Our wedding was everything we dreamed of and more! Every aspect of it was so wonderful and perfect! I have a few photos to share with you!
13 of 25 family members arrived in Newport Thursday night. We had an amazing drive down the coast from Portland. We took the scenic route through Cannon Beach and down highway 101. Beautiful drive! Oh My GOSH! Towering evergreen trees, mountains, ocean...simply incredible. We even stopped at a roadside stand to get some cherries. Yummy! I loved how the farms were so varied. In Texas, farmers strip a huge plot of land and plant one crop. Not so pretty. Most of the farms we drove by and flew over in Oregon were planted with different vegetables, grapevines, had cute roadside signs, and looked so natural and earthy. Wonderful! They blended in with the landscape.
Thursday night we went to Cafe Mundo for dinner, which had rave reviews on TripAdvisor.com. I was not a fan of the food. We had fun anyway, just because that's how we roll :)
Friday dinner was at Bay 839, right on the water, and it was FABULOUS! I can't say enough how great the food was, the view of the water, and the owners are. Danielle, Ian, and Arlene were fabulous!
Mark and I are on the left.
My mother-in-love, Aunt Alaire, and cutie Evie practiced their act for the talent show on the Bay 839 patio.
While waiting for her food, Evie browses the Toys R Us catalog.
After having a fabulous dinner, we went back to Ocean House Bed & Breakfast (DIVINE!) for the talent show! That's right! We convinced all our wonderful family members to participate, and we had an awesome time
Saturday morning, my grandmother surprised me in the spot where our ceremony was to take place in a Glenda the Good Witch/Fairy Godmother costume. I was so thrilled! When we first started talking about our wedding, I had asked if she would wear that costume to perform the ceremony. Later, we decided against that, but she still made my costume wish come true, magic wand and all! I don't have the photos from that initial meeting yet, but I do have one of Grandma Petey, Me, and My Mom at breakfast:
At one o'clock, my mom and I were ready to come down the stairs and walk to the garden. However, several members of Mark's family (who shall remain anonymous) were not ready yet, so my mom harassed them until they took their seats :)
Mark and I walked with our parents to the back of the ceremony site, walked a short distance by ourselves, and then walked to my Grandma Petey (officiating the ceremony) together. We wanted to symbolize that our parents guided us through the first part of our lives, then we had many years as single adults, and finally enjoyed the past several years as a couple. It was very important to us to recognize the beautiful journey we've been on for the past two years. (By the way, my top is from the etsy dealer Plum Pretty Sugar and was a gift from my mom).
The necklace was worn by Mark's grandmother (MamaMama) at her wedding and cousin Kelly at her and Ethan's wedding. It matched my dress perfectly.
We had so many moments of laughter in our ceremony, which I loved :)
Mark and I stood next to each other during the ceremony, which was just perfect.
Beautiful photo of saying our vows that shows the back of my dress. At this point in the ceremony I looked over and saw Evie, the beautiful girl in the photo. She sprinkled her magic and fairy dust and we continued. It is one of my favorite memories from the ceremony.
Here's a photo from our reception. We left our beautiful homemade streamers up from the talent show the night before. So lively!
After the reception, my Grandma Petey, Jim, my mom, and my brother provided our getaway car to go to town and enjoy the Newport Seafood BBQ and Clam Bake, which is an annual food, crafts, and music festival in Newport. We had a fabulous time!
Saturday night we had a bonfire at the beach and watched the sunset. It was the perfect fun, romantic, and relaxing end to the day.
Mark and I are wearing our Bride and Groom hats from Mark's mom. My mom's in red in the middle, and Petey and Jim are on the right. I'm enjoying leftovers from the cheese tray at the reception, and Mark's enjoying even more champagne :)
We had a wonderful day Sunday, relaxing, hiking to the lighthouse and tidepools, and enjoying the rest of the time with our family. We drove back to Portland on Monday and headed home to 90 degree Texas weather. Ha! What a difference!
So what's next?
Mark and I bought tickets to Dublin last night to start our tour of Europe. We don't have anything planned except our one-way plane ticket, but everything in due time, right? We bought hiking backpacks and boots last night, and we're going exploring!
I hope you've enjoyed our wedding adventure!
Love,
Melanie Rummel (!)
