Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Happily Ever After: The Gartz Edition

Just before Christmas, on December 18th, my sweet, sweet friend Jenn got the gift of a lifetime- a new last name.  Oh and a hubby.  She married her best friend, Taylor, in an absolutely gorgeous ceremony at Ashelynn Manor in Magnolia.  Ashelynn Manor is a beautiful, old plantation-style mansion with an adorable chapel and an awesome vintage barn-style reception area on the grounds.  As I mentioned previously, I was honored to be a bridesmaid and thrilled to get to take part in all of the behind-the-scenes action.

The night before the wedding, Taylor's parents hosted an incredible rehearsal dinner at Americas in the Woodlands.  Just typing this makes my mouth water for a lobster corndog or some ceviche.  If you haven't checked out America's, you should stop reading this and get on it.  I'll go ahead and put that advice on your tab.  I can't imagine more suitable wedding prep than an evening of laughter, inappropriate baseball conversation and bartering with the waiters for extra passed appetizers.  Thank you to the Gartz family for their generosity.

Stories of deliciousness

Shaustin

Caitlin & JKL

Maggard- gotta love him

Matt & Dena

Ryan & Erin

Ryan thought this pose might garner more empanadas.

Belles & booze

Ladykillers

We heart you, Mrs. Gartz

The day of the wedding Shawna, Caitlin, Dena and I set out on an adventure of the hair variety.  We got our hair done in the Woodlands and then, like the classy foursome that we are, promptly set out for Walmart and Chick-fil-a.  After our morning of elegance, we headed to Ashelynn Manor to help get the beautiful bride ready.  Jenn was just stunning.  There are no other words.

Primping

Blushing Bride, beautiful flower girl & precious ring bearer

Thanks Shalonda!

Sarah, Sarah, Allison, Britni, Jessica, Sammie, Caitlin, Me, Dena, Jenn, Natalie & Catcher

Watching all the action

The ceremony was perfect and the reception that followed was so much fun.  It was obvious throughout the course of the day how very blessed all of us are to have Jenn and Taylor in our lives.  They are such sweet, thoughtful and incredibly loving people.  I can't imagine anyone more deserving of the happiness they bring out in eachother.  Thank you again for including me in your day, and thank you to the Welch Family who put on one heck of a party.

First dance

Is Ryan photobombing or was he actually invited here?

Ryan, Me & Tinkerbell, apparently

A few of the participants in the Natalie versus _______ dance off.

The Hannas, special guest: Caitlin P

Party people

Monday, December 20, 2010

Bachelorette-ing

The weekend before this last one, December 10th-12th, we celebrated Jenn's last weekend as a siiiiingle lady (please channel your inner-Beyonce to read that) in Fredericksburg.  Four of her bridesmaids planned a fun-filled weekend for everyone in an adorable river-side cottage.  We were all treated to a hike at Enchanted Rock, wine tasting at Grape Creek, a delish dinner at Crossroads, flip cup, a never ending buffet of snacks, spirited conversation and one life threatening brush with broccoli.

Dena, Shawna & I roadtripped it up to Fredericksburg on Friday night after work.  We arrived pretty late to a perfectly decorated party-in-progress.  We hopped right into a game (yes: singular) of flip cup.  We had to improvise with the tools we were given - which happened to include a frog-shaped lamp, a circular table and some clear cups.  We quickly realized that physics wasn't on our side and filled the remainder of the night with bachelorette party quiz games, trying to keep Dena away from the broccoli and keeping our glasses filled.

Woohoo!

Decor.  Surprisingly, the bagged rum and miller lite were not part of the original scheme.

See?  Wild.

Hot tub o' ladies


Pretty bride.

Flip cup ingredients


This picture if very representative of the evening's events

Down for the count.

Saturday morning started off a little slowly but we eventually all mobilized and set off for Enchanted Rock.  I wore my serious hiking outfit, as you will see below.  Every good rock climber knows that Uggs are a best practice in the field.  After one false summit, one fellow hiker gentleman who hasn't seen the "mouse in the house" Friends episode and zero rock defacings, we can all say we are Enchanted Rock survivors.

Hardcore hikers

Enchanted Rock

Gooooo girls

View from the top.

More view from the top.

Hiking geniuses

After Enchanted Rock, we headed back for a quick shower, lunch and then we headed off to Grape Creek for a wine tour.  At Grape Creek we went on a private wine tour and got to taste the difference that different types of barrels make in the taste of wine.  We were also introduced to a wine thief, which is definitely going on my Christmas list despite my having absolutely no use for it whatsoever.  We came, we agreed new french oak barrels produce the tastiest wine and we headed back to home base. 

In case you didn't believe me.

Shawna, Jenn & Jessica

Scenery shot

Our awesome wheels

Britni, Dena, Sammie, Jenn, Holly, Shawna, Me & Jessica.  BARRELS OF FUN!  (Do you see what I did there?)

Bottling machine

Wine thief action shot.

Seriously - how cool is this?

What a GRAPE day.  (Oh yeah, I'm stilllll going)

Back at the casa we lounged for a bit and got ready for a wild night out on the town.  After some more grazing and primping, we threw the bride a little lingerie shower.  Don't say we don't ever do anything for you, Taylor!  Post-shower we treated ourselves to some cake, typical female photo ops and then we hit the road. 
Oh la la

Absolutely fabulous

Mmmm...

Party people

We ate dinner in town at Crossroads, a cute steakhouse/saloon.


Jenn, Shawna & Dena

Holly, Sammie, Jessica & Stephanie

Britni & I
We continued the party post-dinner inside at the saloon part of the establishment.  The evening's entertainment consisted primarily of a band from Lubbock who were big proponets of the mullet movement, watching Dena carry out the bride dares, a variety of locals which differing views on the awesomeness of bachelorette parties and one man with suspenders.  We called it a night pretty early as the previous evening and our outdoors adventure from that morning had made everyone pretty tired.  We retired back to the casa and rounded out the night with more girly stories and giggling. 

This gentleman was very insistent on being the last cowboy she danced with.

This may or may not have been on the wall prior to this picture.


The next morning we woke up early, cleaned, packed and were on our way.  All in all, it was a fantastic weekend with some great people.  Thank you all for the memories.  :c)