childhood friend gets hitched!

On Saturday, my friend Lauren who I’ve known since I was in third grade (in other words, for two thirds of my life) got maaaaaaaaaarried!

Her parents ended up moving to Gettysburg, PA after we finished high school, and man it is pretty up there. You’re kind of gambling with the weather gods having an outdoor wedding in November, but everything worked out great- it was a gorgeous day. The wedding was at the clubhouse of the golf course on which her parents live.

Not pictured was the beautiful stream that meandered through the property, and the bridge atop which the wedding party posed.

 

I took a few pictures at the ceremony but I was mostly just gaping seeing Lauren in a wedding dress. (A strapless dress no less- I wore a wool coat throughout the ceremony. I think she’s shivering in the picture on the top right, but she was a trouper, and looked bee-yoo-ti-ful).

When the couple was pronounced man and wife we doused them in bubbles, in this cute cowboy boot shaped container (amazingly, this is the SECOND wedding I’ve attended with cowboy boot bubbles- my friend Virginia married a Texan last summer!). I was sitting in the aisle seat and my boyfriend and high school friends had fun covering me in bubble residue, as I was between them and the bride and groom. Jerks.

We moved inside (it’s so nice when weddings and receptions are in the same place, no?). They kept a pretty, simple autumnal theme throughout. I love orange.

 

And going along with it, a caramel apple. Did I eat this caramel apple? Of course not. Steve ate mine (and his) before the first dance.

  

Which was adorable. And to a country song. One of Alex’s friends, seated at our table, went “… I didn’t take Alex for a country music fan”. And I went, “Oh, that’s all Lauren”.

Salad and hot rolls commenced the meal.

Then asparagus, wild rice, and a COLOSSAL steak. All of the food was really good- despite the steak being well done (boo) it was still really flavorful. Which would indicate a pretty substantial fat content, eh? I ate like a fourth of mine, because I am a red meat wimp. So Steve ate 1 and 3/4 steaks. He was pleased. Til crippling pain began in the middle of the night.

Unpictured is a glass of champagne (super cute toasts- Lauren’s dad, who I think I’ve heard utter ten words ever, gave a really sweet speech about her).

Also unpictured is a gin and tonic. And a whiskey sour. And fantastic dancing (the first wedding I’ve attended since Gangnam Style came out. SO fun).

I was going to make a bet with Steve whether the bride and groom would smash cake into each others’ faces, and asked him to call it. He said they would, and then I saw the look in Alex’s eyes… and I didn’t take that bet. And they did.

The cake was EXCELLENT. I don’t as a rule actually like wedding cake, but this had layers of red velvet cake and what we think was pumpkin cake (extra excellent!) with cream cheese frosting (the best!).

  

So the ceremony had begun at 3 and then there was eating and dancing and festivities and then everything wound down and it was dark and I was drowsy and perhaps a bit tipsy and everyone strolled out the door of the reception and THEN I looked at my phone and it was 7:00, hahahahahaha.

The very nice parents of the bride (who’ve also known me since I was 8) kindly invited wedding guests to their home, just down the street from the reception… perhaps to sober up (or, in some cases, get all the drunker on the keg in the basement).

Loved the paper lanterns leading up the stairs (don’t mind the ghost- my friend’s hubby- walking by).

 

After chatting with other guests and finally even getting in a few words with the bride, we headed back to our B+B.

OH MAN!

If you ever find yourself in Gettysburg, I highly recommend the Mary Penn Bed and Breakfast. Things that are awesome about this B+B, in no particular order:

- It was built in the 1700s. History!
- It straddles the Mason-Dixon line, so we slept in Maryland and had breakfast in Pennsylvania. The toilet was in Maryland and the shower was in Pennsylvania!
- Bea, the owner, is the PERFECT person to own a B+B- friendly, personable, excited to share stories and lore from the history of the home.
- It’s beautiful!

The exterior:

So much work was put in to restore the house: for example, the original bricks were in the fireplace, but they were dried out. Rather than replacing them, someone in Bea’s family, who was a mason, undertook a process of soaking them in water (!) and thus rehydrating them. Who knew?

Much of the furniture around the house was of the time period. When new additions were added- like the modernized kitchen- they sought out interesting materials, like the cabinets made of wood reclaimed from an old barn. Now admire the beautiful built-in cabinets in the dining room:

  

The parlor, where the original family would have spent much of their time:

The basement was particularly enthralling, with bare log beams on the ceiling, and a fireplace restored with the traditional cookware.

Unpictured is the tribute Bea put up to the slaves (eesh) who’d once slept there (eesh) in tiny rooms- with bars- that were essentially livestock pens. The particularly upsetting thing is that they were literally feet away from Pennsylvania and freedom.

Bea runs the B+B (boy, say that one three times fast) with the help of her granddaughter and her friend, who both attended culinary school.

Thus, the “breakfast” in “bed and breakfast” was absolutely delicious.

The table just grew and grew..

 

Along with light ‘n fluffy pancakes, blueberry muffins, sausages (which I did not but Steve did- really Steve? After the steaks?!), we got Eggs Benedict!

Absolutely scrumptious.

After learning more about the house and just enjoying our chats with Bea, we strolled around the property a bit, taking in the fresh air and the gorgeous day.