Weddingbee Blog

As everyone filled their plates and found their tables, the rain outside our reception tent continued to fall. Warm and dry as we were, it didn’t dampen our spirits one bit, although we did worry what it meant for after-dinner dancing.

After everyone was seated, Mr. Cherry Pie stood and called attention to the front of the room, welcoming our friends and family with a brief speech of appreciation.

Then, we let the toasts begin!
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As Mr. Cherry Pie and I finished up our portraits together, our guests were invited from the cocktail area to the reception tent by the ringing of a dinner bell.

We intended our reception to be rustic, casual, and comfortable, like sitting down to dinner with family. For me, the pièce de résistance of our wedding day will always be the ceremony, but I absolutely loved how our reception turned out. There were no fancy linens, lighting, music, slide shows, or sound systems… just tables enough to seat ninety, a few hand-designed details, and a buffet of astounding regional food and drink. It was perfect, despite the drenching downpour that started as soon as dinner began…

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Before the dinner bell rang, we had just one more set of portraits to take with our wedding party. I won’t call these pics “formal”, because as you can see, they’re also very much in the spirit of our casual, rustic, Montana wedding.

Mr. Cherry Pie and his groomsmen were the first to organize, mason jars full of beer or “purple stuff” in hand, on the porch of the Northern Lights Saloon…

Because we didn’t want any tuxes at our wedding, and renting suits didn’t seem to be feasible, Mr. CP asked his dudetourage to purchase suits that complemented his own custom-made suit. We found them charcoal grey Pronto Uomo suits at Men’s Wearhouse, which were on sale for $250 each. While this isn’t the most affordable amount for some people, the groomsmen were happy to oblige, particularly when they heard how much bridesmaids have to spend (on dresses, hair, shoes, etc) at many weddings. And I hear they’ve gotten lots of mileage out of their suits since then!
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Welcome back, bee readers! It’s time for the next piece of Cherry Pie. Today I’m featuring our formal family photos (say that 5 times fast). Now, before you click away thinking, “BOOOORINNNNG,” I must encourage you to stay. These photos might not be the most exciting part of our wedding day, and some of them certainly are more posed than our other pictures, but they are a very, very important part wedding photography, and they will be an important part of your wedding, too!

Candid photos are all well and good, but your family members (especially immediate family) will want pictures with you remember your day by, and formal portraits are the absolute best way to give them what they need and do it in a calm, organized fashion during an otherwise hectic day.

It’s also important to think about what you want from these photos. Who will you take pictures with… your sets of parents? Your siblings? Twenty-five uncles, aunts, and cousins? Your close friends? Make sure you figure these things out beforehand, set aside a block of time, and make sure to let your photo subjects in on the plan. Also, be sure to be flexible. Some people not accounted for in your plan may insist on a photo as a memento. Be sensitive and accommodating. And remember to smile!

And you know what? With the right photographer you’ll be able to add spice to posed family photos and even capture the candid, tender moments in-between “1…2…3…CHEESE!” Keep reading to see what I mean…

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In one of my recent posts, I mentioned that we were taking photos with our wedding party during cocktail hour. Well, we did, but not before we took some formal portraits together. Nicole took a TON of photos that I absolutely love, and I can’t wait to share them with you. Of course it’s hard to edit them all down, so I’ve broken these portraits up into two categories: pictures of us together and individual “profile” shots.

First things first, I’ll present you with thirty of my favorite bride and groom pictures. Then, tomorrow, I’ll share thirty of our best profile photos. After that, we’ll move on to photos with our families and the wedding party before finally visiting the reception, cutting the cake, dancing, and detailing the little things. There’s a lot more to look forward to!

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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!

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After our ceremony, even the mountains came out to say hello! The clouds that had been hanging low over some of the highest peaks lifted, revealing a brand new dusting of snow. Despite the increasing chance of rain and fast-moving weather, it had been a beautiful afternoon.

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Standing in a field with the mountains at our backs, we took a moment to look at each of our guests. Slowly and clearly, with the volume and dictation one could only hope to find in a seasoned professional, Cathy began to read the ceremony we had written.

