That's right friends. We got married...and Otis and I had so much fun.
It all went down on May 31st here in Philly at Bartrams Garden. This place perfectly blended the city and country vibe we were looking for.
Bartrams Garden was the first botanical garden in the US and the home of John Bartram. It also has beautiful gardens, a funky old barn (oldest in Philly) and a massive 6 acre field that overlooks the city...not to mention cool paths that lead down to the Schyulkill (school-kul) riverbank.
So here's what went down in a nutshell.
My Dad and I walked into the old creaky barn (our backup, rainy day
location btw) to be greeted with humungous cheers as our engagement song
"All you need is love" played in the background.
Our ceremony was very decidedly us. We had the great honor of having my friend Harvey, who is perhaps best known as the former announcer of Double Dare, preside over Otis and I. (Yes! that Harvey. The, "so Harvey, tell them what they've won!" Harvey.) Actually, we legally married ourselves with a Quaker licsense, but Harvey led us through the ceremony. It was so incredibly special.
As our short ceremony progressed Harvey tossed a coin to decide who said their vows first, and we had our sisters recite special readings, Forever Young by Bob Dylan and from a childrens book named "I like you" by Sandol Stoddard Warburg.
We had to keep it relatively short because veryone was crammed into the barn which turned out making the ceremony feel really intimate.
After more cheering we headed to the brick barnyard for dinner and dancing. Our friends from the band Shark Hat came down from NYC and rocked the night away. The dance floor was packe! Then Otis and I surprised everyone and sang a Junior Kimbrough (a famous Hill Country Bluesman) tune called "All Night Long."
yeah. it was a whole lotta fun.
I'll be back tomorrow with more details and more reception madness.
PS: ALL photos are by the amazingly talented Lara and Kate of The Studio Nouveau out of Boston, MA. They ROCK.
