Dottie's Wedding Review

We're back in Oxford after a fab time in Denver at Brian's sister Dottie's wedding last weekend. Luckily, we hadn't been gone long enough for the jet lag to really set in, so we've been able to get back on our schedule here pretty easy. Although, we've definitely taken it easy this weekend too!




Brian went to Denver two days before I did (he left on 16 Sept, yes our anniversary, and I left on the 18th). Brian was able to help out with some wedding prep and attend the rehearsal on Wednesday night. I arrived on schedule Thursday night, and was ready to go for all the wedding activities on Friday!

The girls got their hair done Friday morning while Brian and his bro Rick were in charge of picking up the wedding cake. Brian's folks were really busy with lots of the wedding prep too, and did a great job making everything look fantastic!

We were all ready to go for the 3 pm wedding at the Ellis Ranch in Loveland, Colorado. It's a dude ranch in the Rocky Mountain foothills, next to some bright orange red rock formations. It was a beautiful location and a beautiful sunny day. The wedding was outside in front of the gazebo, and Dottie and her dad Al made a grand entrance in a white horse drawn carriage with a cowboy driving! It was very cool! The ceremony was great, with Dottie and her now new hubby Andrew reading their own vows to one another. After the ceremony, we went inside to the event center, which was huge nice barn-like place for the dinner and dancing.
Everyone's fave part was the Wedding March dance that we all participated in, led by some of Andrew's family members. We partied not too late at the reception, but then all packed up and went back to the hotel for some more celebrating into the late night! Cousin's Gina and Jimmy kept us all very entertained into the wee hours . . . :)

Saturday we were able to spend time with the immediate family and so some low key hanging out and shopping. Rick, Kate, their little baby Abby and Bri and I did some shopping at the Outlet center and then grabbed lunch at Old Chicago. I sure enjoyed some typically American shopping and eating - it's just not the same over here! Then we met back up with Dot, Andrew, Al & Jackie and all drove through the gorge to the mountain town of Estes, in Estes Park. It was a really cool drive (saw fly fisherman, mountain goats and cool mountain cabins) through the gorge, and then had fun strolling through the Estes. The rain finally caught up to us, and we got a bit caught in a big downpour, but we were on our way out of town anyway. We were all really tired, so just ordered some pizzas for dinner and packed our stuff. We were all heading home the next morning - B&K back on the plane to the UK, R&K&A on the plane to Seattle, and A&J in the car back to southern MN. A good time was had by all.

Congrats to the newlyweds!