OK, I know the Euro Travel Coach blog is about travel, but it’s also about our life, lifestyle and life events.  I’m here to tell you, this past week was a doozy.  I hope you will indulge me as I use this forum to share a little bit about this incredible week.  Our little girl got married.

It’s a bit complicated.  They actually got married in a civil ceremony in Ottawa a year ago so that they could move together to Copenhagen with all the proper paperwork.  But this past week was a celebration of their love for one another, in front of and with their friends and family, in a place that is very special to all of us.  Chelsea and Sam had a destination wedding like no other.  They were married on our dock at our cottage in Quebec.  It was absolutely amazing.

This was a challenging venue for a wedding.  The thing that made it even possible and created such a remarkable event is that it took the entire lake community, our friends and family from Texas, Ohio, New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee, California, Michigan, Indiana, Arizona, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and elsewhere to pull it off.  It was incredible how everyone pitched in!  And they didn’t do it reluctantly or grudgingly – they enthusiastically, cheerfully, creatively, energetically went above and beyond to make this weekend go absolutely over the top.  I am overwhelmed with the generosity and kindness of everyone who was involved.  I will never be able to adequately express my appreciation.  I am grateful beyond measure.

I have to give it up to the bride and groom.  They had a vision in mind from the very beginning and they planned and coordinated everything in great detail.  The rest of us did our best to execute.  People shared their cottages, pontoon boats, fishing boats, cars, time, incredible talents, docks and even their rosaries. 

Yes!  I said their rosaries!  Chelsea and Sam wanted the ceremony to be on our dock and the reception to be in our dear friends’ front yards, lakeside.  Every good outdoor wedding must have a rain plan.  We had tents but really did not want to have to use them.   It has been an exceptionally wet, rainy summer and there very possibly could have been a downpour on the day of the wedding.  I started mentioning weather to friends a few weeks ago and they said to put rosary beads on the clothesline the day before the wedding.  I thought this was so interesting and unusual until several other friends said exactly the same thing!  So, one friend let me borrow her husband’s grandfather’s rosary beads.  I carefully placed them on the clothesline on July 7.  Other friends put rosary beads on their clotheslines in anticipation of the upcoming nuptials too.  All I can say is that it rained in the morning and was still grey and wet at 2:00.  By 5:00, the time for the ceremony, it was absolutely glorious!!  I also think my parents were smiling down at the cottage they built, and their granddaughter and her love, as they promised their lives to one another in the presence of their family and friends.  People watched from our deck, our dock, the rocks, our neighbor’s yard and a flotilla of boats.   It was incredible.

Cocktail hour was amazing with bottled cocktails and unbelievable charcuterie prepared by Chelsea's friends from Cornell. The reception was a wood-fired pizza oven/food truck and carefully procured beer served from a beer bar that Greg built.  Wonderful wine was also served.  Fantastic!  There were several near catastrophes.  The remarkable thing is how people just fixed any problem that came up!  No cord bins for the sound system? No carbon dioxide for the beer kegs 2 hours before the reception?  Cake not yet delivered to the table after the ceremony?  No problem!!  Every single time an issue came up, people quickly figured out a solution and just made everything work.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Again – you ALL know who you are!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

It was an awesome party.  We hope everyone had a blast.  I know we sure did, as did the bride and groom.  I was concerned about getting everything back to normal when it was all said and done.  Again – friends came to the rescue!   While we were enjoying bagels and bloodies with the happy couple at our cottage, numerous people arrived at our friends’ cottages to help clean everything up after the festivities of the night before! 

Chelsea and Sam are now in the Azores on their honeymoon.  They say they are relaxed, happy, and eternally grateful to all who made this such a special wedding celebration.  And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13:13

Are you planning a trip somewhere in Europe? We can help with that! Remember that we are always available to you and your friends and family for custom trip planning to Italy, France, Ireland, England and all of Europe. We also still have spots available on our small group trip to Tuscany and our small group trip to Piedmont!  We'd love for you to join us!  Feel free to reach out via email — We’re always available to talk about travel!!