What a whirlwind of a weekend.
Now that the house is quiet again, I have had some time to reflect on the entire weekend and I just can’t help but be giddy when I do. Such an amazing weekend with friends and family, old and new :).
Incase you’ve missed the previous Recaps: look back at
The Day Before
My maid of honor and sister-in-law (yay you’re my sister now Claire!) stayed with me Thursday night at the hotel, so of course we didn’t go to bed until around 2 AM. I was so excited for the festivities to begin and to see all the people I love that I just totally lost track of time.
Lack of sleep didn’t slow us down, though. By 730 AM, we were all up and ready to go. I got a quick speed workout in at the hotel work out facility while Claire went to yoga with the family and Zoe got ready.
Workout of the Morning: 20 minute speed workout: Intervals/Progressive
- 1 minute 6.0
- 1 minute 8.0
- 1 minute 6.0
- 1 minute 8.1
- 1 minute 6.0
- 1 minute 8.2
And continued that progression until 20 minutes was over. By the end I was a sweaty beast after only 20 minutes and covered about 2.6 miles.
When I got back to the room, Zoe and I headed out right away from breakfast.
We walked down Washington Street in Golden until we found the Windy Saddle
The inside was a very cute little coffee bar, and the outside had a good amount of comfortable seating as well.
I was hungry and decided I wanted something substantial for breakfast, so I went with an egg white croissant with cheese and egg.
Zoe got something very similar and we both really liked it!
By the time we finished our coffee, my girlfriends from home started rolling in, so we made a nice morning out of hanging out while everyone ate their breakfasts in waves. I was so excited to get a chance to actually sit down and chat with all my girlfriends from home before the craziness of the wedding hit.
We all decided to go on a quick hike so they could see Golden, and ironically enough hit Lookout Mountain and a trail that led up to where we’d all be spending the next night, Boettcher Mansion.
The hike is right around 3 miles and a good middle ground for a wide range of hiking abilities. Everyone LOVED it.
We had a great time and I think everyone understood right away why Zach and I are so in love with Colorado and the Golden area.
We got back from the Hike right between 1230 and 1, which gave us just enough time to shower up and head to BACK to Boettcher for our rehearsal.
I don’t have any pictures from the rehearsal itself because we only had a little over 30 minutes by the time we all got up there, so it was down to business right away. But, I will say, we got a lot done in that short period of time. And the direct wedding party stayed for a few run throughs on our own off the actual Boettcher site, so by the time we left I felt like we were pretty set for the big day.
When we got back down from the mansion, we had about an hour before getting back together for the rehearsal dinner. The same girlfriends + sig. others and I met back up for a quick appetizer and drink to desress a bit from the run throughs.
This was the perfect lead in to the actual rehearsal.
Rehearsal Dinner
The rehearsal dinner and final run through was the first time I was seeing most of the family and friends coming in. I honestly bet that I jumped and squealed like a little girl at least every 10 or 15 minutes. Everyone was SO excited to be there and so happy for Zach and I.
Unfortunately I don’t have too many pictures from that night, but I am hopeful that they will be emailed my way and you know I will update you as they come in :).
I remember the rehearsal dinner as a moment when things REALLY became real.
Zach’s dad gave an AMAZING speech that had Zach and I, along with most of the room, in tears. Zach’s dad was actually with us when we met, so it’s a pretty unique story. The Jara family has made me feel like one of their own since the beginning, but the love and compassion in the air that night really solidified that I was one of theirs now as well. It was a great feeling and a night I will never forget.
Highlights of the Rehearsal:
- Zach’s dad’s speech. For sure.
- Finally feeling comfortable with the ceremony
- The beginning of everyone starting to trickle in for the weekend. How exciting
- The taco station we had! YUM!
- The brownies, oh my gosh the brownies.
- The LOOOVE all around. Seriously, you could just feel it.
The dinner ended a little before 10. Zach and I headed out to catch up with a bunch of our Chicago friends (LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!), but unfortunately I only made it for one drink. I was so excited to see everyone and dances and karaoke’d for a bit before I headed home before 11 PM to get some rest for the
BIG DAY!!!!!!!
Chocolate Covered Race Medals 
