We first came to Big Bend together in 2007 and primitive camped for a few days armed with not much more than some water canisters, a shovel and some rocks in case of a mountain lion attack. We have been back pretty regularly ever since, so figured this was as good a place as any to tie the knot.
We chose to marry in the basin, with The Window as our backdrop. The day after the wedding, we spent some time around Terlingua Ranch and did some hiking with our wedding guests.
It turns out planning a wedding, of any size, is a monumental affair and I can't imagine organizing a larger event than ours!
Many people shared their photographs with us, and we had a professional photographer, so here is our wedding weekend in pictures...
The night before the wedding, we (the girls) stayed at the Maverick Inn in Alpine and ate at the Reata restaurant, where they have huge bread knives.
On our drive to the basin, there appeared a huge rain cloud on top of the Chisos Mountains and it looked like we were in for a wet wedding. Within an hour of the wedding, the skies cleared and it was a beautiful day.
While we spent the first evening in Alpine, the men and Andrew's family set up at Terlingua Ranch, where everyone would spend the wedding night.
The Davis girls in their cute Easter dresses, making it look like I had gorgeous coordinating bridesmaids!
Audrey, looking very chic in her polka dots and red shoes.
Kendall, Abigail, Rachel and Sara
Drew, our wedding officiant Jeff Haislip, Ira, Andrew, and what appears to be half of Andrew's dad, Mike.
Emily and Riley, or simply Remily
Pat and Sara
The Chisos Lodge kindly allowed us the use of a room to dress for the wedding. My alternative was to use the bathrooms, so this was a very welcome gesture!
I later learned that Tonia and Beth accidentally drove in the wrong direction out of Alpine, not realizing they were headed back home instead of towards Big Bend (the desert can look the same in any direction). Apparently, they made it quite a long way home before realizing their mistake. They had to race back to make it in time to set up the chairs and decorations for the wedding. I'm pretty sure they broke a few laws making sure they were back for 4pm, but how else would you measure awesome friends?
My mum (who already had a trip planned to come and see us the following month), bought a last minute ticket so that she could attend our wedding.
We were not allowed to have real flowers, or use rice (national park rules), so we had bubbles. For my bouquet, I chose a selection of pretty flowers at Hobby Lobby and had a local florist make me a bridal bouquet. He did a fantastic job and I get to keep it forever. I bought some extra flowers and made a matching table centerpiece with a lantern. My arrangement wasn't quite as stylish, but it worked!
We had quite a few kiddos at the wedding, so I made them each a goody box filled with activities for the wedding and hike; a scavenger hunt, a disposable camera, binoculars, etc. Some of the children's photos were among my favorites.
I made some yummy trail mix and we had a local lady order these personalized McCarthy Wedding water bottles. Tacky AND useful - the perfect wedding favor!
We have no need for toasters, silverware, or matching towels, so in place of gifts we asked for donations to Midland Children's Rehab Center; a place where many local children receive no-cost therapies. They were very grateful for the donations!
The next few photos were taken by our photographer, Jennifer Boomer http://www.jenniferboomer.com/
...aaand back to our amateur photos...
...starting with the cactus head shot
and another cactus head shot
and another cactus head shot
yep.
Finn spent the ceremony crawling between our legs.
Finley and Abigail enjoying their baby boxes.
Following the wedding, we all headed to Terlingua Ghost Town for dinner at the Starlight Theater.
Sittin' on the porch
The town mayor
The owners of the Starlight set aside an entire area for our party, provided a cake table, offered a full menu, gave us champagne, and we had free live entertainment (although we did leave him a pretty good tip!).
Our cake was made by Fix it with Frosting and the topper was custom ordered via eBay.
That night, everyone stayed in cabins at Terlingua Ranch and we met for breakfast at The Bad Rabbit. Usually a pretty quiet cafe, we had pre-warned them.
I name this photo "A Bunch of Geologists and a Map".
Sassy Sadie
Mary and Sadie, ready for a hike.
One of our super cool wedding gifts!
Kids can have fun pretty much anywhere.
Finn found some puddles!
Terlingua Ranch has a dirt runway and a few of our party took a flight around Big Bend, from a pilot we met at the cafe.
Unfortunately, we read in the news that this same plane crashed two days later due to engine failure. The plane was destroyed but luckily the pilot and his wife were unharmed. Freaky.
This was probably the last successful flight this plane ever took.
Nana of the Desert.
View from hiking above the ranch
On our way to Cattail Falls
Just look at me being all cute.
Mary made a friend. He stuck around on her finger for quite some time. She thought they had bonded. I'm pretty sure it was the Cheetos she had just eaten.
On our way home, we stopped off in Alpine for dinner at the Holland Hotel.
Our wedding was perfect and we are thankful to those who made the journey down to Big Bend to join us for our wedding weekend.
2 comments:
This was a fun weekend! Thank you for letting us be part!
It was my first time to read your blog. Wow! Great blog, great photos, it was as close to being there as it could be. That was crazy about the plane crash!
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