A Mountain Wedding

The main reason we went to CO was for our friend Sascha's wedding. Sascha is a German guy. His friendship with my French guy is an interesting one. In many ways they are very similar, both being first generation European immigrants. They've had many similar experiences and share a similar perspective on many things. But the French are much more laid back than the Germans. It is fun to listen to them when they get together. Anyway, once upon a time, the German guy and the French guy made friends and we were among the privileged few who were invited to his intimate mountain wedding.

 

Sascha's lady Carolyn found the perfect place to exchange their vows on a hike around their property. We packed our rain gear (just in case) and drove to their house and from there, we all packed into 4-wheel drive vehicles capable of climbing the steep, narrow, rocky, rutted trail to their secluded idyllic site. Once we parked the vehicles, we hiked the rest of the way to where the wedding would take place.

 

Nicco followed Collin up to the top of the boulders overlooking the valley and exclaimed, "This view is amazing!" He was right.

Nicco and the amazing view...

The wedding was small. There were the bride and groom, the groom's son, the bride's parents, brother, and a handful of close friends and neighbors. It was a small but very eclectic and diverse group. There was the German groom, American bride, Japanese minister of the ceremony, Tibetan sister-in-law, maid of honor from Barbados, and my French family.

The Bride, Carolyn, and Peggy, her Maid of Honor

The Groom, Sascha, and Collin, his son and Best Man

Exchanging vows...they wrote their vows and recited them in both German and English. It was charming and lovely. When Patrice swore his oath of Citizenship, it was a good reminder of what citizenship in this country really means. When Sascha and Carolyn exchanged their vows, it was a good reminder of what marriage means. It was beautiful.

Exchanging rings...

And, you may now kiss the bride!

The Wedding Party: Collin, Sascha, Keiko, Peggy, and Carolyn

Patrice, enjoying the ceremony.

At the close of the ceremony, all the guests tossed seeds over the bride and groom.

Nicco mostly hit his Daddy from his perch atop the boulders.

My family with the wedded couple.

Nicco, loving the forest. When we were driving to mom and dad's house from the airport on Friday Nicco said, "I'm a little happy and a little scared to be in the forest. Happy because it is so pretty, but scared because there could be bears and the trees are so big that they could smash you if they got cut down and fell on you." Why oh why does he worry about things like that?

I snapped this picture of Carolyn because I thought it was funny that she was all dressed and made up in her pretty white lace and satin with dainty little flowers in her hair, and navigating her jeep over the rough and rocky terrain. No backseat of a limo for this bride!

Driving through the meadow...

A little field of daisies. So pretty.

Back at the ranch...

Nicco and the other kids had fun playing in the hammock. I was a little concerned about concussions and broken bones the way they were playing, and I even warned the kids that if they ruined Sascha's property, they would have to replace it or pay for it somehow. At the end of the day, the hammock and all the children were intact. Phew.

The German guy and the French guy, with a beer and a glass of wine.

The Ranch manager brought a friend to sing while he played guitar to entertain the small crowd until lunch time. The bubbles added to the ambiance.

At the end of the day, Sascha asked me what I thought. Beautiful, I said. The second best wedding I've been to. He was surprised. Second best? he asked. Then it hit him that I probably actually liked my own wedding better.