That Family by the Bay: Weddings 2012

In Cora's short 8 months of life, she's been to four weddings. Both of our brothers got married this year, and two of Stu's high school buddies got hitched this year as well. I would have ideally liked to do a post for every wedding, but with the way life is going, that's not going to happen. And barring any late surprise weddings, our wedding season for 2012 is officially over. Whew!

Life with a baby is, well, different, and that permeates every aspect of life, weddings included. I have to say that of all the parts of my daughter and parenting that I love, parenting at weddings is way more difficult than I imagined. I know it will get better as she gets older, but for this year? Weddings were exhausting, out of our normal daily routines, away from our home, and not carefree like the days of yesteryear. And while we're adjusting well to parenthood, weddings were the thing this year that made me miss pre-baby life the most.

But weddings are wonderful, so they are worth it. I love seeing two different personalities come together in one big celebration. I love ceremonies and seeing how they reflect the couple and their love for each other. I love watching family dynamics. I love being there to support the beginning of life together.

And so, here were the weddings of 2012.

Keith and Lindsey's wedding was in January in Ann Arbor. Cora was a mere 7 weeks old, and she slept most of the time, which made it fairly easy. It snowed on their wedding day, and their reception was in a cool barn complete with a caller for square dancing. Their day was so them in every tiny detail. And I was so overwhelmed with all things babycare while Stu was busy being a groomsman, I barely took any pictures.

First flight!

Brothers

Ties knitted by Wendy

Baby Mohawk!

Inflight entertainment

Ryan and Katy got married in July in Southern CA. We drove down for a long weekend and stayed in Anaheim. Stu had a lot of groomsmanly duties to attend to, so I spent a lot of my time with Dayna and her daughter Piper. The location reminded us a lot of our wedding venue, and it was cool to see all of the creative details that went into the planning. Though, it was such a long, nomadic day, by the end of it I looked totally wrecked. Cora was a champion though, she fell asleep in the ergo till the bitter end and slept for 12 hours that night.

First dance

Piper, Pat, and Dayna

Arya and Saman, next in line!

Frowny faces

Piper and Arya

Dancing with Daddy

Sleeping in the Ergo

Arya and Saman got married at the Biltmore in Los Angeles and it was by far the fanciest wedding I have ever been to in my life. Arya told me to wear a floor length gown (like it was no big deal, because I totally have 5 of those hanging in my closet), and so I took the opportunity to rent something that I would never wear otherwise. It was like Halloween in August, and I'm pretty sure that judging from the stares from the gaggle of tourists checking into the Biltmore didn't really know what to make of Stu and I as we walked through the lobby for a picture. The wedding was over the top though! It was my first Persian wedding, and they go all out for sure! Cora slept through the ceremony, hung out during the cocktail hour, and slept through the dinner that was served at 10pm. We left after dinner though, and we were sad to miss out on all the dancing.

Beautiful Biltmore

Baby at the Biltmore!

Daddies and their baby girls

Pat, Piper, and Dayna

First dance

My brother, Scott, married Coco a week after Arya's wedding, and it couldn't have been more different. We flew to Portland and got to spend time with family before the wedding on Saturday and meet Coco's family as well. It was a small, 40 person wedding with a low-key reception in their backyard. It was super fun to be so relaxed, and I had the honor of standing next to my brother as they exchanged vows.