So, if you are just arriving here for the first time, you are either a wedding website groupie (in which case enjoy) or a little belated in your visit. Whichever, we've kept the original Welcome Page for you here.
So, it looks like we made it...
 April 9th was one of the most magical days in both of our lives. We could not have asked for a more perfect wedding day. Everything was as we would have wished it - the location was simply magnificent; the new snow provided a glistening patina of white; the wooded glade on the lake shore was intimate & organic; the Sierra Butte mountain backdrop was powerful, beautiful and inspiring for us both.
The weather was perfect for the day, cooler in the morning to keep the snow fresh, the sun really did come out just in time for the ceremony and then to complete the sense of celestial endorsement a rare solar aurora appeared around the sun as our fantastic celebrant formally announced our marriage to our assembled family and friends .
We couldn't have scripted it had we tried - true natural majesty, intimacy, beauty, love and SNOW. Absolutely perfect.
The Wedding Ceremony...
The ceremony was wonderful itself. From the moment when the congregation acapella'd the bride down the snow-bedecked aisle, through the highly emotional handing over of his daughter by Skip, through the wonderful laughter-filled but highly charged commencement of the ceremony by Greg, through Looloo's lovely rendition of Rabbie Burn's love poem and the purity & beauty of Sharon's song, through the powerful, affecting & touching reading of "If" by Alison,...
...all the way to the aurora-accompanied culmination of the ceremony, and with it the realisation of what we had done and the consequential joy in having done so, every single part was so uniquely special in its own way and yet interwove so perfectly that for us (& perhaps for everyone else) we knew we'd been privileged to be part of a significant spiritual occasion - a moment in our existence where the alignment of people, place, & passion had imbued the event with a potency that will act as a anchor-point throughout our lives as our epitomy of spiritual joy. Nothing more can be hoped for from one's wedding day.
Leaving our wedding ceremony on a snowmobile was just downright cool. Again it just captured so much about what made it so special to us. We always wanted our wedding to be about fun and that's what it felt like the whole time - fun and an embrace of all that makes it great to be a conscious human being alive in the 21st Century: love, life and passion experienced to their full. Powering up the magical backcountry trails wearing a kilt and a bright white, crystal-sparkling snowsuit, newly married and on a snowmobile - for both of us, how much more fun could we ever have?
The Wedding Reception...
The reception itself was a fantastic occasion as well. Kathy (our local organiser), the bride, family and friends had done such an incredible job in laying out the Sierra City  community hall - it looked the manifestation of rustic elegance that Patty had hoped for. The food was delicious, the wine flowed, the band rocked and the MC was consummate. {ED (groom): the Bride also looked sensationally beautiful in an incredible wedding dress and took the groom's breath away}. Amazingly, given we were in a (very) small town in the Californian mountains, the wedding party was serenaded into the hall by Scottish bagpipes, just another slightly crazy, but wonderful addition to the tableau of the day.
 The Father-of-the-bride speech was masterful, ex-temporised, poignant, witty and touching - the bullets a brilliant peroration. The Father-of the-groom was amusing as ever and it was a lovely moment as the groom was handed on a 4th generation family heirloom . The Best Woman's speech was clever, entertaining creative - though the less said about the picture of the groom that circulated the room, perhaps the better :-). The Maid of Honour gave a lovely and touching speech. Finally, there was the Chamonix Video - the perfect, hilarious, touching and brilliant rendition by tens of Chamoniards of the Proclaimers "I would walk 500miles", Phil and Patty's signature song.
Having cleared the dance floor, to then have close friends playing the First Dance song ("Fever" by Peggy Lee) was a rare privilege and once again just added to the pleasure of celebrating this marital tradition.  The Bride rocking out singing Johnny Cash, as her 76year old Grandmother Josie got down on the dance floor just served to further demonstrate the fun and joy that infused the day. With Chris, Patty's brother, taking the lead for the last few songs, proceedings just amped up further. As the last song ended, and we headed for the after-party (a taco bar at the Old Sierra City Hotel), neither of us could have asked for a better, more joyful wedding reception. We both felt so lucky to have such amazing friends and family who had contributed so much to make the day so special.
To our amazing friends and family...
