The celebrating started on Thursday with my sister A and her fiance S hosting a pizza party for all out of town guests that wanted to attend. We enjoyed pizza and salad and for those people not prego...some drinks! I enjoyed a sprite and some water with my underage niece and nephew:)
Friday morning I packed all my stuff up for the weekend, it is incredible how much you need to get ready for a wedding, and headed for St. Paul with my older sister and niece for a fun morning of manis and pedis! There were 12 of us that enjoyed a girly morning of pampering along with yummy pastries and mimosas (again for everyone else). After getting our nails and toes done we all went to Minneapolis for lunch and to check into our suites, my sisters and I stayed together and S stayed with her bridesmaids and a couple of friends in another suite. We all stayed at the Minneapolis Hotel, it is very nice and our lunch at Restaurant Max was delish! After lunch and settling in to our suite I had the chance to lay down and rest my feet for about 45 minutes, it was so nice! Once I was rested and refreshed we all got ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, we were able to quickly run through the basics of the wedding as it was at a restaurant that is open on Friday evenings for happy hour. It was pretty simple but nice to be able to visualize how Saturday was going to flow.
Rehearsal dinner was catered by a friend of the couple and it was so good!! It was BBQ pulled pork, potato salad, pasta salad, strawberry salad, beans and chips...everything was homemade!! For dessert we had mini cheesecakes and chocolate covered strawberries...OMG, delicious!
My sister and S presented all of the wedding party members with their gifts, they were so generous. Each of the 4 bridesmaids (2 on each side) received a monogrammed makeup bag with a monogrammed set of brushes, a monogrammed coffee cup and our jewelry to wear for the wedding. They also presented my mother and S' mother with a beautiful handkerchief that was embroidered with a wonderful saying on them. Both mothers cried, of course. Everything wrapped up about 9pm and we all headed back to the hotel to try to get a good nights sleep, of course we ran into a group of family members in the lobby of the hotel and got roped into having a drink in the bar before going upstairs. I found a chair, ordered a ginger ale and rested until the group was ready. We got back to our room at about 10:30pm and all washed up and got ready for bed. I was on the list to be first for hair and makeup so my alarm was set for 7:20am Saturday morning.
Saturday morning came quickly for me as I did not sleep well, mostly due to pregnancy related stuff. I took a long, hot shower and just tried to relax as I knew that the day would be very long. My favorite people were helping us get ready and taking photos! Heidi was doing hair and Katie was doing makeup...these two women are incredible!! They did hair and makeup for my wedding as well and they make everyone feel so beautiful and do a great job. April from Sophisticated Grace Photography was taking photos for A & S, I went to high school with her and she did the photos for our wedding...she is amazing and it was great to see her! She is so good that she convinced the manager of the hotel to allow A & S to have their "first look" on the rooftop of the hotel! I don't know how she did it but she did.
My hair and makeup was done by about 9am and I loved the way both turned out. The bride was second and she looked incredible as well. The morning went by so quickly, there was so much hustle and bustle...and all of a sudden it was time to get dressed and get my sister in her dress! And to clear up any questions, both A and S wore dresses. They both chose gorgeous gowns and looked beautiful, here are a couple of pics.
After their "first look" we began family and wedding party photos, it was great to see everyone looking their best. Not only were my older sister and I bridesmaids but my husband, brother in law and niece & nephew were in the wedding party...so we were all dressed up! Here are some of the photos from the day, I definitely want to give credit again to April of Sophisticated Grace Photography. Her pictures are incredible!!
Pictures were taken at the St. Anthony Main area near the Mississippi River as well as downtown Minneapolis at the government center. I cannot wait to see the remainder of the pictures as I know she got some fantastic shots!
Once we were done with pictures we all went back to the hotel to have a snack and rest a little, I found a comfortable chair and rested my feet.
The wedding was at 6pm, both wedding and reception were held at the same location. Around 5:40pm we walked through the skyway to the ceremony, we stayed upstairs until just before 6pm; it was fun to peak over and see all of our family and friends waiting for everything to start.
The ceremony was beautiful, it was performed by a friend of the family and she did a great job. It was personal, full of love and only 30 minutes:)
After the ceremony the party started, they had great music, heavy
hors d'oeuvres and an overall wonderful celebration. The picture below was taken as A & S listened to the various speeches throughout the night, I think it is beautiful. I also included another cool picture a friend took.
It was wonderful to have so many family members and friends travel from all over to celebrate this couple. We took the opportunity to take a picture of all of our cousins as a lot of them were able to attend.
The night wrapped up around 12:30am and my feet were absolutely done! Mr. G and I walked back to the hotel and collapsed into bed. It was a beautiful day and I don't think that it could have gone any better.
Sunday we enjoyed lunch with some family members and the newlyweds, after lunch we went home and took a nap...close to 2 hours. I was tired! The newlyweds enjoyed a 7 day honeymoon in Sint Maarten, I have seen some of their pictures and it looked incredible.
Another family wedding in the books...it was a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. G
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