Friday 10/1

It’s a happy day today! We will be driving about 30 miles west of Whitefish to Star Meadows Ranch. We are loaded with some of the things that will be used this weekend to help Dan and Loti put together their dream wedding. Plus, our daughter (Brita), son in law (Ben) and 3 precious grandsons will be arriving on a flight from Reno. Plus, my mom will be arriving on her flight from Sioux Falls. Plus, my brother, Jared, and sister in law, Mary, are arriving today, too! So much good stuff!

But first, I had to make a quick run to Target for some last minute necessities. So I hurried off to get that done early. Then we headed out to Star Meadows Ranch. What a wonderful place to be on this wedding weekend! We had the whole place to ourselves. That includes the large pavilion, housing for family and wedding party, great outdoor space with grill and fire pits and games and just walking around. The pavilion is partial open air but can be somewhat closed to the elements with long draperies. It has a caterer’s kitchen, sound system, seating for more than we anticipated and a professional bar setup. We all found our rooms and as more wedding party and family arrived, we all got together to prepare the site the way Dan and Loti directed us. We were bringing out 150 white folding chairs and a wooden arch to the area for the ceremony, weather permitting. All the flowers that had been delivered 1 or 2 days earlier were artfully arranged for table decor. Dining tables were arranged and decorated with florist’s greenery and many candles. It was great to see that those lanterns that we had worked on to clean were useful in a variety of settings. Bob and I took on the task of creating a photo booth backdrop from a Whitefish promo structure. A lot of McGyvering was needed! But we did get it together and it did get used!

There was a lot going on all at once, as would be expected. I even got to steam Loti’s dress which was kept in our room so Dan wouldn’t see it. It was a beautiful warm and sunny afternoon.

Dan hadn’t been feeling well for this morning, and and now got results on his Covid test. It came back positive. What a hit! Dan was vaccinated so this came out of the blue. These 2 had worked around all the scenarios that would make it possible to still get married even with the Delta variant surging. Their invites and website asked specifically that unvaccinated invitees stay home and celebrate from afar. They wanted to be very cautious with the health and safety of everyone involved. Luckily, Loti was negative.

Now, they looked so discouraged. They called together the wedding party group to tell us and and talk about what should be done. They were ready to call it all off if people felt unsafe and wanted to leave. But, everyone rallied together and supported the decision to go ahead with a few modifications. More masking, more distancing, no big hugs afterward. Dan self isolated in their room and took the Tylenol, ibuprofen, cough suppressant that he had brought along. And slept!

But first, we had a coronavirus-style wedding rehearsal and dinner! Bob and Ben grilled a lot of steaks, pork chops, chicken legs and hotdogs for about 30 people. With the help of purchased side dishes and desserts, no one lacked for food. And many calls/texts were made to all the wedding guests to let them know the unfortunate news. Dan and Loti wanted them each to decide whether they would attend, given this unexpected change. We made plans to keep the wedding and reception as much outdoors as possible.

There were talks and fun and s’mores around the fire pit until past my bedtime! It felt so good to relax and close my eyes!