when we were trying to decide what to do about wedding cake? And we were going back and forth between doing a yummy yummy cupcake tower (which would be convenient because it would require no additional plates or forks to serve):
or a wedding cake out of cheese wheels (to go all European and have our last course be fruit and cheese, rather than cake):
We’ve decided to compromise and do both! So I chatted with my good friend Laura (aka PastryGirl), who in addition to being a wicked professional stage manager is also the former pastry chef at Higgins and SouthPark. She’s working on some ideas for savory and herbaceous cakes and is going to create some mini cupcake versions of them for the wedding.
Right now we’re talking about a sage cupcake with a marionberry buttercream, a cardamom spice cake (maybe with a crystallized ginger flecked icing of some kind?) and a simple vanilla cupcake with something citrusy on top. And maybe some thyme. She’ll make them all mini so that you’ll have the chance to sample a couple of different kinds.
Debi (Morgan’s mom) was gifted an amazing 4 tray antique brass serving tower (basicly a perfect cupcake tower) that she is passing along to us. We spent last weekend with the brass polish getting it all shined up and ready to…well… shine.
But, I couldn’t let go of the idea of a wedding cake built out of wheels of cheese (and the idea of having a cheese course in general). I mean, think about it- cheese wheels are just exactly the perfect shape to stack on each other for a wedding cake. Plus, if you know me, you know I’m a massive cheese freak. I have yet to resist a restaurant’s cheese plate (and I particularly recommend the plates at Ten01 and Urban Farmer- Ten01 is really good cheese that’s very well priced on the happy hour menu, and Urban Farmer has a whole cheese cart run by Morgan’s friend Amanda, which I’ll get to in a second).
So, Amanda. Morgan and I had been to an industry wine tasting a few months back where we ran into Amanda, who used to work with Morgan at Bluehour. Turns out Amanda is the official cheesemonger for Bluehour and for Urban Farmer. She’s got great cheese connections. When we told her our idea for a cheese wedding cake she got super excited. We played phone tag for a while trying to get something to gel, and I started to worry that she might just be too busy to help us out.
but no- got a call from her yesterday with her cheese recommends, which are:
1. Bottom round: Morbier
This is a raw cow’s milk cheese that has a line of ash running through the cheese (totally edible ash). Originally this line of ash would separate and protect the curds of the morning milking until the curds of the evening milking could be brought in and placed on top of the bottom layer. “Morbier,” according to a cheese site I found, “has a pleasantly pliant texture and a rich farmy flavor.” I think it also has a nice hint of green flavor- like the smell of fresh mowed grass but super subtle.
2. Middle Round: A Cablanca. This is a dutch fresh goat’s milk gouda described by its maker as having “a delicate, citrus tanginess and firm but creamy texture.”
3. Top round: A Cambozola. A mixture of creamy triple-creme style
Camembert and italian Gorgonzola, this one combines the moist, rich creaminess of Camembert with the sharpness of blue Gorgonzola. So think of it as a super mild, creamy blue or a triple creme with a bit of a kick. (for the uninitiated, triple creme is brie-like in texture, but often milder in flavor that your grocery store brie).
If any of these sound a little intimidating, don’t worry- we’ll be serving two cheese plates to each table on these adorable cut glass (of course) luncheon plates and letting you choose which cheeses to try and which to pass on.
Left to do for the dessert course: Find the perfect cake topper (or maybe make one?) and go to sauvie to pick fresh berries to serve with the cheese. mmmm berries.
Trisha and Morgan Get Married 