Standing in a field with the mountains at our backs, we took a moment to look at each of our guests. Slowly and clearly, with the volume and dictation one could only hope to find in a seasoned professional, Cathy began to read the ceremony we had written.

We thought it important to explain to our guests, some of who had journeyed hundreds of miles, the significance of our choosing this location. Cathy read,

“As much as today it is a celebration of Kat and Justin’s marriage,
It is also a celebration of their love,
Which is built upon the last eight and a half years they have spent together
And all the experiences encompassed by that time

They have invited you to this beautiful place, to Polebridge,
to Glacier National Park
And show you a glimpse of an important piece of their love,
To share with you these mountains, these forests, these lakes
Because during their years together,
They have come here many times, on days like today, together
So humbled and awed by the purity of their surroundings
That Glacier has become a shelter, a respite, and a temple to them
They wanted to show you the beauty of these fields and these rivers
Because this is where their hearts have made their home”

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Filed under: Ceremony, Photos, Recap on February 19th, 2009 | No Comments »

We chose our simple, unassuming ceremony site in Polebridge partly for its convenience, accessibility, and proximity to our reception, but there was also something utterly breathtaking about being married in center of a small town in the shadow of such stately peaks. Although part of me wishes we’d chosen to be married on the shores of Lake McDonald or had been given permission by the Park Service to wed at Bowman Lake, I loved our ceremony setup something fierce.

Though the grass was lumpy and there was no beautiful arbor or ancient oak to enshrine us, we felt like nature was truly our temple. A small creek bubbled at our feet, and the wilderness stretched behind us vastly North into Canada. In front of us, our friends and family who had journeyed hundreds of miles. It was truly special.

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Filed under: Ceremony, Photos, Recap on February 18th, 2009 | No Comments »

Oh, lookie! I found another stash of guest photos from before and during the ceremony! Silly me, I forgot that some of our guests didn’t choose our suggestion of Flickr for photo-sharing but stuck with their more-familiar medium… Facebook. (Insert finger-wagging at sisters and Uncle.)

Well, I now have more pre-ceremony and ceremony snapshots to show you, as well as a hidden cache of rehearsal photos even I hadn’t seen before. Behold!

Here’s Justin being shepherded into the Polebridge saloon by his groomsmen. It looks like they’re consoling him a bit, doesn’t it?

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Filed under: Ceremony, Photos, Recap on November 20th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

And now, after our pre-ceremony shenanigans, it’s time for guest photos of the main event! As always, click for larger versions…

It seemed like forever before it was time for the ceremony: the buses had arrived with nearly an hour to spare leaving me unsure what to do with myself. Our photographer shot some bridal portraits with me outside the cabin that was our staging ground, the planner attached my veil, I ate a snack, and had my mom check my makeup. Finally, I went inside the cabin, sat down, and had about 20 quiet minutes to myself.

I wish I could say that I meditated on the meaning of love and marriage and looked forward to my joyous union with a zen mind, but I didn’t. I mostly worried about whether it was going to rain and if I was getting eyelash glue on my contact lenses. Derrrr…

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Filed under: Ceremony, Photos, Recap on November 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

It’s hard for me to really remember anything about our wedding day. That’s how I get when I’m overwhelmed and overstimulated, for better or worse. I think it’s a coping mechanism, but it sure is obnoxious.

That’s one of the reasons that photos are so important to me on momentous occasions such as these. I’m not only reliving our wedding through them, I’m honestly recalling my wedding through them. Where I was, how I felt: it all comes back when I see a photograph.

And that’s why, as of yet, I still have a really hard time remembering the morning of our wedding. I’ve seen photo proofs of the rest of the day, but nothing of us getting ready except this photo of me on the Lake McDonald Lodge lobby balcony, taken right after my mom finished buttoning my dress:

When I get the pro pics back, I’m sure I can tell you more, but what I remember is this…

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Filed under: Ceremony, Photos, Recap, Venue on November 14th, 2008 | 3 Comments »

To get back into the wedding recap, I have to rewind to one week before the wedding, when Justin and I drove from Seattle to Glacier National Park for a pre-wedding vacation. When we arrived, I was exhausted and fed-up. I wrote:

The truth is that the last two weeks have been absolute hell, and I have wanted, very badly, not to be dealing with this wedding any more [...] I am tired of unreturned phone calls and email, missing critical details, and misinformation. I am ready to break up with our wedding.

But as soon as we crossed state lines from Washington to Idaho and Idaho to Montana, my stress lifted. And this is why the drive to Montana is my favorite rite of passage: The beautiful scenery was passing, and I was a full part of the journey to my favorite place to marry my favorite man.

And, between you and me, I planned to marry him not once, but TWICE.

Why? Don’t worry; we’re getting there…

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Filed under: Ceremony, Photos, Recap on November 7th, 2008 | 4 Comments »

When we decided to have a non-officiant friend marry us (remember: anyone can marry you in Montana), I knew it meant that I would have to write our wedding ceremony, or at least contribute heavily to its creation. This was high on my list of “cons” relating to not hiring an officiant, but I very quickly came to enjoy that I had the power to wordsmith our ceremony in any way I wanted.

I want to share with you what writing our ceremony meant to me, the process I used to write it, and finally, our ceremony text.

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Filed under: Ceremony, Handmade, Recap on September 23rd, 2008 | 4 Comments »

It’s hard to believe that my littlest sister, born when I was thirteen, is going to play the music for our ceremony. But as she’s grown up, she’s turned into quite the fine violinist, despite the fact that she’s still goofy.

I asked her to be our violinist because I knew that she would play us anything we wanted, and anything she played would sound amazing. Plus, the fact that she’s my baby sister makes her contribution all the more touching and special!

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Filed under: Ceremony, Music on September 2nd, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Here’s a sneak peek at our ceremony via Wordle’s word cloud generator. Click to see it larger:

Filed under: Ceremony on July 29th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

As I mentioned before, in Montana, anyone can marry you. Justin and I have gone back and forth about whether we should ask someone we know to marry us or find a certified officiant to perform the ceremony. For me, these were the pros and cons of “hiring” someone:

Pros: Experience: With public speaking and with performing weddings. Attire: Some sort of ceremonial garb. Objectivity: They would be a ‘neutral’ third party. Professionalism: Something about the “certification” makes it feel more… official.

Cons: Finances: Another payment we don’t need to make. Personalization: We wouldn’t ‘know’ the officiant and it wouldn’t be personal or meaningful in the way it could be. Superficial ‘pros’: A number of my ‘pro officiant’ reasons were just silly

From the beginning, Justin has been in favor of asking someone we know to officiate. He was against hiring an officiant because it seemed to him to be “just another item on the laundry list,” which I think diminished the importance for him significantly.

We both had a person in mind who seemed to fit the bill, but I thought I should do some due diligence and at least look into area officiants before asking this person to marry us. I was surprised to find a number of non-religious/non-Christian officiants in the area and a number of them seemed promising. I even found a lovely lady officiant available for the ceremony.

Ultimately, even after careful consideration, we came back to the idea of asking someone close to us to perform the ceremony. The reasons we decided to ask her far outweigh my concerns about having a more “official” participant: She knows us both quite well but isn’t related to either of us (I think having a relative do it seems too “incestuous” somehow). She’s intelligent, well spoken, down-to-earth, funny, irreverent, not likely to be nervous in front of a crowd, and has moving views on love & relationships.
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Filed under: Ceremony on February 11th, 2008 | 2 Comments »