This past week we received our photo CD's from Victor for our wedding weekend; and I was quick to scrap these. I mean special photos are always inspiring so I had no trouble getting these out, they were so easy I am almost inspired to do an entire album but I'll wait to see what Victor comes up with before I decide..no reason to learn a lesson twice. (Wink) Pardon the photos, our home is a bit crooked and therefore not conducive to straight proportioned photos.
Laughter. Life. Love., 08.13.09: Sean and I held our wedding at the Alderbrook Resort & Spa in Union, WA and invited all of our guests to join us the evening before the ceremony for a bit of a rehearsal dinner. I say a bit because we didn’t actually rehearse anything, it was just a chance for all of our family to meet and get to know each other. Sean and I were both very nervous, but it was all needless, our families got along wonderfully and the evening went as smoothly as one could hope. We enjoyed our outside bbq food indoors; ribs, hot dogs, corn on the cob, mixed fruit and finished off the meal with a delicious fruit cobbler. My father gave a beautiful speech, getting himself and the rest of us choked up in the process; while Gene gave a comical story of Sean as a boy that had us all laughing following our sentimental tears. After some eating and mingling Sean whipped out the last minute slide show we worked on the two previous evenings to showcase some of the thousands of photos we have taken together over the last eight years. Sean & I giggled, ouuhhed and ahhed over it during ‘production’ but I didn’t expect such a large response from our family who was cracking up. Hence, all the smiles and shocked faces on the page. After our trip down memory lane it was back to more mingling with hot tea and coffee in hand. Yes, it was a lovely way to prepare ourselves for our wedding: with life, love and laughter surrounding us. Photos taking by Victor & Max Saidov. Design inspired by an Ali Edwards layout.
I do., 08.14.09: Our special day, the day we became a new family of Dowell’s: Sean, Andrea & Penelope. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect wedding day. Sean and I enjoyed breakfast in bed together wrapped in our cozy robes. Then Amy graced me with her presence, helping me do my hair, giving her opinion on my make up skills, zipping me up in my dress and ma lent her anxious presence to make the scene complete. After a few photos with Victor we were headed downstairs for Sean and me to see each other in all our get-up. Hehe His was so handsome in his tux and looked completely at ease. After some shots with the family on the lawn it was time for our vows – mind you we never practiced so we kind of just went with the flow. Sean and our officiate, Terry, walked down the small row of chairs first, then Andrew, who looked studly as well, came with our mildly well behaved Penelope, as ring bearer, lastly my father and I made our way down the aisle where he handed me off to Sean. We had the most beautiful scene; being right on the Hood Canal, looking onto the water and mountains while having a beautifully sunny day to say that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. I was proud of myself for not shedding any tears; I think I was concentrating too hard to repeat after Terry correctly to cry. Our family had lots of tears though, and as we greeted each of them after our first walk as Mr. & Mrs. Sean & Andrea Dowell, we were able to feel all the love with their hugs and kind words. Then it was on to the outdoor reception; we enjoyed a fancy meal of caesar salad and halibut while mingling with our family yet again. Amy gave a heartfelt speech that again brought tears to our eyes, while David was chipper recalling his younger years with Sean and amazement at the man he has become. If you can’t tell, I have the family full of saps and Sean has the family full of jokers. Although, I did get a nice one on Sean during the cake cutting. J I told him, ‘be nice hunny’ as he gave me a forkful of our tasty red velvet cake, then I took mine with my hands and shoved it into his mouth…or around his mouth. Another crowd shocker. I mean, I’m sure he knew it was coming when I grabbed the cake with my hands but at least he let me have my fun! After we sat down and actually enjoyed a slice of cake with some tea we did the traditional bouquet toss, which Mary my father’s girlfriend caught, and garter fling, which hilariously my three year old nephew grabbed. We had background music playing but Sean and I included a special song on there for everyone to share a first dance; our excuse was that for every couple on the floor we had 10 years of blissful marriage. We had few guests so I had to up the ante in fear of having to dance by ourselves; so there we all were, dancing to Amazed by Lonestar. And that pretty much concluded our wedding, we had a few more family shots, said our goodbyes to those that were leaving and then headed out with Victor and Max to take some photographs by ourselves. These two were spectacular, they even offered to stay all evening and keep shooting photos before leaving for the airport for our honeymoon. We were exhausted though and decided to spend the evening with Sean’s folks for a nice dinner. So yes, a beautiful day with our beautiful family. Guests: Susan Waterman, David Waterman, Mary Chernoff, Stephanie, Adam, Ashlee & Landen Ballard, Kim, Ryan, Braeden & Liam Pardo, Amy & Andrew Day, Marcus Wickstrom, Gene, Carol, David & Colin Dowell. The blue, white & vellum paper were all part of our wedding invitation leftovers, the ribbon and jewel were what were on the ring bearer pillow, the pearl pins were part of my bouquet decorations and the brown paper is reminiscent of the last color of our wedding invitations. Photo taken by Victor & Max Saidov. 
Well that is it for now, hoping to have a fun filled weekend along with everyone else!
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