Having the chance to share such a precious moment with so many friends and family meant such a great deal to us. Our gratitude goes out to all those who made such efforts to join us on the day. We were incredibly touched that you were there. Your presence added so much to the occasion. Seeing friends on snowshoes, skis, snowmobiles, carrying babies, towing toddlers, being pulled by dogs, all making their way up a snowy trail to our wedding, all with smiles on their faces and laughter in their eyes is a memory that will live with each of us for a lifetime.
For those that couldn't make it, yet made such an effort to add to proceedings either by sending messages (suavely read out by Groomsman Alex) or by contributing your time and talents to the amazing "I will walk 500 miles" video that the bride & groom were surprised with at the end of the wedding speeches, again, though your presences were missed, we so appreciated your contribution to our wedding day and were so happy to have you as a part of it. [a special call out to Jez on the video front too... ...well and Ruth, Louise, Rich, Cindy, Bill, Gary, et al)].
We had a perfect wedding, as you may have gathered. So many people helped to make it so, it is hard to single people out and we just want to send our love, gratitude and deep appreciation to everyone involved. However, we do need just to mention a couple of people in this public forum - to Patty's parents, Skip & Carmen, thanks for everything, to Niki, Jane & Cindy, thanks for your help, and, of course, to the man who made so much of the day what it was, our eternal thankfulness for having you as a friend, Greg.
If Carlsberg did Wedding Albums...
 There's just one more person that needs an individual call-out and that is intrepid, inspired and genius photographer, Adam J. For a groomsman to bear the additional responsibility of being the main photographer is a burden that not everyone would want to bear. Yet Adam approached it with energy, imagination and a sense of infectious joy that is just one of the reasons that we've been left with what we'd happily defend as one of the great wedding albums of all time... ... for us at least (lest we get accused of over-reaching the historical impact of the event :-)...)
Here are the links to the wedding albums on Phil's Picasa account. The Final Wedding album slideshow is still being worked on - it's proving very hard to choose to leave out almost any of the photos.
Wedding Ceremony
Wedding Reception
Bachelor/-ette Party
Rehearsal Dinner
In Summary... ...sort of...
So, it's not a very short Wedding summary in the way it wasn't a very short Groom's speech: but that's what Patty was well aware she had signed up for. However, hopefully it captures a small bit of how it felt to be part of such a perfect day, at least from the standpoint of a very much in love married couple surrounded by friends and family.
Once more, thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all involved.
Love Patty & Phil
Wedding Schedule
Pre-wedding
Date
|
Time
|
Details
|
| Thursday 7th April |
daytime
|
Pre-wedding skiing for those who want to
|
| Thursday 7th April |
from 6pm
|
Stag & Hen-Do, Reno |
| Friday 8th April |
morning |
The Hangover...on snow - skiing for those who want to |
Wedding Day
Date
|
Time
|
Details
|
Friday 8th April
|
7pm
|
Wedding Rehearsal dinner, Sierra City
|
Saturday 9th April
|
11am
|
Depart Bassett's Station for Sardine Lake (click for details)
|
Saturday 9th April
|
12:30pm
|
Wedding Ceremony at Sardine Lake
|
Saturday 9th April
|
5.30pm
|
Reception, Sierra City Community Hall (click for details)
|
Saturday 9th April
|
6.30pm
|
Wedding Dinner, (NB EUROS please click here)
|
Sunday 10th April
|
10.30am
|
Non Hosted Wedding Breakfast US-style, Sierra City
|
Wedding Attire
Fellahs in their finery, Ladies looking luscious (UK) Or Gals and Guys go Semi Formal(US)
...but what does that mean?
Wedding Ceremony - snow gear; however glam, creative, chic or normal as you like it to be [Groom will be in a kilt of course...bride has ski pants!]
Wedding Reception - semi-formal to formal; go as stylish as you can or play it straight, just look fabulous and leave your jeans, t-shirts and flip flops at home!
Gift registry / Wedding list
We are not expecting anything from anyone and especially not from those who have travelled across the world to join us on our Wedding Day. Your presence is more than gift enough to both of us.
However, if you do feel so inclined, here's a link of things that would help us set up house in and out of the mountains.
We are registered at both REI and Macy's.
Again, we thank you greatly for your generosity, but even moresoe for your friendship.
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