A Dauntless in Denver Wedding Week: Part 4

Wedding day! We woke up earlyish, and Andy and Ryan left to meet Andy's brothers and families at Snooze for breakfast, while I hurried and tried to both nail my eye makeup and get it on as fast as humanly possible. Leslie and I jumped in the car, and I finished my makeup as she drove to meet everyone at Snooze. Seriously, Denver people, if you haven't been to Snooze yet, what are you doing with your lives?!

We sat at the table wth all the girls- Susan, Lily, and Mari Ann, while all the boys, Andy, Ryan, Matt, John Scott, and KJ were at the other table. I hadn't been there since they had released their "summerish" menu, and found a blackberry key lime pie pancake, which I couldn't help but order, gluten free, of course. You guys. It was a religious experience. Not even kidding.

Leslie and I hurried out of breakfast, and headed to my regular salon, Matthew Morris, to meet my mom and get my hair done. My stylist, Annaliese is amazing. I have been with her since I moved to Denver, and she has kept my Dauntless hair in perfect color and form ever since. She managed to make curls look completely and utterly Dauntless. I loved it. I changed into my dress at the salon, and left for the mountains.

The day was a bit overcast, but we were hopeful things would clear up, and there would be sun and clear skies once we got to the mountains. We hoped wrong.

It was 55 degrees and extremely overcast when we got there. We kept hoping it would clear up yet. After all, the whole point of getting married in the mountains was...well...the mountains.

People began arriving, and about 1:58, the drizzle stopped, clouds started to clear, and the sun made an appearance, making it notably warmer. There was only one problem: Neither Andy nor Ryan had yet arrived. And I got a text message right about then saying that they were still in Estes Park!

Andy and Ryan didn't get there until 2:40. Yes. My husband was late to our wedding. Starting off on a GREAT foot there, Babe. His family was threatening to replace him with a cardboard cutout by that point, and also offering to beat him up for me. Of course, I greeted him with my hands on my hips, and he tried to play it cool, but there was no winning for him.

By the time he got there, it was again cold, raining, and not only was it overcast, it was downright foggy. So much so, that when we got to the little dock on the lake we were getting married on, all we could see was the lake immediately surrounding the dock, for about two feet in all directions. The lake is NOT that big, and we couldn't even see the other side, which was less than a quarter mile from where we were. Yep. The fog was THAT dense. Of course, as I'm writing this the next day, it's sunny and pretty clear. Slight haze, but seriously. At least you can see mountains...

Ryan officiated, and did a great job. I can't imagine anyone else doing it. He opened with I Corinthians 13, and Andy and I started laughing. "Love is patient..." Yeah, no kidding. Also, "love is never rude..." That got Andy a  pointed look too. Cause, you know. Keeping a bunch of people waiting in the rain and cold for 40 minutes isn't exactly polite... In any case, we got it done, and finally...we're married!

We severely abbreviated the family photos so as to allow the poor people to get out of the rain and cold, and Andy, Ryan, Leslie, and I hung around for more pictures. Some involve me in the lake! Can't wait for those! We were going to go up into the mountains through the park more for some super Dauntless photos, including ones with me climbing up some rock formations and sitting off the edge of a mountain in my wedding dress. But unfortunately, between Andy's tardiness and the extreme fog (which did lift a little), there was neither much time, nor incentive for us to do it. We got a few pictures in shops in Estes park instead.

We met everyone for dinner at 6:00 at the Cascades Restaurant in the famous Stanley Hotel. Yes, that Stanley. The one that inspired The Shining. Andy wanted to stay there on our wedding night, and I told him he could stay there on our wedding night, but I didn't want any twins showing up in the room in the middle of the night. If you don't get the reference, read the book or watch the movie...

The Stanley is gorgeous, and it is visible immediately upon entering Estes Park. I wish we'd had time for more pictures there, but alas, we didn't. The staff was incredibly helpful. Andy's sister, Marnie, and her wife, Taylor, had gone all the way up to Fort Collins to get the cake- a glorious strawberry gluten free cake done by Grace at Delectable Desserts- and dropped it off at The Stanley before the wedding. The staff asked when we wanted it brought out, and even brought out a vase with water for my bouquet.

Dinner was delicious, and Andy and I both had steak with green beans, mashed potatoes, and peppercorn sauce. Oh. My. Word. That stuff was amazing. There are no words. Normally, I would eat maybe a quarter of all that was on my plate, but apparently, I was hungry, because I ate almost all of it, and wasn't even terribly full. Andy gave a lovely toast to everyone, and talked a little about how we met, then they brought out the cake.

We ended by taking a few pictures before leaving, then went back to our hotel room at the Estes Park Resort, where they had left rose petals and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries for us.

Yeah, I was really unhappy about the weather, but at the end of the day, we wound up married, and that's what matters. Let the adventures commence.