Weddingbee Blog

While we snuck off for some portraits, things were just getting started at the Otter Woman Trading Post, where we’d set up for cocktail hour. There were jugs of water and Arnold Palmer (half iced tea/half lemonade) set alongside our homemade blackberry vodka, lime gin, and limoncello infusions. And, of course, there were plenty of bottled Cokes chilling in ice, a couple of mixers, and a keg of summer beer from a Montana brewery.

Besides drinks, the Northern Lights Saloon provided a whole compliment of rustic hors d’oeuvres: organic fruits, a variety of cheeses, crackers, and a locally-made bruschetta with organic tapenade. But enough, jibber-jabber… I’ll let the photos speak for themselves!

Our homemade drink menu hung above the Cokes, infusions, and mixers, providing directions to a variety of cocktails. We had a friend on hand to help bartend, but the menu went largely ignored because the drinks were self-service. We didn’t mind letting people drink what they wanted. After all, we had plenty to go around!

What we didn’t anticipate was how much everyone would love the blackberry vodka, or “purple stuff” as they called it… it was so delicious that many people were drinking mason jars of it straight up! The end result was a couple guests who got more inebriated than they bargained, realizing a little too late the effects of drinking straight vodka. But the worst side-effect was that we ran out of blackberry infusion long before the night was over!

I love the hand-carved sign, which was new to Polebridge this year. And I JUST noticed that it says “Otter Woman Tradinging Post”. Ha! HAHAHAHA!

Here is bartender friend, Craig, who prepared our infusions, helping to mix some drinks.

We served the alcohol in a couple awesome jars that we either rented, bought, or were given. And with the spigots facing crowd-side, they made for easy self-serve access…

A shot of the delicious “purple stuff”, our guests’ favorite, filling these mason jars to the brim…

For contrast, here’s the level of blackberry vodka left at the END of cocktail hour. But the gin and limoncello are practically untouched!

Most of our other drinks were self-serve, too. The keg, of course…

And who could pass up more Cokes?

We also put out a jar for “tips” labeled “honeymoon fund”. A lot of weddings find a way to incorporate spare change (take the dollar dance, for example) and we wanted to see if this would work for us. Without seeming greedy, I figured we’d at least make a few bucks to use in Mexico. We did… sort of. Someone put in $20, and there was about 90 cents in change.

Now, on to the food. The folks from the bakery and saloon had prepared a nice spread…

We’ve got fresh, organic fruit in all varieties…

Cheese, crackers, grapes, and some fruit salad…

And finally, a lovely goat-cheese, tomato, basil and olive oil tapenade on some fresh-baked Mercantile bread. I only got a small piece after this pan was decimated, but OH, it was good!

Such cute, little plates. I loved our rented flatware…

After helping themselves to food and drink, our guests got to chill and mingle while we were away, still busy taking portraits with our families, the wedding party, and each other.

The day started to cool off and it looked like it might rain, so our guests broke out their choicest hats, boots, and coats…

Yeeee-HAW!

As we’d hoped, our guests made use of the permanent benches and tables nearby. This seating faces the stage, which sits just to the right of the cocktails, and proved useful again later in the evening.

Even Mud Puppy took a seat, still begging for scraps…

Some folks sat in the grotto beneath the sound booth, where we had set up our photo line…

(Although, image above is from after dinner, when the bridesmaids put on jeans under their dresses and coats over their tops. In twilight, it got cold fast.)

The photo line featured pictures of Mr. CP and me throughout the 8 years of our relationship, some photos of us with friends and family, pictures of guests who couldn’t make it, and some shots of Glacier…

I didn’t believe they would, but our tiny-tiny craft-store clothespins held our pics onto that twine quite well. Not a single one fell off all evening… even when they got rained on.

Below, photos from the Eugene Marathon, our engagement at Gunsight Lake, and me licking a bowl clean while backpacking. I AM A CLASSY LADY.

Drinks in hand, our guests enjoyed cocktail hour until we called them away for photos or they heard the dinner bell a-ringin’. (Really, we had one.)

Funny story, those two in the picture above showed up immediately after The ceremony. We gave them a hard time for it, but it was an honest, humorous mistake. They’d driven from Portland and had forgotten that there was a +1 hour time change. Ha!

And here’s groomsman Mark, chatting up my sister Alyson and bridesmaid Amy in a MOST amicable fashion. From the looks on their faces, I think they’re onto him…

Up next, the first of many sets of formal portraits!

[Credits: All images courtesy of Piknik Studios.]

Previously:
Married in Montana: The Rehearsal
Married in Montana: The Girls Get Ready
Married in Montana: The Guys Get Ready
Married in Montana: The Bus Ride to Polebridge
Married in Montana: Pre-Ceremony Preparations
Married in Montana: Staging the Ceremony
Married in Montana: Our Wedding Ceremony (Part 1 of 2)
Married in Montana: Our Wedding Ceremony (Part 2 of 2)
Married in Montana: Receiving Line & Refreshments