everybody loves a wedding....

Last week I flew up to the Bay Area to my cousins daughters wedding.  It was a

very quick trip as I had to work on the weekend, but I flew up the morning of the

wedding (only 40 people on my plane - yeah!!!).  I felt like such a jet setter just

hopping up north for the day!  haha....My cousin Bea and her husband Thuc are

so special to me and it was such a pleasure watching them both walk their gorgeous

daughter down the aisle.  They have been such wonderful parents and their 2 girls

are so lovely, both inside and out.  

Plus I finally met the rest of Bea's family - her sister and niece.  A little back story - when I was 18 and Bea was 21 - she came to live with us from Switzerland.  She had always wanted to come live in the U.S. and it was so much fun having her around. My dad bought us a car to share as we were going to the same college - so we spent alot of time together.  She met her now husband Thuc in her English as a second language class, as he was just learning to speak English too having just come over to the U.S. from Viet Nam.  They were so funny together at the time and still are to this day - their universal language was laughter way back when and still is to this day.  They are always laughing and it's so wonderfully contagious. 

This is Chiara - the maid of honor and Bea and Thuc's youngest daughter.

I just love this photo of the bride, Nicole and her lovely parents

They had some pretty wonderful and fun wedding vows and their pet Turtle came

down the aisle in a little red wagon with an adorable little ring bearer.

Mason was pretty interested in the wedding especially when the Turtle came by...haha.

The beautiful newly married couple - Nicole and Andrew.  They became friends at Stanford where they both went to college and became reacquainted a few years later and endured a long distance relationship for a few years while Andrew was back east at Harvard.  I'd say they're in it for the long haul and her parents couldn't be happier with her choice - he seems like a fun, loving and very thoughtful young man!

After the wedding,  there was a cocktail hour on the lawn before dinner was served

and the harpist serenaded us with some beautiful music!

A little boy can only sit for so long and needs to run around a bit

His little brother can't wait to get up and run around - very soon,  I'm sure!

It was a hard choice but I decided on sampling a 

lemon drop or two or three, I lost count...ha!

I loved that the drinks were served in Mason jars 

It was at cocktail hour that I met our family from Switzerland

(but I didn't take any photos of them, darn it!)

These wedding programs came in handy to fan ourselves in the afternoon sun (and were made by the bride and her sister)

Actually all the signage in these photos were hand lettered by Nicole and Chiara, such talented and creative ladies - it was perfect for a casual outdoor wedding!

Loved this seating chart - we were at tables 16, 17 & 18

My family minus a few of us

Pretty cool name card with your choice of meal on it - the Salmon was so good!

My cousin, Bea made homemade jams for everyone 

Such pretty surroundings

And quite a few lawn games for people to play 

A family tree of sorts of the newly merged families

Gorgeous flowers on our table with cute jars (and a cute little face behind them!)

Everyone had a wonderful dinner, the speeches were very heartfelt mixed with lots and lots of laughter and a few tears scattered here and there

More homemade goodness from the girls

I absolutely adored this - what a wonderful idea for a guest book.  Everyone left

a thumb print on the tree and wrote their name underneath.  Just beautiful!

The bride and groom making their rounds to each and every person

Let me just tell you that my family loves their desserts and this was one feast we couldn't pass up - I happily enjoyed a turn or two or three at that dessert table -yum!

They had a small little piece of cake to cut and share with each other

The bride and groom did a good job of the feeding each other the cake

I didn't get a photo of both of the girls together but had a few moments with Chiara, when I was asking her when her walk down the aisle will be - her response was " not anytime soon!"  haha.....

 A fun filled day with my family - I was able to spend time with my son, Matt and my daughter in law, Heather before and after the wedding (which meant the world to me!) and the next morning I was back on the plane to get back home as I had to work as soon as I landed!

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

P.S. - Don't forget to enter my giveaway on the post below  

the drawing will be October 1st!