The Wedding

There were plenty of friends who told me that the wedding would be a blur of activity, a sudden glorious rush gone in a blink. They were right.

Katie and her parents did most of the planning for wedding weekend. My involvement was minimal, kept to a small sounding board and infrequent errand runner. With only vague knowledge of the rituals and expectations of weddings I was fine with standing on the sidelines. They did an awesome job setting up everything, from the welcome bags straight through the gift opening after the wedding.

There was plenty of ramp up activites… My parents showed up several days before the ceremony and other guests trickled in throughout the latter end of the week. By the time the actual morning showed up both Katie and I were already getting tired. I woke up early on the big day, grabbed Katie's brother Chris and played a round of golf as the sun rose. It was a surprisingly relaxing way to start the day, even if we were both checking the time every other hole.

After golf, breakfast, and getting suited up I headed to the church with my groomsmen. We arrived over an hour early and promptly started a game of Zombie Fluxx. I couldn't sit still and paced around aimlessly. Time passed quickly and people started filtering in, including a Ms. Faith who almost tackled me when she showed up, and then it was time for the first look. Katie was beautiful.

Waiting at the alter

The ceremony was one piece of the day that crawled. We didn't have to do much, repeat a few words here, stand there, light a candle, but I was still all nerves. Looking out over the church and seeing all the people who came to see Katie and I get married was exciting. Whether it was friends, family, or coworkers, everyone just looked so happy and supportive. Eventually the ceremony did end and Katie and I ushered people out, greeting and hugging everyone. Not only were we excited to see so many of the people who were (and still are) influential in our lives, but we were finally married!

Fish-eyed view of the long ceremony

For the next few hours we got a bunch of pictures at the church and High Cliff, down by Sherwood. Katie was pretty worried about the rocks and sticks so we didn't get too crazy, but it was still fun to be outside and have some fun times all dressed up.

Bridal party hanging out at High Cliff

Now it was time for the best part of the night - the reception! We held it at the Grand Meridian on the north side of Appleton, which worked great for our size. Of course I didn't eat much of the food, but I heard it was good :P After a few speeches and some obligatory dances things started to get serious. I had a ton of friends there waiting for shots and cigars on the patio. Between the macarena, bar conversations, and catching up with everyone, it was a hell of a fun night.

My parents are pretty awesome at dancing

And then it was over. Katie and I retired for the evening but saw a lot of our guests the next day at the gift opening. It was a blur and a rush but I remember every last moment (well, except for a few at the reception). After falling in love with Katie for over six years we were married, and it was a celebration that I'll never forget.

The new family, parents and all

All of the pictures shown here were taken by the fantastic Shannon Van Grinsven from PeoplePaperPrints.