jessi and matt's wedding

as some of you guys know, jennifer's long time friend, jessi, was married last weekend in california. the wedding was absolutely incredible and beautiful, second only to my own. just like jessi, it was completely unique and complex so i thought i'd tell you about the wedding and then post the pics so here we go.

the wedding took place on a ranch outside of santa barbara and was the perfect setting for what jessi had explained to jennifer as a country wedding. the land was decked out with trees, a barn, and ocean locations perfect for how the ceremony and reception took place. we arrived by shuttle bus to the barn where the ceremony was held and were offered cider...it was a cool day so that was nice. after milling about for a while, we took our seats and the wedding began complete with a bluegrass string group that played everything prewedding from rock to classical and then played the classic wedding tunes for the ceremony, which was simple with jessi walking the aisle alone and she and matt exchanging vows. after they were announced as man and wife, a gospel group entered from the back, began singing "go tell it on the mountain," (one of jessi's favorites) eventually changing the lyrics to "the wedding day has come" from "Jesus Christ is born" and led us out in a processional complete with candles down a path to a beautifully laid out tent right on the beach for appetizers...awesome. after about an hour, we rode on a hayride, yep hayride, back up to the barn, which had been completely transformed into a banquet hall for the dinner reception, which was awesome. the entertainment began with a private concert by jim james of my morning jacket (matt has a friend in the recording industry and pulled some major strings), jessi's favorite band. we then had dinner, had some fun with a photo booth, and the country theme continued with a country band and square dancing, which was really fun. it was an incredible evening and as you can see if you know jessi, fit her perfectly with it's uniqueness and her southern roots. without further adieu, the pictures. by the way, i'll be posting more pics from our trip later...this post is just for the wedding.

see? i told you it was a barn.

interior prewedding...decorated with cotton flowers.

the altar continuing the cotton theme.

the first dance

the tent

bride and jen...best of friends.

matt and jessi

matt and jessi with pete and kimberly...friends from texas.

leaving under a tunnel of sparklers...very cool.

so, there you have it. if i missed something that you want to know about, ask me and i'll answer because i'm sure i forgot details some of the female readers might like to know. all in all, an incredible ceremony and celebration.

until the next post...