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Wendy & Sheri prepare table decorations in Fresno
for the prenuptial dinner |
Andrew and Katerina are accountants working in the San Francisco Bay Area, living in San Jose, but had often been seen hiking throughout the western US and even a few places in Europe. Great enthusiasts for travel and the mountain trail adventure, say even soulmates. They had made arrangements at a wedding venue in the hills above Santa Cruz for a grand wedding, with the bride's parents, a brother and a sister coming in from the Czech Republic, plenty of church and work associates from San Jose and thrown into the mix. and then there was an odd uncle or two included in the festive crowd. The whole of the Suneson clan would be gathering, sans several cousins, but cousin Inga and Daniel made it to the affair.
Sheri caught a ride out of Fresno with me as we first stopped at the SJ airport where we picked up Inga and Sean traveling in from Portland. We arrived at our funky B&B about the same time as the grandparents who came into town after visiting friends in the Sacratomato Valley. Tony flew into San Jose and rented a car to joined us back in his home town by mid-afternoon. Wendy texted us that they were running late and would be there at least for the prenuptial dinner on the patio of a Middle Eastern restaurant. So much intricate scheduling! Tony would go back in the evening to pick up his son Daniel and my wife Sue in San Jose. The groom's brother Brian and his wife Amy had arrived earlier with the wedding party (Brian being Best Man) eventually showed up at the house too. That should just about get everybody in place for the Wedding.
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We stroll along Sea Cliff Drive
watching surfers while we wait for our B&B to be readied for our arrival |
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| Sean & Inga join us along the sea cliff |
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Sean and Felix (the Cat) strike a pose
in the wonderfully weird AirBnB |
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The Sunesons gather in the dinning room of our AirBnB
Santa Cruz |
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Wendy quickly stakes a claim to a
sleeping space |
While waiting for the B&B to be finished being cleaned for our stay, we headed for the coast a few blocks away, for a stroll along the cliff. A few photos, and then back to home base. We had a lot of fun touring and discovering the weird art, statuary, posters and paintings covering the interior of our space. It was a free-for-all to find and stake claim to a bedroom or a bed. In Daniel's case, he was relegated to a "secret closet" with a sock-monkey bed. He loved it!
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Sheri and Mark goofing with
the B&B's decor |
I circulated among the Czechs and work friends of Andrew and Katerina during the dinner in downtown Santa Cruz, and then walked back to our place to await my wife's late night arrival. To my surprise, she did make in from Tulsa, OK before the wedding. She could have said, "I told you so" - but she didn't.
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| Inga decorates with lavender |
Lavender was the theme for Katerina's wedding, and Inga and other ladies went to work distributing lavender flower stalks about the estate. Andrew and his men milled about outside on the terrace overlooking the Pacific until some of the bridal party started to appear. Then things kind of got organized, the live music started and then it was time for Katerina to make her appearance. Minister Fred did a fine job and spoke of the couple whom he knew well. Vows and rings were exchanged and under the arbor the Wedding was carried off without a hitch - except there was some hitching actually done in front of us all.
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| The Wedding of Andrew and Katerina |
The banquet hall had been decorated by many of the family and friends ahead of time, and each guest table was christened with the name of a National Park. Oh yes, there was plenty of dancing, Minister Fred really threw himself into a frenzy on the dance floor, some toasting, a few words and cake cutting! It went on into the night and as they say, a good time was had by all.
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