Still Coming Down from Cloud 9....

It's hard to believe, but it's already been three weeks since we tied the knot and experienced the best weekend EVER! When I think of the weekend, I instantly have that feeling where your stomach aches from so much laughter. What I remember most is just laughing and smiling for 3 days straight. I feel incredibly blessed for the family and friends that we have. These are the people that have shaped us into the people we are today, that have taught us how to LIVE life and to have fun, and have opened their lives up to us making ours better than we could have ever imagined. The memories of the weekend of Augsut 29, 2009 are still so fresh in our minds. Tonight B and I sat down and watched the home video that his mom sent, which included the BBQ/Roast, Ceremony and Reception... AMAZING!!! So many priceless memories -- I am unbelievably thankful that Sue Lane took the time to ensure that these moments were preserved for us.

Where to even begin.....

Somehow leading up to the big day, Brandon and I managed to stay pretty relaxed and not overwhelmed. It probably helped that I have been planning weddings for years now. But, we also worked as a great team and managed to have a pretty good hold on the task list and projects, and also worked hard to not get out of control with details and knick knacks and whatnot -- b/c honestly, that's not what the day is about. At the same time, however, we wanted to make sure our guests knew that we were trying to do all we could to ensure they were comfortable and felt at home while in Boulder.

Because about 95% of our guests were traveling in from other states, we decided that we didn't want this to be just a one day event. We also didn't want to lose valuable time with our friends and family by quarantining ourselves or the bridal party off for any large length of time. To ensure this, we planned a number of events for the weekend, but also allowed for free time for our friends and family to explore Boulder on their own (and hopefully fall in love and decide to move here in the process!! ;))

The weekend events ran like this:

• Thursday night -- Informal Happy Hour/Night Out
• Friday morning -- Ceremony Rehearsal
• Friday afternoon -- Lunch and nails with the girls
• Friday night -- "Welcome to Boulder" BBQ at our house, followed by our last night out
• Saturday -- The wedding!, followed by After Party
• Sunday -- Farewell Breakfast

Our friends and family began arriving as early as Tuesday (my mom and dad), and my girlfriends started trickling in on Wednesday, but the majority arrived on Thursday and Friday morning. They were greeted in their hotel rooms with customized sling bags which had our "two fish" logo on it, but no names or date -- so hopefully they can use them again many times in the future. We decided to do a sling bag in hopes that it could be used during the visit for a hiking trip or even while exploring Boulder. Inside the bags was a welcome letter, schedule of events, suggestions of things to do, wedding day shuttle schedule, reminder to prepare for the altitude, map of Boulder, lots of snacks, water, and advil. We ordered the bags through former promo-extraordinaire, my close friend Emily -- who was also a dancing queen at the wedding :)

I wanted to ensure that I got ample quality time with my bridesmaids. Therefore, most of them stayed either at our house or down the street at Sus' house. It was so fun having them with me and having a couple slumber parties through out the weekend. We filled the first days with some gym time, tanning sessions, my final fitting and last minute girl errands and whatnot.


Thursday night, Brandon and I arranged to meet all those that had arrived into town on the rooftop of a bar downtown called the Foundry. It was a great night and definitely led into some VERY foggy memories for Brandon! haha

Jaime, Mish, Melissa, Mary, Courtney, me and Carrie

Mary & Andy

Doug, B and Chris

Sara & Dad

The Wongs

Krista, Liz, Kris

Susan, Me and Mary

This was the beginning of the end.... cousin Doug, Dad, Mike, Chris, Jeff, and B

Claudia & Andy

Thom & Donna Garrity

Probably not a good idea.

Melissa and Chris Gaffney

B & Jaime

Doug, Me, Jaime and Andy

Absolutely amazing that he's still vertical at this point.

Somehow we managed to rally in the morning and get out of bed in time for our quick 11 am rehearsal at Flagstaff House. Blue Bear was a show stopper as always... and then we rushed him off for his 3 hour spa treatment! :) The girls, meanwhile, headed downtown for a quick sushi bridesmaids luncheon, followed by nail appointments. It was great girl time!

Melissa, Mish, Claudia, Sus, me
Sus getting her manicure

Next up... the BBQ!!! By Friday, about 80 of our guests had arrived into town, so we invited them to join us for some Ribhouse-catered BBQ, corn hole, drinks and some entertainment. This event was all thanks to Brandon and his parents -- and they did a GREAT job. Everyone had a blast! Brandon had built two sets of corn hole boards for the event -- a Virginia Tech set and a Penn State set. They are awesome! Entertainment included a fantastic song written by my cousin David and uncle Shinya about me and Brandon, sung by the Ichikawa and Kinoshita families (it was so perfect!!), a hilarious choreographed dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" by a group of my girlfriends, a roasting of me by my mom, dad and sister Sara, a toast by one of my best friends and bridesmaids Melissa, a presentation of a handmade shawl by my new mother-in-law Sue Lane (gorgeous!!), and a roast of Brandon (and some others in the audience!) by his groomsmen Chris, Mike, Rob (Hysterical!...maybe slightly awkward at moments, but still great :)).

Here are some quick shots of the evening:

Not actually BBQ Related... but great picture of our Save the Date card :)

The PA crew... Kris, Mike, Sean, Allison, Chris, Heather, Rob, Jeff, Krista, Liz

Doug, me, Reebs, Ols

Auntie Jayne & Mika

Todd

Melissa & Carrie

Jenna, Alex, Susan and Katie

The Ichikawas and Kinoshitas can SING!!

My beautiful Grandma Ami and Uncle Ken

Ugh, they're too darn cute!!

A few of the lyrics from the Ichikawa's song

My girls are AWESOME! Their "Single Ladies" performance was hilarious :) Melissa did an amazing toast on the fly....

And of course had me in tears... I love her!

And then the roast began... oh boy..... haha

B, Mike, Rob, me, and Chris -- love the tuxedo shirts!

After the BBQ, we then piled into a couple cars and headed down to the rooftop of Lazy Dog for our official LAST NIGHT OF SINGLEHOOD!

Me and Reebs -- piled into the back of a truck heading downtown

Andy, Claudia, Janos, Mish, Meredith (Mrs. Janos-to-be!)

Jennifer, Mark and Me
Me and Carrie H.

Laura, Loreen, Doug, Sue Lane

Liz, me, Heather, Kris

Me and Cousin Doug
Me and Em
Sus and Mary

.... it is REALLY late, and I have to be up early to hit the gym before a day of college football... so I guess I'll have to cover the wedding day next time. :)