Yesterday we attended Patrick's older brother Jay's wedding. This was the first wedding we'd been to since our own, nearly two years ago. It was a beautiful wedding, and I'm so glad that Heather is joining the family! Here they are after the ceremony. What an attractive couple they make. I love weddings :)

The wedding was held at the Mill Rose Inn in Half Moon Bay. It's only a 40-minute drive from where we live, but it feels like going on a mini-vacation, since it's near the ocean.

Heather and Jay did a great job with the wedding. The reception was set in the Inn's beautiful flower garden, and the ceremony, dinner, and dancing were in the back garden, which was strung with tons of Christmas lights. There were also paper lanterns and big floral pomanders in shades of mauve and fuchsia hanging from the trees. I was especially wowed by the pomanders, but I didn't get a good picture of them (you can see two of them at the lower right corner in the daytime picture below). When it got dark, the lanterns glowed faintly (on the righthand side of the nighttime picture). It was a very romantic setting.

I also really liked the floral work on the arch under which they got married. It was covered with all sorts of different flowers in pinks and purples--just beautiful to look at. (I should have taken more pictures, but I was too busy enjoying myself) The ceremony was just the right length, and each member of the wedding party participated by reading relevant poems and blessings. The bridesmaids wore cocktail-length deep purple chiffon dresses and high-heeled peep-toe pumps. What with the high heels and the romantic cobblestones, I was worried there might be an unfortunate tripping incident, but they all carried themselves very well and looked fabulous throughout. Heather looked beautiful, of course, and navigated a staircase in her wedding dress (with train) without any mishaps. I think my favorite part of a wedding is when the bride walks down the aisle. Everybody has such big grins on their faces. I remember that feeling at our wedding. I couldn't have stopped smiling even if I'd wanted to.

Also, there was a cupcake tower! I love the idea of having cupcakes at a wedding instead of a traditional layer cake, and these were adorable and delicious. Patrick and I shared a large polka-dotted cupcake made with white cake and lemon curd and swathed in fluffy marshmallow frosting. We also split a small cheesecake cupcake. I'm not exactly sure how it was made, but it was awesome! It had a chocolate cookie crumb base, a smushy delicious sweet cream cheese center, a white cake exterior, and a hard white chocolate top. I've never encountered such a thing before, but whatever it was, I want more! I also stole a bite of Patrick's cousin Kelly's chocolate cupcake, which was filled with a buttercream frosting laced with crispy bits, kind of like an oversized Ferrero Rocher. Yum! I hear there were also pistachio cupcakes. Oh man! This was definitely not a healthy eating weekend, but it was a yummy eating weekend. [Added 10/25/07: The cupcakes were made by Elegant Cheesecakes. They don't have a storefront, but they do mail order.]

Not only did we get to witness Jay and Heather's vows and eat delicious food--we also got to take a 5-minute ride around downtown Half Moon Bay in a horse-drawn carriage! Jay and Heather took a lap in it after the ceremony, and then it was open to guests for the rest of the night. The carriage was very nice--it even had power windows! As we clip-clopped by, a large mustachioed man shouted "Awww, congratulations!" We got a kick out of that.

After dinner, there was dancing, accompanied by a multi-talented pianist. He not only played and sang all night; he also broke out the accordion for the cupcake-cutting ("That's Amore"), which was great! Before the wedding, we were speculating as to what kind of dance music you could play on a piano, but he had quite a wide range. I had guessed he'd play "Great Balls of Fire," which he did. He also played a lot of Elton John and Billy Joel. He even managed "YMCA" and "Paint It Black". Impressive! Patrick and I danced to some of the slow songs. This may have been the first time we've ever danced together, actually. It was a good time.

Most of Patrick's visiting relatives stayed with his dad or in Half Moon Bay, but we got to host Patrick's Aunt Lorraine and her son Matt in our rarely used guest bedroom. I was glad to have a chance to return the hospitality she showed us on our most recent visit to Portland. I bought some flowers to spruce up the room a little bit. I like these twirly purple flowers. Dose anybody know what they're called?

Lorraine brought us a great gift--a selection of baked goods from Ken's Artisan Bakery in Portland. I was so excited when I opened the box! It was a veritable Noah's Ark of deliciousness: two pieces each of chocolate pound cake; hazelnut bundt cake; and lavender, orange blossom, and blackberry macarons. Yum!

My goal for this week is to eat extra healthily to make up for the wedding food this weekend and the extravagant eating that I expect will accompany our second anniversary trip to Mendocino next weekend. We'll see how that goes...