Our long-awaited trip to attend Sara’s wedding.
Wednesday, November 8
Barb and I flew to Denver nonstop on Southwest without incident, departing at 12:45pm and arriving before 3pm, civilized hours on both ends. We arrived at the Denver airport which somehow seemed even larger than before. It took us 30 minutes from landing until we got to baggage claim but our bags were there and we had no problems. It took another long while to get our rental car, but eventually we left the Alamo lot in a Camry that I knew how to drive and headed to the hotel and Betsy’s. We stayed at the Hampton Inn Denver South – RidgeGate, a new location for us but one that proved reasonably convenient, 10-15 minutes from Betsy’s depending on the route and traffic. Betsy and Joe prepared a nice steak dinner and we had a good time catching up, just the four of us.
Thursday, November 9
After our Hampton Inn breakfast we headed back to Betsy’s mid-morning. Sara and Emmy came over for a visit and again we had a good time together but managed not to take any pictures. I took Barb to have lunch with one of her Denver colleagues at a Mexican place in Highlands Ranch, Los Dos Potrillos, while I ate next door at Outback. Barb’s colleague noted that when he last saw her 11 years before she had been a bit “meatier”, a quasi-compliment that Barb has not forgotten since. For the afternoon, Barb and Betsy went shopping at Costco and DSW for wedding things while Joe and I hung out at their apartment. I caught Joe up on John Oliver’s Puteketeke Bird of the Century project. In the evening, Barb went to dinner with another of her Denver colleagues (at Ted’s Montana Grill) while Betsy, Joe and I went to Angelo’s in Littleton for some oysters, pasta and a lamb shank with risotto for me. The food was good but the portions were huge and some leftovers came home to Betsy even though she didn’t want them (maybe a little something for Joe after the wedding).
Friday, November 10
We had our breakfast and checked out of the hotel by 7:30am so we could get to the airport to pick up Allie. She boarded her Boston flight at 5:30am to arrive at Denver by 8:30am. We eventually connected at the Denver airport and drove straight toward the wedding venue, The Woodlands in Morrison for the 11am rehearsal. We had time to stop a Chick Fil-A to get Allie some breakfast. The rehearsal was fairly short and sweet, over in less than an hour. The venue was very pretty but further out of the way than I had realized.
Afterward, we drove to our wedding headquarters hotel, Origin Red Rocks, about 20 minutes away. The hotel was modern and already filling with wedding guests, especially various Embreys. We had lunch together at several big tables at the hotel’s Nomad restaurant; I tried to sort out which Embrey was which. In the afternoon, I lingered in the room while Barb buzzed around with Betsy and the wedding party, being useful getting things set up.
There was a reception for about 60 of us out of town guests at Morris and Mae, a food hall a few steps from the hotel. This gave us a chance to meet Tylor’s family and the slew of Embreys and Betsy’s friends that flew in for the occasion. It was good catching up with the ones we knew though once again we managed to take no photos, though I have borrowed a few from Sara’s shared photo album (and here’s Sara’s wedding website, for the record). The heavy hors d’oeuvres were plenty enough for me and Allie, but we procured a bratwurst for Barb to tide her through the evening. After the reception was over at 7:30 we lingered a short while in the hotel bar before heading to bed in anticipation of the next day.
Saturday, November 11
The big day started bright and early with a 7am call for hair and makeup for the bridal party. I once again mostly laid low in our room while Barb helped the bridal party any way she could. Allie sent these photos of the preparations with Emmy.
At noon, the bridal party headed over to the venue. I made myself slightly useful by walking Blue in the early afternoon while Barb helped tidy up Sara’s suite after the tornado of the hair and makeup session. Allie sent these photos of her and Kristen at the venue in the early afternoon. “Stunning” is the most commonly heard adjective for these ladies.
Barb and I caught the 3pm shuttle buses from the hotel to the venue, arriving in time for the 4pm ceremony. There was a chill in the air as the sun went down. I took a few photos of the venue and the wedding party until we were told to put our cameras away.
The entrance of the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
Betsy enters with Tylor, Emmy and Rafferty.
Here comes the bride with proud Papa Joe.
