The ceremony’s over, we’ve walked up the big hill to the tune of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You”, and now it’s time for the party! A note about these photos before we get started: you may have noticed that we had a whole crew of people working the wedding. Tom Fuller and his amazing group had two cameras running to cover all the action, so some of these photos may seem to jump around from subject to subject. That’s because we’ll be sharing them as they came to us, which is the chronological order they were taken. So when you’re looking at some great shots of tables and it suddenly jumps to the wedding party, or later when there’s personal shots of Grace and Brian among shots of dancing under the tent, that’s why!

That out of the way, this photo set starts with some of the calm before the storm. Grace’s Aunt Rita asked that the photographers grab some detail shots before everyone set into the tent and it was a good call. Grace, in hindsight, wanted record of everything in case she forgot when looking back on the day. And that includes the menu! We’re really happy that these little things were captured, just so we have an easier time looking back on everything.

As cocktail hour starts, we get some nice group photos, some in-the-moment shots of some of the fun, some snippets of our delicious snacks, and other pics of the decor. We’re particularly proud of the “In Memoriam” section, complete with photos and Grace’s ‘Dad Bear’. She morbidly joked that her dad couldn’t get out of wearing a suit to her wedding (she bought him flowers and everything), so the bear made of one of his flannels by her cousin Patricia got decked out in a Build-a-Bear tux.

Here we want to take a note for our minimal decor. We didn’t want to go over the top on flowers that would end up getting thrown out or could impact the wildlife at the estate, so we went with Sola wood flowers. Every piece of flower and foliage on the bridal party, the parents, and the tables were from Sola, making flowers out of wood that last years longer than any real plant ever could. Though we paid for the wearable flowers to be custom-made, Grace, her mom, and her Aunt Rita made each of the centerpiece vases by hand. Grace also, with the help of some Etsy templates, made all of the signage throughout the event herself. We wanted the day to be equally personal and cost effective, but it still looks classy enough.

Speaking of classy, take a look at that cake. There’s more photos later in the photoset, but we took time and care designing our cake with Master Baker in West Chester. Bark and flowers to match the overall natural theme, our initials instead of delicate designing, and topped off with a custom cake topper (that matches our custom sign and the favor bags) in the National Park theme. We love the consistency in design available from creators and artists on Etsy.

We want to thank people for being patient as we awkwardly swayed during our first dance. Grace wanted to do something a little more practiced, but it was very quickly evident that neither of us were coordinated enough for that. We danced to Anne Murray’s “You Needed Me” - something that we picked specifically for this. It’s not a song from our long-established relationship playlist, but it captures our relationship well. Grace was driving when Brian played it for her for the first time and she cried. The song’s themes about being loved unconditionally despite flaws and finding peace after feeling it impossible really resonated and we’re happy we picked a non-traditional traditional song.

We followed our first dance up with a rather competitive “longest married” dance. If you’ve been to a wedding in the past fifteen or so years, you might’ve seen this before, just maybe not with the exact same outcome. You see, during this dance, the DJ asks all of the married couples to join the newlyweds on the dance floor for the first slow dance of the night, only, there’s a catch. The DJ will start listing increments of time and begin eliminating people from the floor until one couple is left - the longest married. Usually DJs eliminate the couple who’s been married for less than an hour, or less than a day, but that doesn’t really work in the Tresnan household when we were coming up on our first wedding anniversary. Instead, we thought it would be nice to poke a little fun at Brian’s recently-married cousin, Christina. We had the DJ eliminate the couple that had been married less than a month first and had a good chuckle that we got to outlast someone at our own wedding. We graciously sat down second. Our DJ continued on, playing “Remember When” by Alan Jackson (chosen because it represented a long relationship from start to finish), until there were only two left. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of seasoned couples left on the floor towards the end. Grace’s Aunt Ronnie and Uncle Allen, Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen, Brian’s Uncle Roy and Aunt Denise, and parents Bill and Kathy all aimed for that winning spot, but Brian’s Aunt Patti and Uncle Mike reigned supreme for the second (almost third) family wedding in a row.

We then sat down and moved on to dinner. The crowd started clinking glasses and cheering, but we were too engrossed in ourselves to realize what you all wanted… Until someone thankfully shouted “Kiss!!!!”, leading to a rather romantic shot. Thank you for cluing us in. Dinner itself was nothing short of delicious. Every guest (and vendor!) got both a soup and a salad (roasted butternut squash bisque and a baby field green and romaine mix), their pick of entrees (braised short ribs, marinated grilled chicken, or a grilled cauliflower “steak”) with some absolutely delicious sides. We’re happy one of the photographers got a snapshot of the menu, since both of us ordered the braised short ribs and didn’t have a chance to see the other dishes. We hope you liked them!

Dinner led to more dancing and cake. Before everyone drifted from their tables, we toured each one, thanking everyone for coming, comparing pins, and ultimately taking part in a “freeze frame” picture dash with each table. The last few tables are a little chaotic and rushed, but it was important to us that we got photos with everyone there. To those of you that left before this, we’re a little bummed that you couldn’t last out the final bit of pictures, but we understand. It does make for an interesting story!

After the scrumptious dinner, we’re onto dessert! We had two options: our awesome cake from Master Baker (alternating layers of Almond cake with Raspberry Mousse and Triple Citrus cake with Old Fashioned Buttercream icing) and something a little custom from our caterer Robert Ryan (a whipped chocolate mousse that was both sugar free and gluten free). We wanted to make sure everyone could enjoy a sweet treat, so we hope you had your fill! There was plenty of cake left over, so a big thank you to the extended Fisher clan that ate some back at the hotel and then kindly donated the rest of the cake to the front desk. Our hotel mini fridge couldn’t save it if we tried (and we got a free 1-year cake from the baker so there was no concern about keeping it for an anniversary). The cake itself was gorgeous. We went with a wood and tree-themed design to match the overall aesthetic of the park, our wedding, and as a subtle nod to Grace’s dad. Nothing says romantic like initials carved into the trunk of an old growth tree. We cut the cake with no issues, but we knew someone’s dexterity and fine motor skills were going to get the better of them, and it just so happened to happen while Grace was trying to feed Brian a bite of cake. The majority of the bite flopped right off of the fork and onto the floor. May it rest in peace - gone but not forgotten. It was no bother though, as there was absolutely plenty more where that came from. But please enjoy a genuine look of Grace being rather pissed off about ruining such a cute moment and Brian laughing it off as per usual.

The last bit of structured time before everyone was free to do as they pleased was the Mother and Son dance. This was something that Grace strongly encouraged, partly because it’s a rite of passage and partly because she felt that Kathy deserved this moment. Brian hates dancing, any time the attention is all on him, and the combination of both was a huge ask of him, but Grace is eternally grateful. They danced to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts - Kathy picked it after wanting something a little country and glancing through a list. An honorable mention goes out to Grace and her mom Robin being caught in the background. Admittedly, Grace lost her composure for the only time that night during this dance. Emotions are hard, but sometimes moments like this help you take things into perspective and be so incredibly grateful for what you have.