Getting Hitched, Part I: Practice Makes Perfect

We woke up on Saturday, September 5th at the Chadwick Lake House to a bright crisp morning and a house brimming with family and friends. Curt had gotten in the night before and he and James were up late tinkering with their airplanes. Of course, we had to take time for a few morning flights while the air was still calm.

The Lake House...I need to get a picture facing the other direction.

After the flying lesson, we dressed and headed up to Tyrone Farm to make sure all the pieces were in place for the next day. It also gave family and friends a chance to tour the farm for the first time. When we arrived, Ian, the farm's wedding coordinator and overall wicked cool guy, was waiting for us and patiently walked us through what would happen the next day. We had plenty of time to sort through the small details and take in the farm before heading up the road to Putnam for lunch.

The farmhouse and cocktail hour patio. The chestnut barn was for dinner, dancing and toasts.

First look at the aisle and the formal English garden

Waiting...and listening to directions...

James' niece Ava, our flower girl and my nephew Andrew as the ring bearer and brother Curt

Here we go...thumbs up!

And we're married...almost!

We arranged to have lunch at this funky little bistro in Putnam called Bella's. Mom, James and I happened to find the place by chance one afternoon when we were up at the farm for a meeting with Ian and the farm's florist, Laura. We decided to look for a restaurant to host our rehearsal lunch and ate at restaurant called 85 Main in Putnam. The food there was good and we reserved their private room for the lunch. As we walked back to the car that day, we passed Bella's and on a whim walked in to see what it was all about. It didn't take long for us to decide that Bella's was the perfect place for our low-key luncheon. The head chef sat down with us and together we came up with a vegetarian friendly menu plan. They were very accomodating and the food was simply delicious! We took over almost the entire space in the small restaurant with our long "family style" feast.

Bella's was the perfect location for our casual lunch. I forgot to use my ribbon bouquet (from the shower) for our practice walk down the aisle, so I brought it to lunch instead.

Even though at this point everyone knew each other, James and I formally introduced each of the members of our bridal party and gave them their gifts. The girls each got an assortment of locally made goodies, home made goodies (more on this later), organic goodies and jewelery I had found through an artist on Etsy. The boys received ties, purple argyle socks and Leathermans that James engraved with their names and a saying. We both had so much fun picking out gifts for our friends! I think it's fair to say everyone left Bella's with a big, satisfied belly!

After lunch we all went back to the Lake House and spent the rest of the day relaxing by the water. We actually never planned on having a rehearsal lunch instead of a traditional dinner, it happened that way because there was a wedding at the farm that day and we could only be there in the morning. However, in retrospect, I wouldn't have wanted to do it any other way. It was so nice to have the rehearsal early so that we could have the afternoon to relax and prepare for what was coming the next day.

Bridesmaid Kendall and I enjoying a tube ride on the lake and the boys and Alyssa preparing for the big day with a soak in the hot tub.

Speaking of what's next, get ready for...Getting Hitched, Part II: Operation "Pretty"