A few more photos of the happy couple and officiants before we put our cameras away (sorry I couldn’t get Kristen in the frame as well).
Kristen and Logan did an excellent job officiating the ceremony. The official photographers captured it all in more detail which we will see someday. There ceremony took about 30 minutes which was good because it was getting chilly. At its conclusion, we headed to a heated outdoor area of the venue for a cocktail reception and more mingling which gave us a chance for a few more photos.
The reception was in the heated barn building, decorated to the nines with flowers and settings selected and approved by Sara. Dinner was gourmet pizza prepared outside by a food truck. Dessert was cronuts, donuts, macaroons and cake.
The reception speeches were appropriately loving and not too long, not even Joe’s (well, he went two minutes over his allotted time but that was pretty good). After dinner dancing went on until 10pm when they shooed us out of the venue and back on our buses.
After the wedding and reception we bussed back to the hotel. Sara had arranged for the hotel bar to stay open until 1:30am but we were too tired to participate. We headed off to bed and a good night’s sleep.
Sunday, November 12
We got up early, checked out and headed back to Highlands Ranch to help Eileen and Skip prepare for the brunch she was holding for wedding goers at her house just down the street from Betsy and Joe’s old house. Eileen is an event planner and party expert who put on an elaborate spread of all sorts of goodies. We helped get a few things from the store and prepped some of the food, along with a small army of other helpers. The brunch itself was very nice and relaxing. We got some pointers on Ireland from Deanna and her husband, Patrick, as well as some tips on Australia from Shea’s husband Reuben.
Barb and I bolted from the brunch around 12:30 to go have another brunch with Mary Salhus and John Ricotta. We met at Bacon Social in Littleton and had a fine time talking with them over the din of the restaurant.
After both brunches, we drove back to Betsy’s to retrieve Allie and took her to the airport for her flight home. Then we drove back to Littleton once more for a farewell dinner with about 20 of the remaining wedding crew at Breckenridge Brewery.
At the end of this busy day and weekend we checked back into the Hampton Inn at RidgeGate for another night.
Monday, November 13
We took our time getting breakfast and checking out before starting the drive to Estes Park to see Frances and Dave. Made made an early lunch stop at the Cheddar’s in Thornton, a chain Barb discovered on her drive with Leslie. Barb had raved about their croissants but I was dismayed to find they came with honey butter, not the savory cheese I had mistakenly been expecting. Still, my burger was decent though we hardly needed more food at that point. We sent Leslie a photo and got a smile from her.
We got to Estes Park around 1:30pm and stopped in front of the Stanley Hotel (the famed inspiration and location for The Shining) to send a photo to Leslie who requested it. Barb plunked down next to Frances and the two of them talked pretty much nonstop for the next 10 hours. Dave and I took it easy. We broke for a nice casual dinner at Claire’s in town. My curried chicken salad sandwich with onion rings was just right. Frances had a Shepherds Pie special that was enormous. We got an in-depth review of the Rick Steves Ireland tour Frances and Dave took a few months earlier with several of their kids.
Tuesday, November 14
Barb woke up early and the non-stop conversation with Frances continued through the morning. We paid a short visit to Peak to Peak Stitching, the impressive quilting and knitting shop where Frances works part time. We had a very nice breakfast next door at The Egg of Estes, the #1 restaurant in town and an excellent choice for breakfast or lunch. We bid farewell to Frances and Dave after a short, enjoyable visit.
We drove back to Highlands Ranch, checked back into the Hampton Inn, then headed over to Betsy’s for one last afternoon and evening. We had a nice final dinner with Sara, Tylor (who had just returned from their mini-honeymoon in Aspen), Emmy, Kristen and Garrett at Sushi Basho. Fortunately, we were nearly the only ones in the restaurant so we could spread out and let Emmy run around. We had a full boat of sushi rolls and assorted goodies. A fine way to close out our trip.
Wednesday, November 15
We checked out, returned the car and caught our 11:20am flight back to Baltimore. We arrived without incident and made it home to Manny around 6pm. Mission accomplished! Congratulations to Sara, Tylor and everyone involved with the wedding!
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