A Veg*n Cooking Wedding!

Warning: This post contains an excessive number of pictures.

I am happy to announce that not only are Brett and I married, but we couldn't have asked for a better wedding either. We had two of the coolest folks I know as our Matron of Honor and Best Man. The setting, Rau Garden in St. Charles, Missouri, was perfect. As indicated by the name, it is a garden and in early June, it is in full bloom and just gorgeous. It made decorating easy because, well, nature provided all the decorations. The weather last Friday was also perfect, sunny, and about 80. We really couldn't have asked for better conditions.

Both Brett and I's faces hurt at the end of the ceremony - we were just smiling so much. After almost seven years together, we were really happy to finally be getting married (a lot of people thought we'd never do it).

It wasn't all without a hitch though. Right before we left for St. Louis, I ended up in the ER with severe abdomen pains. Turns out with all the stress and traveling, I developed a pretty severe kidney infection that gave me pain and a couple of scares through the whole trip. We even almost missed our own reception, but thanks to Super Mom Extraordinairre with a fruit plate and some water, I felt good enough to make it downtown afterall - and with a smile on my face, because pain aside, it was an awesome day, and since all went well in the end, I just look at the kidney pain as Brett and I's first test as a married couple, and we handled it wonderfully.

We ended the evening with an awesome sushi dinner at The Drunken Fish, well, some of us had sushi at least. We rented out the back room of the Laclede's Landing location and had a really nice meal and cake too.

But let's back up just a little bit. Brett, myself, Selina, and her husband Jason met up a day early in St. Louis so we could hang out a bit before the wedding. Seeing as how they live in Indiana and we live in Missouri, we have to take advantage of the rare opportunities to get together. And this being their first real trip to the Lou, there was one thing they really wanted to see: The Arch. I hadn't been there in years and thought it would be fun to play tourist on my old stomping grounds, so I included some pictures of our Arch trip and the rehearsal as well.

Enjoy, and don't say I didn't warn you that there are a lot of pictures.




There is this old scale in the Arch that was used to weigh cargo, sadly, Brett only weighs about 10-15 pounds more than I do, and I'm pretty small. He eats a LOT of food too, I swear he has a tapeworm or something. ;-)


Our best side.
























J bein' weird for the camera


Some train viewed from the top of the Arch.


The New Busch Stadium from the top of the Arch.




Selina and her husband Jason. They are seriously the coolest couple I know. I love how well they get along, how much they simply enjoy each others company, they really are pals and I love that.




The good 'ol state of Illinois. I kind of wanted to cross the border, come back, and listen to CCR's "Lookin' Out My Back Door".


Here we are at the rehearsal.


From the left: my step-mom Stacey, Brett's step-mom Rae Jean, Brett's dad Wilbur, and Brett's Grandma Mary.


After the rehearsal we went to dinner at a local microbrewery and restaurant called Trailhead. We had a little private room where you could see the beer tanks. This is Brett and Jason.


Gerald and Brett's Best Man Neil.


Collene, Neil's rockin' daughter hitting that root beer hard.


This is the day of the wedding. Collene handed out bubbles to everyone and got her hair done like Selina and I's.


Collene lookin' sharp before getting her hair done.


A close-up of the braid in my hair.


Payback! Selina snapped all sorts of pictures of me getting my hair done, so I had to do so as well.


Stacey looking gorgeous as always.
























Ready to go!


Selina and I all dolled up. And no, there is nothing on my teeth except bad dental work. The dude didn't do a great job of matching colors for fillings and he cost a lot to boot.


My bouquet! I don't really like flowers so I was happy these were green and blue, and I loved the ivy and pothos leaves. I took them out and am trying to get them to start with rooting hormone.


My dad, the Limo Guy, and me.
























The Garden.


Pulling up.
























Brett, Neil, and our officiant Terry.


All smiles.


Jason went all stealth during the ceremony. Nobody knew where he went - that is because he was hiding in the bushes taking pictures from neat angles.






























After almost five years of marriage, Jason still only has eyes for his lovely lady. He is a lucky guy, Selina is a rockin' chick and man she looked good in that dress! I had to laugh when they gave me the pictures they had taken, when Jason was in charge of the camera, he focused it on her as much as he could. :-) He is a really great guy and he sure loves his wife.


Mr. Neil Lewis everyone.


The (tiny) wedding party.


The One and Only Selina.
























A really cute picture of Selina and Jason, I couldn't help but include it.


Signin' the documents that make it legal.
























Our program. It has a ristra on the front.


I absolutely love this picture. I just love it, it has to be the cutest picture I have ever seen and I can't really tell you why I love it so much, but I do.
























Our wedding cake. The bottom layer was plain old wedding cake, but the top layer was vegan chocolate cake. It was so flippin' tasty. A lot of the boys ended up going for the chocolate and were surprised at how good it was. I wasn't, 'cause I know better than to assume vegan food is gross, but I was happy to see some folks get a different idea of what veg food is like.


Our cute little cake topper guys. These are our little bride and groom "monsters", it is a handmade cake topper from Etsy, and we really liked it.

After a delicious meal and tasty cake, oh and a bit of a show trying to get Neil - who had had a few too many Drunken Martini's - to the car. He ended up booty dancing some sistas on the way, but it was all in good fun and the sistas had a good sense of humor about it. We then proceeded on to CoMo for a local honeymoon.

I will post about that in a day or two with lots of pictures of yummy food from local restaurants.

We are both very happy to be married - happier than we thought we would be. I decided to take Brett's last name and now have a new nickname - JDub (J.W.).

'Til next time.