Greg and Renee's Wedding

This past weekend was the wedding of Mark's only sibling, Greg. Greg and Renee met at the restaurant years ago and live on the west side of Madison, close to the apartment Mark and I lived in when we got married.

Some of the ladies at the bachelorettte party

Festivities began last Thursday with the bachelor and bachelorette parties. A large group of guys met at a sports bar in Black Earth called Rookies. Rookies has a miniature field fashioned to resemble a baseball stadium in St. Louis (apparently the owner is a huge fan), and on this small field games of whiffle ball are played instead of baseball. I obviously was not there, but apparently the guys had A LOT of fun--perhaps too much?!--and several of them were extremely sore and scratched up from jumping around, running and sliding. I fear they felt a little over confident in their abilities thanks to a "few" drinks. Ah, well...

Renee's nephews

Now the bachelorette party met at a west side restaurant called Eno Vino and ended up downtown at the Great Dane. I have to admit that I bailed early, only attending the Eno Vino portion of the evening, but I promised Mark that I would pick him up from the bachelor party (Mark had arranged a shuttle service for the rest of the guys who were coming mostly from hotels on the west side of Madison), and bring him safely home. It was a lot of fun though and the food was outstanding! I think Renee enjoyed herself and she sure was game for having fun.

Renee's nephew, Justin (what a doll!)

Mark, Greg and Aaron Bakken

The next day was the rehearsal dinner which was hosted by Mark and Greg's parents. Van and Judy also hosted our rehearsal dinner when we got married and they just do a fabulous job. They live in a beautiful location outside of Cross Plains and they have such a lovely, cozy home...anybody who has visited will attest. I know I have mentioned this often in past blogs, but Judy truly is also an amazing cook and baker. The food was wonderful, the setting stunning, the conversing happy and the weather cooperative (after an initial shower). We all had a great time.

Karen and Oscar Seibel

Renee's family

Mark's Aunt Diane and her granddaughters

I'm afraid the day of the wedding was a little stressful due to the weather forecast. The ceremony itself was going to be held outside, in the landscaped area behind the restaurant. Provisions were made to have a tent set up, but even if you have an enclosed tent, I think the hope is not to actually use it.

The Valaskeys

Sure enough, after a sunny and warm morning, the clouds rolled in and by afternoon the rain, wind and hail started coming down at around 2:00, the scheduled family photo time. Thankfully, the stormy weather blew over as quickly as it came in, and pictures were completed before the ceremony started at 4:00.

Two of my good friends, Janeen and Jill (Jill's youngest, Danielle, is also pictured)

Judy

Everything went well and Renee looked stunning and Greg looked handsome and they both looked very happy. The reception was at the restaurant too and the food was awesome (I had some of the best roasted vegetables ever and I don't normally get excited about vegetables). One of the best parts of the evening was Renee's obvious happiness and excitement---that girl danced the WHOLE night! She was in high demand though. All of the kids at the wedding (and there was a lot of them) wanted to be by her or dance with her. She was a real princess I think.

Greg and his cousin Todd

Fiesta!

The following day was the gift opening. Greg and Renee received many nice gifts. They were also very fortunate to have some great helpers: Renee's nephews were happy to help with the opening of presents.Greg as a giftRenee's nephews helping unwrap presents