Here Comes the Bride……

We/She did it!

Well, our oldest daughter got married!  It was a lovely, private and intimate affair – just what she wanted.  She was a beautiful bride who married her best friend, surrounded by immediate family and a few close friends – what more could you ask for?  The Wedding Arbor was built by me and decorated by my wife and daughter, my daughter did all the creative and printing of all the materials, I made the food and drinks – it was a true family affair!

With all 3 of our daughters living away, it was great to have them all back together for an extended weekend.  It was great to see all 4 of our kids interacting and genuinely glad to see each each.  Of course they also were bickering just like old times and it was great!

Even with a small wedding, it was amazing the amount of stress and work that goes into it.  We held the wedding on our deck in our backyard, so I guess that probably adds another layer of stress to the situation.  In all the chaos leading up to the big day, somehow we never really knew what time the guests were actually arriving.  With many coming from the other side of the state, we assumed (you know where that gets you, right) that they would arrive around 4 pm for the 4:30 ceremony.  WRONG!  I guess everyone was so excited for the big event, they wanted to get here nice and early, which is great….except we were running just a little behind and the guests starting arriving just before 3:30 which lead to a hectic/panic filled 30 minutes.  We have 3 dogs which were running loose and jumping on the nicely dressed guests, I was in the shower, the food was not set out, my wife and daughters were not yet back from decorating the reception venue and so on.  So what do you do?  You just pretend everything is fine, start barking orders at your son and my daughters boyfriend, calmly let the guests know food and drinks will be served shortly and pray your wife gets there SOON!  She did, the boys performed wonderfully, the guests laughed and were patient and Happy Hour kicked off with plenty of time for food, drinks and socializing before the ceremony.  WHEW!!!!!!!

The rest of the story

Once we got it under control, everything went perfectly.  The ceremony was perfect, the pre-reception party at our house was filled with laughter, music, a little dancing and the start of a great union between two wonderful families.  It was a perfect time to finally relax, spend time with our kids and watch the new couple interact with both families.  It has always been our dream that our kids marry into a family that loves them as much we do.  It was clear watching our daughter with her new family that this was very much the case.  And we feel the same way about our new son-in-law.  It was all good!

The reception was a fun, food and drink filled event.  The caterer did a great job with the vegan appetizer and entree options for us.  The food was wonderful and the best part was…..I didn’t have to make it!  I could just relax and enjoy the evening.  Everyone had a great time.  It was a perfect heading to a perfectly hectic and beautiful day!

What Next?

So, after many months of re-modeling our new home, re-landscaping our new home and preparing for and executing a wonderful wedding, the reality of my job search is now the center of my attention.  It is full steam ahead looking for my next career position.  While I am not looking forward to all the ups and downs that come with this process, I am committed to working extremely hard to CHECK this task off my list and get my life back to normal – that means working a PAID job!

If you are reading this and want to help, you can find all my professional information at danwinchester.workfolio.com.  I would love for you to take a look, connect with me or share my information with our network!  Yes, I know this is a vegan blog and recipe site, but I need all the help I can get.  I promise I will be back to creating great vegan food with BIG+BOLD flavors while I am looking for that next position.

Thanks for all your support!

Dan