wedding shenanigans

after a long, almost 4-hour drive (thanks, l.a. traffic!) on a saturday, we finally made it to santa barbara on my cousin's wedding day.  we'd left extra early hoping to have some time to wander around the area since we hadn't been up there in ages, but we just barely managed to check into our hotel and have enough time to get cleaned up and dressed for the wedding.  oh well.  at least we looked good:

the wedding venue was cool - the santa barbara historical museum.  luckily, it was only a mile or so away from the hotel and we arrived with just a few minutes to spare until the ceremony start time.  when we got there, i made a beeline for my mom to wish her a happy birthday before she walked down the aisle as an honored guest.

and then because we still had time, we took one of our "four generations" photos.  i was bummed that the old lady wasn't there, but she couldn't get out of work on another saturday - especially after having taken a whole week off for our hawaiian adventure.

the bean grabbed a cup of something cold to drink from the iced tea bar.  i wasn't expecting it to be as warm as it was, but the bride must've had ESP.  or, you know, looked at the weather report.  heh.

the ceremony was short and sweet, officiated by one of the couple's friends.  he told a few fun stories about how they met and the origins of their relationship, they said their vows and voila!  married.  as we mingled with other family members during cocktail hour, i got the bean to take pictures with a couple of my cousins who were bridesmaids.  we'd been highly amused when we arrived and found that the bean's dress perfectly matched that of the wedding party's.

it ain't a family gathering without at least one selfie with cousin seven.

after posing for a couple of family photos with the wedding photographer, we snagged a quick couple shot:

and then it was fun to watch the hub try to soothe cousin r's newborn baby boy.

the reception set-up was really pretty.  a lot of us sat around the sidelines in the shade waiting for the sun to go down a little.

and luckily, by the time it was time to sit down for dinner it did...mostly.

this is the one shot i managed to get with the lovely bride.

as everyone enjoyed the delicious dinner buffet, the honor attendants, the couple's fathers and then the bride herself got up to make their speeches.

there were a bunch of these cute little individual cakes to enjoy before the real wedding cake was cut.

it cooled down considerably as the sun finally disappeared and night fell.  with the lights on, the venue was even prettier.

the bean had a blast hanging out with her cousins, dancing the night away and taking pictures at the photo booth.  the hub and i spent a lot of time with my cousins too, chatting and catching up and trying to plan future GTGs.  the bean came back to the table a few times, parched from tearing up the dance floor, and with the water glasses cleared away ended up guzzling straight from the carafe.

and when the hub asked me to either hold his cigar or grab him a drink from the bar, i chose...

muahahahahaha.