Wedding

Very belatedly, we’re catching up with blog posts on important (to us) life events.

We have 3 adult children, and six weeks ago the youngest who lives in Denver got married at our home. She and our new son-in-law, Justin (from Ohio) met in Paraguay in 2010 when he was in the Peace Corps and she was doing a summer micro-finance  internship there.

Two days before the wedding they arrived from Denver by car at our home with their Indiana friends Isaac and Erin, and we hosted a Crab Feast for 15 people (we caught the crab in Puget Sound during the two weeks prior) the night before the wedding. Dungeness Crab are so big that each one provides an entire meal per person. With salad and bread on the side, it’s a Feast! Justin’s parents and a gaggle of Adrienne and Justin’s friends from around the country spent an evening cracking crabs, laughing and telling stories.

Below, Moms of the bride and groom.

The morning of the wedding, Adrienne and Justin went fly fishing with our long-time friends Jim and Phebe (who are sort of like adopted aunt and uncle as they’ve spent so much time with our kids and gave them a fly fishing rod for a wedding present).

 

Friday afternoon was cloudy and rainy (complete anomaly for the dry, sunny, warm summer we’ve had) but the rain quit 5 minutes before the outdoor wedding began. Here’s Adrienne with her college friend C May (left) and middle/high school/college friend Maggie (right) on the beach. Lovely ladies!

Steve, a Peace Corps friend of Justin’s, was the Wedding Officiant, and they got married on the dinghy davit next to our house, with 20 guests looking on from the adjacent deck.

When Adrienne was 6 years old she announced she intended to get married someday, barefoot on a beach, and she came pretty close to that, with Justin’s concurrence.

Steve’s booming voice and their personally written ceremony and vows were beautiful and very moving.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Domingus were beaming!

The beach here is rocky, but it’s still a beach!

We had champagne toasts on the deck, followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant. The Reception was the next day at the home of Bob’s sister and brother-in-law, two miles up the beach from us. That day dawned sunny and warm.

Relaxed bride and groom.

Bride hates being “the focus” so gives the “Really?” face anytime she knows a camera is pointed at her.

We found this sign in a shop in Florida toward the end of our Loop boat trip and thought it was a perfect reflection of Justin and Adrienne’s mindset, so couldn’t resist buying it and setting it on the wine table at the reception.

Lynn and David’s yard where the reception was held is exquisite, and the setting and weather were perfect.

Since Justin and Adrienne don’t love dancing, we played games on the lawn instead: croquet, corn hole and bocce ball!

The happy Mr. and Mrs. Domingus.

Adrienne with her Best Buddies, Maggie and C May.

The younger crowd sprawled on the lawn at the Reception.

Justin and Adrienne with his parents and sibs.

Adrienne and Justin with her family. Swear, we did NOT all agree to wear blue: just a weird coincidence!

Bride and groom with his parents, Denise and Jeff.

Groom with 3 friends from college.

Adrienne with brother Ryan and sister Mackenzie.

Our son Ryan with his fiancée Jaime (yes, we have another wedding on this New Year’s Eve).

Cathryn’s l’il sister Susan and her husband (also) Bob who flew up from Texas.

Cathryn’s older sister Anne (who was mistaken for Cathryn’s daughter by one wedding guest) and her husband Eric, who also flew up from Texas.

Bob’s sister Lynn and her husband David who hosted the wedding reception at their lovely home on Saturday.

Bride and groom enjoying friend Phil.

Mom and Dad of the Bride, Cathryn and Bob.

Long-time friends Jim and Phebe who took Adrienne and Justin fly fishing the morning of the wedding.

Long-time friends Beth and Phil who live nearby.

Dear friend and neighbor Hobie.

Cathryn and her sisters Anne and Susan (no, not triplets)

Son-in-law Matt and daughter Mackenzie, married 5 years ago.

Cousins of the bride, Stephanie and Andy, also newlyweds as of April, who flew in from Denver for the wedding.

Fathers of the Groom and Bride, Jeff and Bob.

Bride and Groom making their Getaway from the Reception.

Departing for Moab, Utah to spend time mountain biking and hiking for their honeymoon, before returning to Denver to work and day-to-day life.

The setting at Lynn and David’s home, the Reception.

Bob planted dozens of sunflowers (Adrienne’s favorite flower) last spring, but only one was fully in bloom for the wedding.

It was a lovely, intimate, heartwarming event.