The boss doesn't like me taking off on Fridays because we have a big weekly meeting with the client. I called it off from work months in advance and woke up about an hour earlier than I would to go in the office. I headed off to the airport 3 miles away to rent a large suburban utility vehicle. It ended up being a loaded Jeep Commander with leather, three sun roofs, crappy GPS, nice satellite radio, and a rear view video camera. I stopped back at my place and loaded up all my crap. Next stop was Total Wine for the keg of Sierra Nevada Summerfest and a case of Bell's Two Hearted Ale (a favorite of the groom's). I rolled in right after 9am when they opened. I would have bought more special brews but I was afraid of not having enough space. After Total Wine I went to Norm's Beer and Wine which is a well known store among the local craft scene. I pulled in while they were opening at 10am. Lucky for me the distributor was there dropping off my beer. The distributor man was nice enough to also load the Stoudts PILS and Starr Hill Jomo kegs (160 lbs each) in the back of my Commander. Also stuffed in the back were three tubs to put the kegs in and two taps. Next was Scott's and I arrived almost exactly on schedule five hours after I awoke. We had some lunch, packed up the Commander with their stuff, and headed off.
Some four hours later we arrived at the Magnolia Manor. We rolled up around 3:30 and check-in was at 4:00. The man of the house greeted us while wedding planner woman of the manor finished with some last minute yard work. We backed up the Commander to the barn where the rehearsal and reception were going to be and dropped of the kegs. My parents had already dropped off the six cases of wine and two cases of champagne they brought down from DC. We took off to the gas station to get ice to stall for time and wait for others to arrive since it was barely 4:00.
Before long my sister, Matt, and my parents rolled up along with other family and friends staying at the B&B. Although there was initially some resistance we tapped the kegs. We played some corn hole and some folks threw around a frisbee. The out of towners started showing up for the rehearsal dinner. It turned out to be a big party with about 40% of the 120 person guest list in attendance for the rehearsal. After a little run through at the ceremony site we headed over to the other side of the estate for dinner in their open air barn. The pasta was pretty good. Everyone seemed to enjoy the beer and wine. It was nice seeing family such as Phil, Jim, Sue, and Beverly. It was also good see old friends from the home town such as the Phillips and Friends. Most people had left by around midnight. Beth, Matt, and I were tripping out on some moonlight fog near the potting shed. We ended up only going through about 2/3's of a keg the first night. The Starr Hill Jomo was good.
Saturday was a hot sunny day. The wind really picked up later in the day as well. After a fine brunch we hung out in the sun, played corn hole, threw horse shoes, and drank beer. Half of the reason I got he keg of Summerfest is because I love how crisp and light it is on a sweltering summer day so that was tapped pretty quickly. The man of the B&B had a huge grill with a 100 lbs pig sprawled across it. He was rotating a dozen or so chickens on a rack above the pig. It was going to be a good dinner. After all day in the sun with beer we all amazingly were present and dressed on time for our assigned duties. Right before my brother and I started seating people I had to run the boutonnieres out to the groomsmen. I found them way out on the property behind a barn on top of an old silo in their suits getting their picture taken.
Most people were early and the venue wasn't ready early so when the manor doors were opened most people walked through and seated themselves. My bro and I only seated a dozen people all together. It was nice. People parked on the front lawn. They were greeted at the front door by the Friends twins. After walking straight through the house out the back my brother and I walked them across the lawn to the ceremony while a harpist played. Finally Scott and I walked Mom across the lawn and down the aisle. During the ceremony Beth and Matt stood on a huge slap of oak (6-8" high & 6-8' wide) from an ancient tree that had fallen on the property just weeks before. I tried to take video since my father was giving away the bride. His biggest part of the weekend. It took awhile to get used to the camera's zoom and how to take good video clips. I think I got some good shots but in many instances I was out of position because I wasn't aware of what was going to happen minute by minute. In those instances, and there were many, I had to choose between continuing with a bad angle or moving somewhere and getting very jerky video in the process. The ceremony went well and the wind didn't cause any problems.
After the ceremony the guests hung out and had drinks and snacks while we took pictures. The reception was a big version of the previous night but with a DJ and wait staff. Beth and Dad danced, we had dinner and tapped the PILS, and there was a toast in the barn that almost was without champagne. I only remember a small piece of cake. The DJ was rather loud. And he played the typical songs regardless of Matt and Beth's Do Not Play list. I opened up an Allagash Victor and Victoria and passed it among Beverly, Adam, Phil, Linda, Beth, Matt, and the Perrysburg table.
The party didn't go too late because most people had to drive home. It got a little chiller at the end of the evening. Beth and Matt ended it with a cool little sparkler run.
We all had to pack and boogie by 10am the next day. Again I was surprised everyone met the deadline.
