 |
| August 9th, 2014 Corralitos CA |
In the redwoods south of Santa Cruz, under a harvest moon, all of Zoe's dreaming and planning came together to create a uniquely personal, beautiful, funny, heartfelt celebration of love. Friends and family from near and far gathered to witness the big event.
 |
| Craig's brother Ralph and his partner Chris Freeman officiating |
The coastal night air was summery cool. The rainbow of colors against the redwood backdrop was breathtaking. The locally sourced food was abundant and absolutely delicious. And like the dress, everything was handcrafted with love.
Zoe's dearest friends and family arrived at 9am to meet the local dahlia farmer with his huge delivery of fresh blooms, picked just an hour before. Chris and Zoe and her best girlfriends, Alivia and Amanda and Catie and Marnie, her uncle Ralph and his partner Chris, most of the Bracey family -- lots of folks were there to help. 140 "escort cards", denoting the table assignments, which Zoe had hand-painted on watercolor paper, were strung from a clothesline between two redwoods. The huge redwood backyard of the Corralitos Community Center, as well as the interior of the hall, were joyously adorned.
Everyone pitched in. Marnie was the flower boss, and supervised the arranging of the dahlias in recycled glassware and jelly jars. Alivia and Amanda and Catie and Marnie decorated the hall where the dancing would take place. Lights and streamers were strung inside and out. Chris Freeman set up two sound systems. The ceremony was secular, but in homage to Zoe's Jewish cultural roots, a small Hoopah, fashioned from one of my grandmother's table linens, was hung in front of the gazebo where the ceremony would take place. Karen H. and her fiance arrived with the amazing carrot wedding cake she had made, and set to creating and frosting the multiple tiers.
Around lunch time, the second team arrived. Craig and I brought in lunch for the crew. Soon afterwards, Zoe's dear friend Val, one of the the official volunteer photographers, arrived to document the behind the scenes of Zoe's wedding makeup, which was skillfully applied with a light and natural touch by her friend Molly.
Zoe's hair was a joint project, curled by Catie, then braided with flowers by Marnie. Around 4, just as Zoe had called for on her "timeline", she and I retired to a bathroom, and without aid of a mirror or a table to put things on or a hook to hang the garment bag up, I buttoned her into the wedding dress. Who needed a mirror? She looked gorgeous.
Then the guests began to arrive. Zoe and Chris met in the fall of 2008 as instructors at Astrocamp in Idylwild, and many Astrocamp friends were there to cheer them on, including their dear friend Burch, who along with fellow photographers Val and Will captured the milestone event. Zoe and Chris' high school and college and post-college friends, their Trivia friends, Zoe's Crossfit girlfriends, my mom, my brother and sister and their families, our dear friends from LA and NorCal and Washington state. I felt I was watching a retrospective montage of my life.
Throughout the evening, Zoe and Chris glowed with happiness. As they exchanged their vows, promising to love and honor and respect and care for one another for the rest of their lives, I was filled with wonder and gratitude that they had found each other, weathered the ups and downs of relationship building, and after nearly six years, were committing to building a life together and helping each other be the best that they can be. These two young people, who care so much about the world, about family, and about each other, give me hope for the future.
