Presenting... Megan and Alex Crawford

My sister got MARRIED! And we couldn't be happier for her. She and Alex were best friends in high school and dated for a while during their first year of college. I think they decided they were better at being friends then "special friends" so they quit dating, Alex left on his mission, Meg dated other guys, Alex came back and tried to dater her again, Megan made him wait a while... and then they fell in love and they plan to live happily ever after. (Hope that story is close enough, Meg!)

Meg and Alex are way cool. No really, they are. They ski, snow-shoe, hike, camp, mountain climb, bike, run marathons, fish, and do all sorts of other awesome things together. I think their personalities complement each other well and know that they have a great foundation of good communication, mutual respect, and determination that will be a huge asset in their marriage.

We were so lucky to be able to fly home for their wedding. It was such a fantastic event. I feel bad that I didn't take any pictures of the wedding dinner they had the night before. It was at this great little restaurant in Holiday, Utah called the Flora Restaurant. Our party were the only ones there and it was the perfect, cozy venue, complete with fireplace (which actually made it a little too cozy so we had to kill the fire) and classy vintage-style decor. The food was so awesome... I'm literally salivating right now thinking of my steak. (Maybe because it's 7pm right now and I haven't made dinner yet! Bret is sick and asleep so I have no motivation to cook anything... but steak sure sounds lovely.) Both of the fathers gave very sweet speeches and then we watched a slideshow with pictures from Meg and Alex's lives. It was just perfect.

Their wedding was held on the most beautiful spring day in Utah - warm and sunny (unlike our overcast and somewhat rainy wedding day). The ceremony in the Salt Lake Temple was performed by my grandpa, Charles Elliott Richards. He was also our sealer, so it was special to hear a message very similar to the one he shared with us and to be reminded of the wonderful eternal ordinance that a temple sealing is. (On a side note, Megan held it together perfectly and didn't cry at all. I probably had leaky eyes through our entire sealing - a trait I believe I inherited from my mom.)

After the temple, Meg and Alex stayed to take pictures while the wedding party went over to the "Blue Lemon" restaurant at City Creek mall. Then we got to go home and relax (and chop incredible amounts of lettuce) until going to the reception for pictures and set-up.

Megan's reception was held at "This is the Place" state park in a beautiful reception center there. I have never seen such beautiful flowers before in my life. Major kudos to her florist. The food included pizzas baked in a pizza oven out back (that was actually made for my parents and transported to their house the next day!), caesar salad, cheese and tomato kabobs (that have a much fancier Italian name that I'm totally blanking on), cookies and gelato. There was even a place outside where you could roast s'mores, and of course there was delicious wedding cake. (I'm salivating again!)  There was a band, a dance floor, popcorn favors for people to take home... it was fabulous. Meg and my parents should be so proud for creating such a perfect event.  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.