i keep a diary

June 03, 2012

Sarah and Ben's NH Wedding

Sarah grew up attending "family camp" with her family every summer at a YMCA camp on Sandy Island, Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. What better place to have a wedding?

Thursday, May 31st

catrinel, grant, meredith
On Thursday morning, we picked up a rental car, drove crosstown to pick up Catrinel at the office...
roadtrip ˆ catrinel ˆ grant ˆ meredith
catrinel, grant
...and six short hours later, we'd managed to make it across the New Hampshire border!
booze ˆ roadtrip ˆ catrinel ˆ grant
We stopped off at a state liquor store to stock up on beverages (and so Grant could peek up Cat's dress) ...
...and then back into the car for a much slower-paced remainder of the drive. By the time we made it to the lake, it was so dark we had to use our car's headlights to light up the path so we could bring our luggage down to the dock.
dock
Waiting for the boat to pick us up and take us to Sandy Island!
We took advantage of the lake-crossing as the perfect time...
boat
catrinel, grant
...to dig into the pizza & beers we'd just picked up on our way through town!
boat ˆ pizza ˆ catrinel ˆ grant
grant, meredith
Mobile pizza party!
boat ˆ pizza ˆ grant ˆ meredith
catrinel, me
Haha.
beer ˆ boat ˆ excited ˆ catrinel ˆ me
Upon arriving on the island, we were each given envelopes with our cabin assignments...
wedding
...and inside were maps to help us find our way!
map ˆ wedding
Into the woods!
flashlight ˆ walking
ben, meredith, sarah
Sarah & Ben welcoming us to our cabin!
ben ˆ meredith ˆ sarah

Friday, June 1st

The view of the lake from our cabin window.
cabin ˆ lake ˆ sandy island family camp
I was excited to get outside and see...
cabin ˆ lake
...what our cabin looked like in the daylight.
cabin ˆ sandy island family camp
Spent thirty minutes sitting in the woods.
meditation ˆ trees
Then walked up to the mess hall to get some breakfast!
path ˆ sandy island family camp ˆ walking
Later that morning, I grabbed a kayak...
dock ˆ kayak ˆ lake
grant
...met up with Grant...
kayak ˆ lake ˆ grant
grant
...and we headed out to paddle our way around the island.
kayak ˆ lake ˆ grant
grant, meredith
Meredith came out to join us!
kayak ˆ lake ˆ grant ˆ meredith
grant, meredith, sarah h
About halfway around the island, Sarah spotted us and brought us beers!
beer ˆ kayak ˆ lake ˆ grant ˆ meredith ˆ sarah h
me
Not a bad way to spend a Friday.
beer ˆ kayak ˆ lake ˆ sunglasses ˆ me
grant
Buddy flotilla.
beer ˆ kayak ˆ lake ˆ pbr ˆ grant
grant
Rock seagull.
bird ˆ kayak ˆ lake ˆ grant
Handsome red beak.
bird ˆ lake
noah
These two were out canoe-daling.
boat ˆ canoe ˆ noah
Paddle rack.
noah
Noah in paddle rack jail.
lake ˆ noah
Later that afternoon, we went for a walk around the island and brought a frisbee along so that we could...
lake ˆ tree
grant
...play the island's frisbee-golf course!
frisbee ˆ golf ˆ grant
grant
Grant putting.
frisbee ˆ golf ˆ grant
There's even a hole there dedicated to Sarah & Ben!
frisbee ˆ sign ˆ tree
Awww.
heart ˆ tree
amanda, cynthia, grant, katie, siege
Just as we were finishing up, Siege, Katie, Cynthia and Amanda arrived!
hug ˆ amanda ˆ cynthia ˆ grant ˆ katie ˆ siege
ben, sarah h
Walking up to Friday evening's dinner.
walking ˆ ben ˆ sarah h
Picnic tables with lovely lights strung overhead.
picnic ˆ sandy island family camp ˆ wedding
amanda, cynthia, grant, siege
BBQ!
best ˆ picnic ˆ wedding ˆ amanda ˆ cynthia ˆ grant ˆ siege
Aerial view of the action.
best ˆ picnic ˆ sandy island family camp ˆ wedding

