When Michael, one of my best guy friends, asked me if I’d consider being his date for his sister’s wedding in Connecticut I said of course. I’d met his sister and his fiance only once, but they were pretty awesome. When he told me that it was a wedding at a farm, I was ecstatic. I’ve had a little bit of an infatuation with farms since last year when I started becoming a Ronnybrook fangirl. Anyways.
We drove up on Thursday night to his parent’s house. It was late so we decided to make it a legit road trip in the country and we stopped for dinner at a Dairy Queen in Meriden.
See how it glows? Yeah, it was pretty disgusting. But in the totally satisfying way because we were starving. We arrived at his parents house where we were greeted with hugs, smiles, and wine. The plan for the next three days was relayed our way and we settled in.
The next day the guys went golfing and I helped the mother of the bride and the bride construct their table seating cards. They were simple and beautiful! We all eventually ventured to Tyrone Farm in Pomfret for the rehearsal and later to Sharpe Hill Vinyards for the rehearsal dinner. I got to meet lots of their family and they were all awesome. We drank a lot of wine.
the view where the ceremony was going to be
While trying to keep up drink-for-drink with Michael’s family, I obviously consumed far too much wine. When we got back to his family’s house, I crashed. The next day was the big day. Michael and I were staying at the hotel where the rest of the bridal party was staying that night so we went to check-in early and after I got ready, we headed over to the venue.
Tyrone Farm is completely off the grid (except for at night when, you know, the goes down) and totally gorgeous. I hung out in the cottage where the bridal party was getting ready, helping where I could, and then went over to the room in the main house on the property where the guys were getting ready and did what I could over there. We lucked out and it ended up being about 10* cooler than it was the day before and the ceremony area was in the shade by the time it started. Prior to the ceremony, Hosmer Mountain Bottling Co. soda was served. Michael and his family lived once across the street from the 100+ year old company so it was sentimental for their family.
The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous (and quick!). Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 was read, as well as a passage from “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish” by Douglas Adams.
After the cocktail hour, we were all shown to our seats in the main reception area which was the barn (and it was air conditioned!). It was absolutely gorgeous inside. I snapped this photo during the bride & groom’s first dance and it kind of gives an idea about the romanticism of this setting.
And when it got darker out, it just got prettier inside. The food was wonderful and there was a ton of dancing. There was a photo booth in the main house, so we obliged.
Around 11:30, buses came and took us back to the hotel where the after party commenced in the bar (restaurant?) across the street. Most of us were changed and casual. We closed the place down and then happily crashed.
After a totally needed-and-necessary brunch at his parent’s house, we headed back to the city. We hit no traffic and then chowed down on some Israeli food before calling it a night.
I had an unbelievable time with Michael, as well as with his family, and meeting a ton of people that quickly became my family for the weekend. Seeing how happy the bride and groom were, and how beautiful they both looked, and how happily they looked at each other, just made me totally melt.
I told Michael on the way back that I am always ready and willing to step in and be his stand-in pseudo-girlfriend for family events now and until each of us finds our own imperfectly perfect person for each other. He just thanked me.
That Girl Allison 