Unfortunately, Clint has been sick and needed to stay home. He's been missing out on a lot because of it…a work conference, a Heavenly Spies show (that's when you know it's bad), this wedding, and has now had to cancel a trip home to San Diego this week. Poor guy.
So, I made the drive over the pass solo. It wasn't the best conditions either. The wind was out of control, the top of the pass was pretty slushy, not to mention the rain. I white knuckled it practically the whole way there. Eventually, I made it safe and sound.
I checked into the hotel room, which was quite fancy just for me.
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| huge comfy bed all to myself |
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| even a little kitchenette |
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| You're kidding me, right? You know I'm here alone and have no self control! |
I got dressed and headed downstairs to catch the shuttle over to the venue. I wasn't sure where my friends were since most of them were in the wedding party and probably busy, but luckily I ran into Travis in the lobby who told me the rest of our friends were in the bar. After I found them, we took the shuttle over together.
The wedding ceremony and reception were held at the winery Swiftwater Cellars at Suncadia, and it was gorgeous. The upstairs was used for the ceremony and cocktail hour, then we headed down to the cellar for dinner and dancing.
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| Travis signing the wine bottle guest "book" |
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| all Instagram photos were tagged with "#joehooksashley" since Joe is big into fishing - so cute |
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| fun little duo that played music and sang for the ceremony |
The ceremony was beautiful. I was surprised to learn that Tyler's boyfriend Jon was going to be the officiant (actually, Bryn told me he was going to be the priest, he was a little confused), but how fun is that! It just made it that much more special. Ashley and Joe wrote their own vows, which was very sweet, despite the part about them raising WSU Cougars. Jon (a fellow Husky) told me later that he bit his tongue on wanting to say, "oh, so your children won't be intelligent?" We were outnumbered though. Both Joe and Ashley went to wazzu and the majority of the guests did, too. At least I knew we were going to have a fun night, them Cougs can party!
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| Ashley's dad giving her away |
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| left to right - Jon the officiant, Joe, Joe's brother Phil, Tyler, Jeff, TJ, and Tommy |
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| The kiss! Joe jumped the gun and didn't even wait for the go ahead from Jon |
After the ceremony, Joe and Ashley ran off to take photos while the guests mingled, drank, and ate crab cakes and little grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, yum.
They opened up the doors to the back patio, but the wind made it unbearable out there. It sure was pretty though.
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| fire pit and twinkly lights |
When dinner was ready, we headed downstairs. The tables were decorated with wine bottles for table markers, and glassy baby candle holders, so pretty.
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| table 16 |
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| me and my missing date |
The cellar at the winery is really cool. There are huge metal wine vats along one wall, and another lined with wine barrels. The (many) dinner tables were set up around the room with a dance floor up at the front.
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| the cellar |
Dinner was delicious…salad, green beans, pasta, roasted chicken, salmon, and the best mashed potatoes I've had in my life. We listened to toasts, watched the first dances, Joe and Ashley cut their cake, then we danced the night away.
They even had a few little stations…one for s'mores where they had sterno flames lit with all the s'more fixings, a table with bins of Old Navy flip flops in every size for the girls to change out of our heels, and a photo booth. I took advantage of all three.
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| photo booth fun with Travis' wife, Kate and Brian's fiancé Katie |
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| Tyler (always the instegator) brought a Razr scooter, and me (always the enabler) rode it around the dance floor |
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| dancin |
As it got a little later, the kitchen had brought out pizza as a late night treat. No one really noticed (but me of course), so I grabbed a couple of slices and sat down to eat by myself. I was in heaven.
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| best wedding ever |
The DJ closed out the night by playing the wazzu fight song as the last song (really?) then we all left to get back to the hotel. Anyone who's partied in Cle Elum or Rosalyn before knows Stan the Man with the van. He's the designated driver of the area, and has a shuttle that circles to and from the bars, wineries, and hotels. The inside of the van is covered with writing. I sat up front and found this little gem. Yep, that's my cousin Courtney, doing our family proud.
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| those are eyes, right? |
When we got back to the lodge, we all gathered in Tyler and Jon's room. Tyler changed out of his suit into jeans, then sat down and promptly fell right asleep. Such a good host. We all were pretty beat at this point too, so we called it a night and I went back to my own room and crashed.
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| sleepy Ty Ty |
The next morning I took advantage of daylight savings and slept an extra hour, but after noticing it was snowing, I beelined it for my car. I wanted to make it across the pass before it got bad. I lucked out that it was a nice clear day, and the snow stopped as soon as I hit the freeway.
I had such a great time celebrating with everyone, it was an amazing wedding. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. McCone!
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