Married Life Part I

I’m back! And I’m married!

Dean and I flew to Las Vegas last Friday night and were married Saturday afternoon in the Bel Amour Chapel on the strip. We enjoyed cocktails at the Wynn and then had a steak dinner at Excalibur hotel (where we stayed). We spent the weekend walking around Vegas, gambling a little, drinking a lot, seeing the hotels and enjoying our status as newlyweds.



Monday night we flew to Minneapolis to visit our families. We spent time bonding with our in-laws. It’s not like we didn’t know each other for six and a half years, but somehow things are different, more concrete, when you get married. We went to two Twins games, visited some of our old haunts at the University of Minnesota, savored the beautiful early autumn weather.

Friday evening my parents threw us a kickass wedding reception at Famous Dave’s. In attendance were my extended family and Dean’s immediate family. They rented a back room that could be closed off and had about 5 or 6 tables. There was an open tab so everyone got their fill of cocktails, wine and beer. The wait staff brought out for each table a garbage can lid full of ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork as well as fries, coleslaw, beans, corn and muffins. It was the best wedding dinner I’ve ever had! My stepdad designed a wedding cake for us that had a girl and a boy under a palm tree with flamingos in the background. It tasted pretty good too! We had the Twins game silently on the TV and in the main restaurant there was live blues music. Quite honestly, it was nothing like I’d imagined it would be when I was a little girl. But as a grown woman I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It was absolutely perfect. And the money my parents would have spent on a lavish traditional wedding it sitting safely for us when we buy a house. Really, how many weddings have you been to where you have fantastic barbeque and live blues music? (Pictures of all this will come eventually once my mom gets the films developed and sends me the copies.)

Saturday afternoon, Dean’s parents threw us a picnic-style party at their home with homemade pulled-pork sandwiches, calico beans, potato salad, other traditional picnic sides and a buffet of delectable desserts made by my master-baker mother in-law. I ate on and off all day and well into the evening. Dean’s extended family was there so I could see exactly what I married into as well as many neighborhood friends from their close-knit community. My parents came too and my 10 year old step sister insisted on playing poker with Dean’s 17 year old brother and his friends! Dean and she played the same hand and he helped her with strategy. I can’t wait to see the pictures.

I think I will leave it at that for now, even though I have much more to say. I’ll post more pictures when I get some. Thank you all my friends in the blogosphere for stopping by and leaving well wishes for my new husband and I.