Mr. and Mrs. Eppehimer!

Disclaimer: I did not take enough pictures this weekend to do the wedding justice. However, I want to blog about it before I forget all the wonderful details and so bear with the few photos that I do have. Also, in my defense, I knew ahead of time that there would be a website for picture sharing among the guests (as well as an awesome wedding photographer ) so I was mainly focused on keeping the bride happy all weekend!

So, without further adieu, a full recap of this weekend's festivities.

Thursday: I flew out of LAX at 7:10am which put me in Reno at about 8:20. I picked up the rental car at the airport and hit the road for North Lake Tahoe. I arrived at the Ramblin' Rose, one of the two cabins where members of the bridal party were staying for the weekend, and found out that we were headed out to a boat ride on the lake in a few minutes. We piled into a car and drove to the Hyatt at Incline Village to catch the catamaran with a few of Ryan and Sarah's friends who were already in town. The ride was awesome! It was a little chilly and grey out but we had a great time having drinks and eating fruit and cheese on the 2 hour tour around the north shore area.

After the boat ride, I ran a few errands with Ryan and then it was about time to start getting ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We headed back to the church in Incline for the rehearsal and it was fun to see all of the bridesmaids again.

After the rehearsal, we drove back towards the Ramblin Rose in Tahoe Vista to Spindleshanks restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. The food was awesome and Sarah gifted us 'maids with such sweet gifts--personalized tote bags, shawls for the reception, personalized note cards and a sweet locket! Here are the bride and groom saying their thank yous.

We all pretty much hit the hay early on Thursday night to rest up for Friday.

Friday: On Friday morning, the bridal party headed out to get our nails done with the bride in Tahoe City. After a few hours there, we headed back to eat a snack before going to the beach BBQ in Incline. Check out the awesome view from the BBQ site.

The sun finally came out during a million games of beach volleyball and hanging out with the wedding guests. It was the perfect location for an event.


I love Tahoe.

I left the BBQ at about 7:30pm to drive to Reno to pick up Aaron (woo hoo!) He got in safe and sound and we arrived back at the Ramblin' Rose by about 10pm and headed to bed for another early morning!

Saturday: The hair and makeup girls arrived at 8:30am so all of the girls trickled down to the main area of the house to get prettified. The time seemed to just fly and before we knew it, the limo was outside waiting to take us to the church for the ceremony. The ceremony was awesome. The minister did an amazing job EXCEPT for the fact that he actually used 2 lines out of my Matron of Honor speech that I had yet to give! What are the odds! Anyway, after the ceremony, we took pictures at the church and then took the limo back to Burnt Cedar beach for more pictures on the lake. It was really fun to walk out there while all the beach go-ers checked out the beautiful bride! One little girl told her mom that Sarah was a princess:)

The reception was held at a private home, the Fitzhaven Estate which used to be Farah Fawcett's house. It was a gorgeous setting and all the details that Sarah worked so hard on were amazing.


My handsome date!

After the cocktail hour, the bridal party and the bride and groom were introduced to kick off the reception.



The bride and groom then performed their first dance, a surprise choreographed number:)

After the dance, it was time for speeches.

Sarah's dad went first and I followed after him. Of course there were so many things that I forgot to say but I managed to only get choked up a few times...which is not bad for me! It was truly an honor to be able to say a few words to Ryan and Sarah on their special day. The best man, the groom's older brother, did a great job on his speech following mine. We then had dinner and some more dancing. The father daughter dance was particularly sweet:)


The rest of the night was a ton of fun--lots of dancing and just having a great time. At about 9pm, the reception officially ended and a shuttle came to take people to the after party at Gar Woods, a restaurant/bar right on the lake in Tahoe Vista. After a pretty mellow couple of hours, everyone headed back to their hotels/cabins and we called it a night.

Sunday: The fun was not over yet! Aaron and I woke up and packed up before the morning after breakfast at the Ramblin' Rose. It was another beautiful morning in Tahoe yesterday and it was awesome to sit out on the deck and soak up some rays before heading out. I took a few photos of the "mini-apartment" Aaron and I had at the house. The room was awesome and thanks to that DVD player, I was able to keep on my P90x schedule even while I was away from home!





The view from the Rose was even more lovely:



My parents were able to come up from the city for the wedding and so that made the weekend extra fun to get to see them.

It was also fun to see friends like my old roommate and sorority sister Danielle:)


It was a wonderful, wonderful weekend and Sarah could not have been a more beautiful bride. All of the details were so perfectly executed and the result was an awesome trip...and the beginning to a wonderful new life together for Ryan and Sarah. One last one of me and the gorgeous bride...

It was such an honor to be a part of her special day!

As you can imagine, I'm dragging a little bit today but it was worth it! Knowing that we have a 3-day weekend coming up is helping a bit:) Hope y'all had a great weekend!

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15