Rich + Katie

On Saturday, we drove back to our old college stomping grounds to witness the marriage of one of my very good friends, Rich. We first met when he was a teacher's assistant for one of my classes, and since we shared a major, we ended up being in many subsequent classes together. A couple years after graduation, he met Katie, and now the two of them are married!

Before the ceremony, Michael and I took the time to drive through our college town and reminisce about all the old fun times. It's weird how things come flooding back to you when you visit places from the past... I suddenly remembered things I hadn't thought about it in a really long time! It was fun, but admittedly sort of sad.

We also went to campus and walked around a little bit. I walked around behind my freshman dorm and pointed out my dorm room window up on the third floor. Awww, memories! It's hard to believe that we've been out of college for more than five years already. It's even harder to believe that it's been nine years since I was a freshman. Holy crap.

But I digress.

We left campus and headed to the park where the wedding and reception were to take place. We walked up the hill to the ceremony location, and met up with some other old friends. The bartenders were set up in a gazebo up on the hill, serving beer and water for guests prior to the ceremony. I can't say I've ever enjoyed a beer during a wedding ceremony before! It was pretty laid back, and true to the spirit of Rich and Katie.

Soon, the ceremony started...

They honestly could not have asked for better weather for an outdoor wedding in the middle of August. Don't get me wrong--It was hot, but not overly humid, and being right on the lake helped keep things relatively comfortable.

In college, Rich was a member of an a cappella group, so he has many friends with musical talents. Two of them performed all of the ceremony music, which consisted of songs like "Blackbird" by The Beatles, and "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.

The officiant was another one of Rich's a cappella buddies. Their maid of honor did one of the readings, which was actually a passage from Dr. Seuss's "Oh The Places You'll Go." So unique! The entire wedding was personal to them, from start to finish--exactly as it should be!

After some sweet vows and the exchange of rings, it was all sealed with the traditional kiss.

Pronounced as Mr. & Mrs.!

Time to get the party started!

After the ceremony ended, all of the guests walked back down the hill to the gigantic tent where the reception was to take place. While Rich, Katie, and their bridal party took photos throughout the park, the guests enjoyed light appetizers (cheese, crackers, vegetables, fruit), and drinks in the tent.

Check out these place cards... too cute. Loved this touch of the beach, as the wedding was right on the lake.

After a buffet dinner and a few hours of catching up with old friends, we watched as Rich and Katie cut their cake...





...and had their first dance...




Afterwards, we grabbed Rich for a few photos.

Here's one of Rich, Corrie, and me. The three of us were pretty inseparable, especially senior year when we had almost every class together. We also worked on our senior capstone project together (along with another friend, Aimee, who we all haven't seen in YEARS!), which required many, many hours of work outside of class. We spent so many hours sitting around tables on campus, or cramped in my room, working on that damn project! In the end, we aced it, so our hard work was well worth it. And we never failed to have a good time throughout it all.

Love these two friends of mine. I have some seriously good memories with them.

And well, believe it or not... we love the woman responsible for that torturous capstone project. Here's us with Ann, our professor! We had her for several classes, and developed quite a bond with her. She attended Corrie's wedding with us in 2006, attended our wedding last year, and now, Rich's wedding as well.

Our project group name was "ARCH" (for Aimee, Rich, Corrie, and Heather), and Ann joked that 3/4 of her ARCH members are married off now. In fact, we were excited to learn at the wedding that Corrie is expecting the first ARCH baby in January!

Michael and me in the park

As we prepared to leave (long drive home!), we grabbed Rich and Katie for one last photo. Too bad the girls looked at one camera while the guys looked at another. Figures!

The beautiful sunset as we were packing up to leave. All in all, it was a great day, but a long one. It felt really nice to pull into our driveway, that's for sure.

Congratulations, Rich and Katie!