Nikia & Kyle’s Snowy Spring Wedding

It seems as though I say “that was the best wedding ever!” after every friends’ wedding. Waking up the morning after Nikia and Kyle’s wedding, my mind was thinking that same exact thing. We danced, we laughed, we cried, we loved. It was such a beautiful, wonderful wedding with so much love that it was hard to not think it was perfect!

RM and I got stuck in massive amounts of traffic when we left on Friday afternoon, but we finally got to Chittenden, VT around 8pm. Lucky for us, most of our friends had just arrived and we were greeted with a big ol’ glass of wine! The wedding festivities were held at the beautiful Mountain Top Inn, which was perfect since they had large houses for renting in addition to normal hotel rooms. Since there were 11 of us in our group (SMC girls plus some of our significant others), we opted to rent a house. The house was HUGE and could’ve fit probably 5 more people comfortably! There was a nice, big kitchen/living room/dining room area, 5 bedrooms and bathrooms, a whole separate living area downstairs including a kitchen. It seemed like it just went on and on!

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After we finished catching up, we sat down for “family dinner”. My friend Jess picked up some chicken parm and eggplant parm from Bricco and it totally hit the spot!

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Weekending: Maine Edition {Freeport, Family Wedding & Relaxing}

Good morning! How’s everyone doing? This past weekend was so nice… and relaxing! After a crazy couple of months, it was so nice to be able to relax, go to bed early and hang out with my parents. Even though our Sunday apple picking lunch picnic plans got cancelled because of the weather, it was still a great weekend. I headed up to Maine on Friday afternoon after work. Starting the trip from my office in Wakefield is so much nicer than starting from Boston! Before going to my parents, I stopped off at Shaw’s Ridge Farm to visit with and congratulate my dear friend Meredith on her recent engagement. We didn’t snap any photos unfortunately, but I’ll tell you… her ring is stunning and she is absolutely beaming! I am so happy for her!

Shortly after 7 I arrived at home. Even though I had just seen my parents the weekend before, I was still so excited to see them. Mom had a glass of wine waiting for me and dad had unloaded all the leftovers from the fridge so I could make myself a plate- I love being home 🙂

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This was my dad’s plate. Talk about a lot of stuff!

Friday night was an early night and Saturday morning mom and I did some strengthening exercises for our knees (she has a hurt knee right now, too) before going into town for pedicures.

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I decided to wear my hair straight, but with curls from my straightener. I hadn’t done it in a while, but I think it turned out pretty good! I also loved the dress I wore. It was comfortable and warm, which was perfect for the chilly weather on Saturday. I got it at Marshall’s for $20 (it’s a Max Studios dress).

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Around noon we headed out. Mom suggested we take road sodas, and I’m not one to say no to her 😉

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My parents are Jamie’s god parents so they were invited to the ceremony. The ceremony was held at my aunt and uncles new place on the ocean in Freeport and from what I heard, was beautiful. While they were at that, I shopped around the outlets in Freeport and grabbed a super healthy smoothie before going back to pick them up.

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We headed to the reception around 4, which was held at my cousin’s new barn in Falmouth. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any of the entrances or first dances (everyone was standing around the dance floor and I couldn’t see 😦 ), but from pictures I saw online, it was awesome! Jamie is a collector of all sorts of old things, including vehicles, so he and his new wife, Sheena, were in the cab of the truck and the bridal party was in the back as they made their grand entrance to the reception.

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The barn was adorable- so rustic and quaint and just perfect for a Maine reception.

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The food was also delicious- and so simple. I think people get too caught up with food and options and apps and main courses when at the end of the day, if you have one thing that’s really good- people will be happy. They had at least 2 huge pigs (whole roasted pigs) for pulled pork, beans, rice, coleslaw, corn bread and salad. Everything was really, really good! And cupcakes for dessert? Yes, please.

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It was so nice to a. spend time with my parents at an “outing” and b. spend time with my dad’s side of the family. We don’t get to see each other nearly enough and it’s a shame because they are SO FUN. I was at the “kids” table and we had so many laughs- they all have the Gagnon sense of humor (I do not.) and I laugh so much when I’m with them. While there wasn’t a ton of dancing, we did dance to my cousin’s band that was playing, and it was so cool that he jumped in and played a bunch of songs with them! I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, but Jaime and Sheena- what a fantastic wedding! I’m so glad I got to be a part of it. Cheers to many more years of happiness, laughter and love.

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My dad is a twin… so fun!

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This was the “if you graduated from UMaine Orono” picture- can you believe how many people there were?!

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My sister had another wedding to attend over the weekend so she wasn’t able to attend this one 😦

Till the next family wedding!

Questions for you: How was your weekend? What was the best thing you did? Have you been to a wedding in a barn?