the epic Hoosier hootinanny

As promised here are some of my favorite moments from last weekend's EPIC HOOSIER HOOTINANNY:

We spent Thursday and Friday mornings prepping the reception site.  Embroidery hoops with lace stretched in them were hung in trees.

 

After the rehearsal, Whitney grabs her big brother, the groom, as she exclaims, "You're getting married!"

Rachel and I at the rehearsal dinner.  We had both only had about four hours of sleep and were nearly delirious, though she, as usual, hid it better than I.

Whitney plays scribe to Rachel as the bride gets her hair done Saturday morning.

 

Julie, Rachel's younger sister, adds a bit of make-up to our too cute flower girl Alexis.

 

Megan, the lady who introduced the couple, with Rachel in the limo as we road from salon to church.

 

Our dresses.

 

Whit watches as a few bridal shots are snapped.

 

Before the big march.  As we waited to walk Alexis kept us all laughing enough to chase away the gitters.  She was the best flower girl ever.

 Post-ceremony portraits in the church.

Post-ceremony hydration.  I just have to say that as we were walking to sign the marriage license I stepped on Rachel's train like five times, even after I tried to avoid doing so.

 

Cupcake tower was awesome!  They had Vegan and Gluten-free varieties for us fussy eaters.

 

The bar was in a lean-to off of the corn crib and was perfect.

 

The directional sign.  Yes, there was a giant bouncy castle.  Unfortunatly, it rained that afternoon and it was soaked.  Though this was not a deterant to our young cousins and kiddos it was for me.

 

Inside the barn was amazing.  Aunt Patti and her sister Carol styled the whole thing.  They were amazing and did all of the "day of" stuff so that there was nothing for the bridal party to worry about.

 

A friend painted the work hanging on the back wall as their wedding gift.  There were also about a dozen other paintings hanging all over which really added that punch.

 

Gift table at center and the dj station at left were in just the right spot.

 

Rachel's friend from high school's parents grew all the flowers.  What they couldn't grow they gathered from friends that did.  The dahlia's are prize winning and amazing. This is a crate of them packed post shindig.

Aunt Patti and Carol made up these great photo windows with snapshots of Rachel and Josh.  They were awesome!

 

Parking was in an adjacent field and there were paths through pine trees that led to this welcome station.  The basket holds the three hundred cardboard fans we made from the boxes of the flavored sparkling water that Josh drinks.

 

I think this shot really captures general feelings about the cupcake tower.  Lewis, George, Josiah, Jason and cousin Joel all mowing down.

 

For the father-daughter dance they danced to What A Wonderful World.  I was able to hold back the tears most of the day but at the moment they gushed.  Fortunately, Aunt Patti was standing nearby and we had our sappy moment together. 

At some point in the dancing the groomsmen all picked up Josh and were hoisting him in the air (body surfing style) Rachel came over they picked her up and this moment happened.  It was beautiful.

This video really captures the spirit of the reception.  It makes me smile from ear to ear every time I watch it.

The bride and all her ladies.  I had such a great time with these ladies all weekend.

 

Rach and I.  The best.  When we were little on one of the rare occasions Rachel slept over (she always got home sick, literally) my mom tied our hair in rag curls and took a photo of the back of our heads in the curls.  We were wearing similar dresses, had almost the same color hear and were about the same size.  This was our homage to that photo.  Though we look nothing alike anymore, it's like we are four again.

 

There was a camera set up on a tripod with a timer in a curtained off corner of the barn.  It was really great to have all those photos of couple and groups, but the funniest thing about it is how many shots our littlest cousins took together and alone.  It was really quite humerus.

 

Rach was taking photos and got kind of hungry as the night wore on and so I grabbed a tray of leftovers and we were picking at it together.  Her hands were all foody so I made her wipe them on the back of my dress.  She was reluctant but I assured her that it was quite fine.

 

All the guests had left and so I took the tripod and snapped some timed exposure shots.  Megan and Aunt Patti are in this one.  It was the perfectly magical way to end one extraordinary day.