wedding, fall style.

The Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina.

Not too shabby.

I'd get married there.

My friends Todd and Betsy did get married there today, in fact.

And it looked just like this. Blackberry Inn Road (and yes, of course we had to ask if Iphone Road is the next turn. hilarious, I know. Fine, you had to be there.) is wedged right between green mountains and sits underneath a blue sky that doesn't grow old. No matter how many times you look, no matter how many skies you've seen, no matter how much you think you know what the color blue looks like; that you got it when you were in kindergarten and studying that color wheel, but no, here you are on some mountains celebrating this miraculous kind of love that once again found two people on this earth, and you are taken by surprise by good old blue once again.

Startled by it, even.

You got me, blue. I thought I knew all about you, but you surprised me today with the sky. Good to know that these kinds of things still happen. Good surprises. I hope they never stop.

The reception was draped in oranges and browns, accented with mums and pumpkins and was an altogether perfect shrine to a fall celebration considering that it took place inside the most beautiful barn around.
Open and airy. Rustic, wooden, and chandaliered. And you can stop clutching your pearls now. I turned chandelier into an adjective and it appears we all survived, so moving on.

Betsy had a great big dreamy pile of flowers for us and told us to have at it. Make your own bouquet. As if we were all as good as she is at making things. The good thing was that every last flower and berry in the pile was perfectly beautiful, so short of--I don't know, accidently cutting off the flowers and leaving the stems instead or something blundering like that, you really couldn't go wrong. It was actually a fun project and wrapping the ribbon as the final touch felt a little like preparing a tourniquet which was super fun and maybe that sounds weird and maybe that means I missed my true calling as a nurse but it's true.

Or maybe it just means I shouldn't be so analytical: I just like wrapping ribbons on bouquets. Period.

And the bouquet didn't turn out so bad.

Although I am sure there is much more of a science of it than what I did which was basically pick the ones I liked and clump them together. I am also sure that all those serious florists with their color charts and flower formulas and measured sunlight are shaking their heads over me from somewhere buried deep in their sterile labs.

Me and Betsy.
Isn't she a perfect bride?

And it was the first time I had to give a speech at a wedding. Wait, that's not true. I gave a speech at my own wedding--a toast to my pop--but it was sort of spontaneous and it wasn't the maid of honor speech which seems to carry more weight because everybody expects it.

I had written out something long and probably verbose and was definitely in need of an editor the other night, thinking I would just read it because then I'd know I was saying the exact thing I wanted to say. But then today I just scrapped that idea, choosing to speak from my heart instead. Plus, I figured holding my Iphone and reading from it could be a little tacky.

The funny thing is I wasn't nervous at all. I don't know why this is; I usually get nervous or at least feel something when speaking in front of large groups, but I just felt calm. Maybe it was because I had a clear objective which made it easy: communicate love for Betsy. I like that objective.

And here are the sweet, happy couple ready to go on their way.
Mr. and Mrs.; Husband and Wife. Isn't that something?