A Stanton Family Wedding... what is that?

 Last weekend we drove to upper Michigan for my cousin Austin's wedding to his amazingly cool fiance/wife Khaylen. I've been so pumped about going all summer long, along with the anticipation of Elliot's birth. Austin was kind enough to let us tentatively accept our invitations with the option of backing out at the last second if we couldn't make it. My due date was August 13th and the wedding date was August 21st. That didn't leave much room for error or late babies!

 Not only was I excited to see my cousin get married, but attending this event felt even more important when you consider how many weddings I've attended on my side of the family recently. How many do you say? None. The last Stanton family event that I was either invited to or able to attend was in 1997. Nearly half of my life ago. Not cool.

 I've been to at least one wedding a year for Gregory's family. Granted they are more at the marrying age and a much closer knit family - but it was starting to get absurd that I've been married for six years, had three kids and Gregory still hadn't met some of my family. I'm not talking about distance relations like my grandparents' siblings' children (he's actually met those people!), but aunts, uncles and cousins that were a huge part of my life when I was growing up.

But the wedding-less streak is over. And we had a great time! My sister, Eve, made the roadtrip more exciting since I was sitting in the back seat on baby duty. My brother drove from Minnesota and we hit up the town of Traverse City for two nights. The night we arrived, Gregory had picked a random brewhouse for dinner - and it turned out to be the site of Austin and Khaylen's rehearsal dinner. So we lucked out with some extra time to see the groom and the chance to actually talk without the pressure of wedding etiquette.

The wedding itself was at Black Star Farms. Beautiful place! But I had known that for months because right after Austin had told us about choosing Black Star Farms, I read about it in my Food & Wine magazine - I felt really cool knowing that I was going to be enjoying some first class wines! If only we had shown up early enough to buy some bottles for later...



The ceremony was perfect (with Elliot remaining quiet in my arms and Austin crying like I knew he would!), dinner was delicious and the dance floor did not disappoint. I reconnected with family I sadly haven't seen in years or since my own wedding, which anyone knows is not the ideal situation for actually catching up. I've never seen a bride and groom so thoroughly master the dance floor and they are truly a perfect match for each other.














 I had a glimpse of what I hope our family can become in the future - more connected and so much fun with all of the new marriages and children to be had. :) Congratulations Austin and Khaylen for a fine event!

Even though Ethan and Eve look like they are posing for prom, this is a great picture.

Two guys just enjoying "simpler times, before those Bartles and James".

My cousin Melissa caught up in the baby fever!