Saturday, June 2nd

meredith
It was raining so hard on Saturday morning that we had to put on our ponchos in order to...
cabin ˆ poncho ˆ meredith
...not get drenched on the short walk over to the mess hall for breakfast.
breakfast ˆ sandy island family camp
Doing it right!
breakfast ˆ egg ˆ food ˆ french toast ˆ oatmeal ˆ pancakes
meredith
We spent the rest of the morning napping, reading and hiding out from the rain.
bed ˆ cabin ˆ reading ˆ meredith
me, meredith
Later that afternoon, we got dressed up for the wedding, threw our ponchos back on...
dressed up ˆ poncho ˆ me ˆ meredith
...and walked up to the main hall for the wedding!
wedding
Grandparent duet!
duet ˆ piano ˆ violin ˆ wedding
sarah h
Sarah's parents walking her down the aisle.
wedding ˆ sarah h
ben, sarah h
Sarah & Ben explained they'd be having a Quaker ceremony. They stood up in front of all the guests and explained that if anyone would like to speak, to stand up. After ten minutes of giving people the opportunity to speak, they exchanged vows...
wedding ˆ ben ˆ sarah h
ben, sarah h
...and were married! Congrats!
kiss ˆ wedding ˆ ben ˆ sarah h
After the ceremony, we walked over to this lovely, ferny table...
wedding
meredith
...and added our names to the list of witnesses!
sign ˆ wedding ˆ meredith
Then we made our way through the tent hallway...
hallway ˆ tent ˆ wedding
...and found our way to the amazing reception area they'd set up!
tent ˆ wedding
Holy moly!
dessert ˆ treats ˆ wedding
The tent was adorned with garlands of moss!
tent ˆ wedding
Our ferny table settings were used...
menu ˆ wedding
cynthia
...to fern-cessorcise!
hair ˆ cynthia
siege
Fern in your cap!
hat ˆ self portrait ˆ siege
ben, sarah h
First dance!
dance ˆ wedding ˆ ben ˆ sarah h
Salad time.
wedding
ben, sarah h
Speech!
speech ˆ wedding ˆ ben ˆ sarah h
amanda, catrinel, cynthia, meredith
Lovelies.
wedding ˆ amanda ˆ catrinel ˆ cynthia ˆ meredith
catrinel, sarah h
You may now smash your face against the bride!
kiss ˆ catrinel ˆ sarah h
After dinner, the band came out and they were awesome.
band ˆ wedding
The guy was the first to hit the dance floor.
dance ˆ wedding
GETTING SOME! This guy pretty much single-handedly...
dance ˆ dance off ˆ wedding
...opened the dance floor. The next thing you know, everyone's dancing...
dance ˆ wedding
...congo lines are happening.
congo line ˆ dance ˆ wedding
sarah h
Bride on the dance floor!
dance ˆ wedding ˆ sarah h
ben, sarah h
Get 'em up in chairs!
best ˆ hava nagila ˆ wedding ˆ ben ˆ sarah h
Dance floor still going strong right up to the end.
dance ˆ wedding
Last song!
Congrats, Sarah & Ben!
After the reception hall was closed, we adjourned to a hall that was decorated with paper lanterns and also featured...
cynthia, meredith
...s'mores supplies and a roaring fire!
fire ˆ smores ˆ treats ˆ cynthia ˆ meredith
grant, katie, siege
Late night snacking in front of the fire.
treats ˆ grant ˆ katie ˆ siege
catrinel
Just because there's no music...
dance ˆ catrinel
amanda, catrinel
...doesn't mean you can't have a dance party.
dance ˆ amanda ˆ catrinel

Sunday, June 3rd

amanda, cynthia, grant
Sunday morning breakfast at the main lodge.
breakfast ˆ sandy island family camp ˆ amanda ˆ cynthia ˆ grant
While we were packing up, we noticed...
bed ˆ cabin ˆ sandy island family camp
...the walls were covered with messages written by campers for other campers that would arrive later in the summer. Then when you came back next year, you could see if anyone had left a message for you in return. (This is what we did before the internet!)
graffiti ˆ sandy island family camp
Walked up to the dock in time to catch...
boat ˆ dock ˆ sandy island family camp ˆ truck
...the noon ferry.
boat ˆ dock ˆ sandy island family camp
ben, sarah h
Sarah and Ben came down to see everyone off!
dock ˆ wave ˆ ben ˆ sarah h
noah
Goodbye!
boat ˆ noah
amanda, grant, siege
Away we go!
boat ˆ amanda ˆ grant ˆ siege