Wedding In Oneonta

Wedding season is upon us..I love weddings.... I really do. I really like the idea of just being a guest  not being in the wedding and just being an onlooker and having fun instead. I've only been a bridesmaid twice, both for my sisters but I've attended to a fair amount of weddings and no one is ever the same, with the right crowd, it can really be fun, with the wrong crowd, its a bore...and this one was not a let down. There were ups and there were downs but in the end it turned out to be fun and anyway I think the more important part of the whole day is what happens after the party.

Now, if you ever wake up one morning and decide you want to check out Oneonta, let me warn you now.. there is no direct way to get to Oneonta, its really, really quite circuitous to get to and then even further. We found ourselves on the way to Oneonta to attend the wedding of a family friend, one of my brothers oldest  and dearest friend who coaches basketball for the college team up there. On our way there we not only got stuck behind a slow moving tractor trailer on a single lane highway (apparently upstate NY only has single lane highways!)  for about 20 minutes, there were several cow crossings, deer crossings etc..and then a stopped vehicle which we couldn't go around..the single lane highway thing again...quite an adventure. 

The ride started out nicely, we left the house early, kids and nanny in tow, snacks and drinks; every ones clothes nicely hung and off we went. The first leg of the trip was fine and then we got upstate and it really turned to cow country. I realize most of New york state looks like this, it was an eerie feeling, no one in sight just animals, tractors, trucks and livestock on the side of these single lane thoroughfares. We pulled into town within one hour of the wedding and once we found the hotel we rushed in hoping they'd let us check in early so we could freshen up and change. They did! We also saw the bride and her entourage getting ready too. My mom and sisters arrived soon after and we all got our selves ready and headed to the church..LATE.as usual. Who shows up late for a wedding..well.. we do, we're a slow moving ship on our own but throw in other kids and three more women..and it we're like molasses in the winter. So we took some pictures in the hallway while waiting for them to get dressed...can you tell how thrilled Evalie was?

Arielle was just happy to be wearing a dress..she tries to wear dresses everyday..no jeans, no denim, no shorts..she's really the girliest girl I know. So she's thrilled with any occasion that requires a dress, jewelry, hair, nice shoes..look out.

I love this shot of her and her daddy, She's got such effortless beauty, I wish she understood why its okay to be/ look like her. She always seems to wish she had straight blonde hair, not that theres anything wrong with that..you know how girls are though..always wanting to look like or dress like someone else... when instead we should be able accentuate our unique qualities rather than try to assimilate with the crowd.. I digress..back to the wedding. 

It was a bittersweet day, as the bride, had lost her father the night before but she (they) made the best of it and it was a beautiful day as they released butterflies into the air.  My brother was taking his job very seriously..make sure those butterflies fly!

Afterwards we did the "meet and greet" with the bridal party and hung around a little longer outside the church then returned to the hotel to change clothes. Everyone (in our car at least) was starving and we didn't want to wait until cocktail hour so we stopped for lunch at Panera bread..we got tons of food ( didn't know one could spend so much in the drive thru!) because the kids were not allowed at the reception so we needed to have dinner for them as well. Our nanny aka their "other mommy" came with us and would be watching all four girls ( my two and my two nieces together) while we went to the reception.  The good thing was that the reception was in our hotel so we got the kids situated in two linked rooms and headed down to cocktail hour. Without getting into the specifics..the evening turned out to be quite odd, funny..strange..I don't know.  Under the table bar...strange unknown reggae songs..Andy Samberg look- a- like doing the robot..it was quite a night.

Arielle, 5