Nat's wedding day

The bride and all five bridesmaids had a sleepover on Wedding Eve!  We woke up early, and four of us (Nat, Emily, Ellie and I) took off in the morning for a run around town.  Nathalia loves her hometown and also has a healthy appreciation for history and tidbits, so on her wedding morning, she treated us to a cultural tour of her neighborhoods.  I loved it.  Here we are at San Jose State University, checking out some public art:

Cue Moment Infinity of me being overwhelmed by happy feelings: the four of us, who formed our friendship in cross-country preseason, haven’t gone for a run together in more than five years!  It was a perfect, relaxing start to the day.  We visited a bakery next to the hotel for coffee and quiche and retreated to the suite for some Us Weekly reading downtime before heading to the house to get ready for the ceremony and reception.

Genius: Nathalia and Mike planned for a wedding at her grandmother’s house, where the couple also lives right now.  They got married in the backyard and brought cookies to the neighbors secured the block's permission for the evening and hosted a big street party for their loved ones.  The result was a special, personal, intimate ceremony and reception that showed their personalities and relationship and values perfectly.  

A big group of family and friends helped with set-up.  It was some work:

But also a good amount of play (and pre-wedding dancing):

Here’s what the street looked like:

Before the ceremony, the bridesmaids and the bride’s family met in a neighbor’s backyard for photos.  The bride and groom met in the same place afterward for a few moments of peace and quiet, and then we reconvened for more pictures.  Look at the beautiful bride!

We couldn’t help posing for few pictures of our own when the bride’s family was working on their own photographs:

The whole night was relaxed and fun and also included tacos, thanks to the fantastic taco truck parked next to our tables for dinner.  (Seriously: amazing.) It was important to Michael and Nathalia to incorporate different cultural customs and faiths from their families.  I didn’t know this was on tap but delighted in watching the hora, the Jewish wedding tradition that includes lifting the bride and groom on chairs.

Our alma mater was well-represented, and everyone had a blast catching up with each other.  Here’s the photo of alumni present:

Finally, one reason why I valued visiting Nathalia last month so much was because I didn't expect to get to spend lots of time with her during wedding weekend.  It was a special surprise that we--and Emily and Ellie--actually got to spend a lot of great, quality time together, in large groups and just the four of us.  We definitely did some work on the dance floor, too.  Here we are, during the reception:

It was a day jam-packed full of friends and family and love.