This post is Part 3 of a 3-part series. Read Part 1 – Read Part 2 – Read Part 3

For the rest of the evening, there was much rejoicing, and the children did eat chicken and throw each other upon the ground, and the adults did raise the bubbly glass to true love, and all of the people did feast upon numerous cakes. And the photographers, they did circulate and perch and stalk as in days of old, and the female photographer did leave the gathering several times to explore the area.

And lo, she found the place to be agreeable of aspect, especially in the darkness when the stars came out, and she made plans to return later all by herself for a REAL vacation. So it was decided, and so, weeks later, it was done. And you can totally see the photos as soon as I get around to them.

Oh, and here is the poem Brooke and Josh read to each other during their ceremony:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

“[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” by e.e. cummings

This post is Part 2 of a 3-part series. Read Part 1 – Read Part 2 – Read Part 3

Brooke and Josh came all the way from Seattle to get married at Costanoa, at a time of year when it’s usually not raining around here (it was September). It’s logical to presume that they were hoping to escape the frequent rain of their current residence on their wedding day. Depending on how you define “rain” you could possibly argue that they did avoid official precipitation, but unofficially, it was in fact raining. Sort of.

What fell from the sky was that kind of mist you get in the middle of a fog, but it wasn’t cold that day and the not-quite-rain felt marvelous on bare skin. Nobody seemed the least bit upset about the moisture. Those who were concerned about getting wet held umbrellas, and the ceremony proceeded as planned.

Of course I found the foggy scene bewitching. I’m a fool for the magical potential of fog, and enjoy saying to myself that things are “shrouded” in the stuff. I was already halfway to being in love with that stretch of coastline where Costanoa sits. To see these two tall beautiful people reading e.e. cummings to each other on a coastal hillside, with everything around us clad in those shades of yellow and brown and purple and green that I’ve admired so greatly ever since moving to California, made me feel like I was floating on the romance of it all. Brooke later described that day as “effervescent,” a word that I thought fit just right. Effervescent, with fairies lurking in the bluffs. (That fruity bit about the fairies was mine, not Brooke’s.)

I know that probably sounds silly, but just look at the faces of these happy people, especially the children. We were far away from the rest of the world (that’s how Costanoa makes you feel) and it felt like time had stopped.