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We chose our simple, unassuming ceremony site in Polebridge partly for its convenience, accessibility, and proximity to our reception, but there was also something utterly breathtaking about being married in center of a small town in the shadow of such stately peaks. Although part of me wishes we’d chosen to be married on the shores of Lake McDonald or had been given permission by the Park Service to wed at Bowman Lake, I loved our ceremony setup something fierce.
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September 6th, in the remote, Northwest reaches of Montana, our wedding was about to start.

While I waited in the wings for the ceremony to begin, dramatic clouds boiled and broke overhead, throwing the mountains into sun and shadows, sprinkling us with the lightest of showers…

Our guests arrived, finding among friends and family a few long-lost connections or rarely seen relatives, talking and laughing on the lawn:
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When we arrived in Polebridge, there was still over an hour until the ceremony. I had expected to have maybe half an hour to prepare… a time that I could have easily filled with setup and organization. But given all the time we then had, I didn’t know what to do with myself except make sure that Mr. CP didn’t accidentally stumble upon me before the ceremony.

At the end of my last recap, you saw me holding my veil over the bus window to prevent him from looking in as he exited his bus and went into the saloon. I had definitely decided that his “first look” would have a bigger impact if it were as I was walking down the aisle. Unfortunately, we hadn’t exactly planned the logistics of how we’d be sequestered once we arrived at Polebridge.

Playing “hide and seek” like this seemed like fun at the time. But if I had to confess my one major regret of the whole day, it’s that we didn’t spend the hour before the ceremony together. I wish we’d had some quiet time to talk, have a drink, and maybe take a few casual photos. I made him wait to see me because I thought it would make our ceremony feel more significant. In truth, I think it would have been worth it to have had a few minutes with my future husband beforehand.

Instead, I spent my time before the ceremony pacing and preening, and nearly dumping Coca-Cola all over my dress. Here’s how it went down:

As Mr. CP stepped into the saloon with his groomsmen, the bridal party started to unload the second bus. Our arrival was met by family and friends who had come early, and by the better part of Polebridge’s residents. This little girl poked her head out the back door, seemingly to get a better look at the city folk who were storming her country home:

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( My bridesmaids and I on our personal “limousine” )

When planning our wedding, we decided to use school buses as wedding shuttles for several reasons. First, our venue (Polebridge) was about 20 miles from the Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier National Park, and a number of our out-of-town guests weren’t renting cars. Second, about 12 miles of the road to Polebridge are rough and unpaved—we knew that some people might not be comfortable with rural driving and we wanted to make it easy for them. Finally, we wanted our guests to be safe coming back from the wedding in the pitch dark, after a night of drinking.
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While the ladies started primping and preening as only girls can do before a wedding, the guys took their sweet time savoring their breakfast, lounging in their pajamas, and shooting the breeze in the Lodge lobby.

Mr. CP, on the other hand, had been convinced by his cousin Alexander to give himself a wedding-day “wake up” in a different way.

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Our wedding day dawned gray and cold. It had rained the night before, and while the sound of the stream outside had convinced me it was still raining, it was actually dry and partly cloudy. Not ideal, and certainly not 75 and sunny like it had been the previous Saturday, but the best weather we’d seen all week.

(Lake McDonald facing Logan Pass)

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For the past several weeks I’ve been sitting on our pro-pics and stewing. I’ve been having an exceptionally difficult time figuring out how to begin sorting through the over TWO THOUSAND images sent to me by Nicole Tavenner of Piknik Studios to find the choice few to share with you.

After several revisions and one massive dump into Flickr (which I will share with you after I am done with recap posts so you can see the rest of the photos), I think I have finally narrowed down the best photos enough to begin with my “Official” Weddingbee recap. As a forewarning, each of the following recap posts will probably contain 15-30 photos. I figure that I’d better err on the heavy side rather than risk tossing out any favorites or destroying the story.

For this recap, I’ve decided that the best place to begin was the beginning, and with a bit of a narrative tone. Let’s allow the balmy day of our reception, Friday, September 5, 2008, to set the stage and provide some atmosphere…

Join me on the way to Polebridge, Montana. We’re headed to the edge of the mountains…

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