After our ceremony, even the mountains came out to say hello! The clouds that had been hanging low over some of the highest peaks lifted, revealing a brand new dusting of snow. Despite the increasing chance of rain and fast-moving weather, it had been a beautiful afternoon.

We waited quietly on the far side of a bank of tall grasses , laughing and embracing, for the wedding party to recess and our guests to leave their seats.

Two of my sisters, who had been fairly dry-eyed during the ceremony, made their way to us, laughing and crying:

“You’re maaaaaried!” They bawled, grabbing me into a bear hug:

I was sniffling as I laughed…

They let go of me and turned to Justin. “Juuuuustinnnn.” “Our new brooootherrrr!!!” They wailed. He had his arms out, ready for them:

Liz was having a particularly hard time holding it together…

I alternated between grinning so hard that my cheeks hurt, and wiping away tears of my own…

It was time for congratulatory huuuuuuuugs….

And more huuuuuugggsss…

And just a moment or two to greet and converse with each friend and family member we had not yet seen, or who had just arrived from out of town.

Meanwhile, our guests had discovered, and ransacked, the buckets of Coca-Cola set out where we were standing:

There were also buckets set out at the “Otter Woman Trading Post” near the stage where we were holding cocktail hour, and as everyone wandered back and forth, we saw them holding glass-bottled cokes and mason jars filled with Dancing Trout summer ale or fruit-infused liquors:

We even snagged a few ourselves…

But this time my Coke was cold, and I didn’t spill any on myself:

The bottles were a big hit with my sisters, who I think drank the most before the older of them hit the bar. The youngest stuck with cola the rest of the evening…

Even flower girls love Coke!

She’s not normally allowed to have sweetened beverages besides limited quantities of juice, but this was a special occasion, and look how happy she is!

“It’s allllll mine!”

Once the food and drink came out, some of the Polebridge pups made themselves very familiar with the guests from whom they thought they’d sucker food. This guy, Mud Puppy, was well acquainted with my sisters by the end of the night:

“Can I have some Cokes too? No? Oh, well, all right then…”

And then, it was off with all of our guests to cocktail hour and time for us to take some glamour shots…

Where shall we head next? Well, I’m hungry, so let’s take a look at what’s going on with the food and drinks at the “Otter Woman Trading Post…”

Filed under: Food & Drink, Photos, Recap on February 20th, 2009