A Wintry Weekend of Weddings!

For the second time this year, Daniel and I attend back to back weddings- one on Friday and one on Saturday! This time around the Friday wedding was for my dear friend, Emily, and her wonderful fiance (now husband), Mike, who is an Ensign in the Navy. I've known Emily practically since birth and it was great to see her walk down the aisle so soon after my own wedding to a man in uniform. Who would've thought two little girls who loved playing dolls together would end up marrying military pilots?

Here are some pictures from their wedding:

Walking down the aisle!

The happy couple at the reception!

In between Em and Mike's ceremony and reception, we headed to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for my cousin, Mary Kate and her new hubby, John. Despite heavy traffic, we were able to get all the necessary players to the church and then to the Claddagh Irish Pub for the rehearsal dinner, which was delicious! After a yummy dinner, we hopped back on the road to celebrate with the first newlywed couple of the weekend!

After a steady snow which started late Friday night, Saturday morning brought an early wake up call and a snow covered landscape for me. Daniel dropped me off at the Venetian Salon at the Waterfront and preparations for Mary Kate and John's wedding day began at 9:00am. Bridesmaids Jenny and Becky (cousins of John) arrived shortly after me by way of Starbucks. The bride, matron of honor (Mary Kate's sister, Sarah) and mother of the bride, my Aunt Ann, arrived within minutes and the hairspray, bobby pins and curling irons were flying during the chilly, snowy morning.

With several calls to vendors and possible indoor photo locations, Sarah arranged to switch us from a 10 passenger limo (aka "sled on wheels" according to the limo company) to a smaller, but safer Escalade. She also found that the Carnegie Museum would let us "unofficially" inside to take photos. A quick call to my dad and we had secured transportation for the whole wedding party with the help of his Acadia.

Back at Aunt Ann and Uncle Wayne's house, we enjoyed some lunch and got dressed in our beautiful bridesmaids gowns- but nothing could compare to Mary Kate's gorgeous wedding dress. She was absolutely breathtaking! After anxiously waiting for the Escalade to return to the house after dropping off the first trip, Sarah, Mary and I were on our way to the church!

A beautiful ceremony was followed by a fantastic photo shoot at the Museum. We got access to the Grand Staircase and the photographer snuck the bride and groom into the Hall of Architecture for some great shots. The photo op was completed with an outdoor group shot with snow covered trees in the background. The reception was held at St. Nick's Cathedral Room, the same location as our reception in July. It has a huge dance floor, which was filled with both sides of the newly combined family for a great evening of celebration. Another wedding detail that Mary Kate and John had in common with Dan and I- they chose to honeymoon at a Sandals resort in Jamaica, although they'll be at Sandals Whitehouse while we chose Sandals Grande Ocho Rios. I'm looking forward to hearing about their balmy, Jamaican Christmas when they get back in a week!

Here are some photos from their big day
(to see them bigger, go here):